Fire Chief

Job Description The growing, diverse, and vibrant City of High Point, NC, in central NC, seeks a visionary fire safety leader to serve as Fire Chief for its accredited ISO Class 1 fire department. This exciting opportunity to lead a reputable fire department highly praised and respected by its community members is for the fire professional who has served in all fire service functions and roles, is well-versed in emergency management, and is familiar with the ICS incident response model.

The city's supportive leaders desire their next Fire Chief to be an empowering and trusted leader who communicates and delegates effectively, inspires department personnel to excel, and has a track record of advocating for best practices in fire services for departments with 35,000 calls annually. The Fire Chief is highly successful in working collaboratively with an experienced executive leadership team, maintaining a positive departmental reputation within the community, and uniting personnel around a common vision. The High Point Fire Chief oversees the department's operations, manages critical incidents, and strategically plans for the department's future.

The Fire Chief will position the department to respond to the community's growing needs through innovative methods to identify and secure resources, enhance technology, and maintain superior equipment. Essential Tasks Intentionally build credible and sustainable relationships within the department and city to maintain positive, cohesive community and departmental relationships and partnerships. Evaluate the department's needs, current staffing, data, and service delivery practices to assess what alignment and changes, if any, are needed to uphold the department's high standards for safety and quality service delivery while prioritizing the following needs:

Effectively balance community engagement and emergency response requirements. Recruit and retain diversity among staff while leveraging internal talent and closing gaps through engaging employees in training, development, and succession planning. Assess and advocate for short- and long-term solutions to competitive pay and compression issues and other work factors to improve morale, retention, and recruitment.

Strengthen the department's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through targeted efforts that build a sustainable culture reflective of the community served and help ensure diversity in the hiring process and inclusion throughout daily interactions. The Successful Candidate is: demonstrates knowledge and familiarity with all areas of fire and rescue, suppression, operations, and prevention, as well as technology supporting these functions; has held multiple assignments across functional areas such as suppression, prevention, and administration, leading to a rich understanding of the breadth and depth of roles that firefighters assume; experienced working in a council-manager form of government and has expert skills in navigating the complexities of varying roles (e.g., need for building relationships, educating council, clear communication, ensuring mutual trust); experienced in conducting research and utilizing data to propose solutions and make decisions through effectively communicating the department's needs to elected officials and the community; an effective listener who seeks input from relevant parties, realistically assesses plans, and consistently communicates; an excellent and effective communicator, including one-on-one, small groups, and public speaking, who confidently and persuasively engages community members and groups, staff, and City Council; is a strategic problem solver who seeks information from multiple sources, communicates ideas and decisions effectively, and evaluates results; is skilled at engaging collaboratively and diplomatically with a variety of stakeholders such as fire department staff, other city employees and leaders, community members and groups, the City Council, other fire departments, and regional, state, and federal authorities to leverage department opportunities, manage challenges, and maximize resources such as training, equipment, mutual aid, etc.; is skilled in budget development and management, policy development and application, effective personnel management, and development; and, is committed to developing progressive fire service strategies and advancing the department despite budget constraints. Qualifications Required qualifications include: any combination of education and experience equivalent to graduation from an accredited college or university with a degree in fire science or related field; ten (10) years' progressively responsible administrative and supervisory experience in fire and life safety education, prevention, and emergency response work; and a valid Driver's license in the state of North Carolina.

Candidates must have NC Fire Prevention Code Inspector I, II or III with goal of completing Level III certification within a specified timeframe and National Incident Management System/Incident Command System (NIMS/ICS) 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, 800 course certification. UNC School of Government

• Municipal and County Administration course certification is highly desirable. Special Requirements Salary and Benefits:The salary range for the position is $130,873.60 - $177,623.68, commensurate with education and experience.
  
  The City of High Point offers acomprehensive benefits package that includes medical and dental coverage, educational incentives, and professional development opportunities, the NC Local Government Retirement Plan, 401k contribution match of 3% currently, Flexible Spending Account option, access to state 529 plan, and other optional benefits. Benefits are reviewed annually and may change over time.Residency in High Point is preferred for the next Fire Chief. To apply, please visithttps://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/developmentalassociates and click on the

Fire Chief

• City of High Point, NC title. All applications must be submitted online via the Developmental Associates application portal (link above) - NOT the city's employment application portal or any other external website.
  
  Resumes and cover letters must be uploaded with the application. Applicants should apply by June 30th, 2024. The hiring team will invite successful semi-finalists to virtual interviews and skill evaluations on July 29 - 30, 2024.
  
  Candidates are encouraged to reserve these dates for virtual meetings should they be invited to participate. Direct inquiriestohiringdevelopmentalassociates.com. The City of High Point is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
  
  Developmental Associates, LLC manages the recruitment and selection process for this position. To learn more about our selection process, visithttps://developmentalassociates.com/client-openings/, select "Client Openings," and scroll down to "Important Information for Applicants."