Des Moines County - Operations Supervisor - Sperry, IA, IA

My County Parks; Iowa (LA); On-site; USD 51,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full county benefits

Job summary

My County Parks is seeking a dynamic leader to run field operations across 19 parks and roughly 2,000 acres, including Big Hollow Recreation Area and multiple river accesses. You will supervise a small staff, set standards and culture, and ensure maintenance work is carried out with professionalism and accountability.

The role emphasizes real leadership over traditional management, with a focus on proactive problem solving, cross-team coordination, and community impact within Des Moines County.

Qualifications

• Minimum four years of experience in parks, outdoor recreation, natural resources, or related field.
• Minimum two years of supervisory experience.
• Degree in outdoor recreation, natural resources, or similar field preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee field operations across 19 parks and ~2,000 acres, including major recreation areas.
• Supervise three full-time staff, one permanent part-timer, and two+ seasonal staff.
• Set standards and culture; lead a lean, professional maintenance team.
• Coordinate maintenance and operations from the BigHollow maintenance shop.

Skills

Leadership

Self-motivation

Problem solving

Education

Outdoor recreation degree

Job description

Salary $51,397 - $64,246 + full county benefits

Deadline

Deadline 09/23/2026

Description

Think you're the right leader for this job? Read the rest carefully before applying.

The position

If selected for this role, you'll run field operations across 19 parks and roughly 2,000 acres including Big Hollow Recreation Area which sees about 70,000 visitors per year and Starr's Cave Nature Center at 50,000 visitors. You'll also be responsible for three campgrounds and about 150 campsites, and four Mississippi River accesses where the water level sets your schedule and boat docks sometimes have to be moved on short notice.

You'll supervise three full-time staff, one permanent part-timer, and two or more seasonals through summer. You'll work out of the maintenance shops at BigHollow, ten miles from the director's office. Hence the "self-motivated" requirement.

Leading the field team

This is a leadership role, not a management role. You're theperson your crew looks to when the standard is being set. What you toleratebecomes the standard. What you model becomes the culture.

We operate a pretty lean department. There are no carpenterson staff, no construction techs, no work that belongs to someone else's jobclass. If it needs doing, the field team does it, and does it to a standardthat outsiders assume takes a bigger budget and more people. That takes real professionalism,honest accountability, and a stubborn instinct to figure it out rather thanwait for the resources.

Perpetual improvement runs on two tracks here. Thedepartment's - the way it was done last year is a starting point, not the standard. And your own - you're expected to get better at this work than you werelast year: to learn your profession, stay open to ideas that aren't yours, andtry things that might not work. Above all, to get better as a leader, becauseyour crew's performance follows yours.

It's more than parks

Parks are how this department contributes to Des MoinesCounty, how we create a community worth living in.Economic developers do that with projects, the chamber does it by backing localbusiness, the tourism bureau does it by bringing people here. We do it withparks, campgrounds, and protected land.That means the person in this role sees past the road grading to the kid that will ride her bike on the park road next weekend. Past the ash-filled fire ring to the family trying to get one more camping season in with the grandparents while they can still get around well enough to join them. Past the honeysuckle-choked forest to the new hunter's first harvest.

You might thrive here if…

• You do this job because it means something more than a paycheck and insurance coverage.
• You notice a downed sign before anyone reports it, and you seethat it gets fixed before anyone calls it in, even if that means doing ityourself while you’re in the park for something else entirely.
• When something gets missed, yousay so before the director finds it.
• You set the tone for four people, and you know a crew readsits supervisor's energy before it reads a work order. Motivated, productiveteams aren't an accident, they're the product of good leadership.
• You accept that peak season brings weekend calls. You won'tlove them. But you'll answer them anyway, and you won't make anyone feel badfor needing you.

Who this job isn't for

• It isn't for someone who needs to be told what to do.The project list, the monthly and quarterly goals, the daily coordination — youbuild those with your crew and bring them to the table, not wait to receivethem.
• It isn't for someone who wants a clipboard. You planthe work, make sure your people have what they need, and then you're in it withthem - on the tractor, on the roof, in the water moving a dock. If directingfrom the truck is the appeal, keep looking.
• It isn't a command-and-control job either. Thisdepartment is collaborative. Your crew's input shapes the plan, and asupervisor who can't work that way won't last.
• It isn't law enforcement. There's no certifiedofficer on this department and no enforcement authority in this role. There ispublic contact, and some of it is people who are unhappy, but that’s handledthrough customer service. Law enforcement is left to deputies.
• And it isn't a rung on a ladder. If this is the nextlogical step toward somewhere else, you'll be fine, but you won't be greathere. This role wants someone who'll stay long enough to leave a mark on it. Someone who wants to impact this community for generations, not just until a position in a wealthier county opens.

Requirements

You'll need the following certifications for this role. If you don't have them when you're hired, you'll need to get them within 6 months.

• Iowa Pesticide Applicators License
• NRA Range Office certification

You’ll also need to pass a background check and be insurable under the county's insurance policy.

A minimum of four years of experience in parks, outdoor recreation, natural resources, or related field. A minimum of two years of supervisory experience. A degree in outdoor recreation, natural resources, or similar field is preferred.