Park Maintenance Specialist I/II - Horticulture
City of Thornton
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
City of Thornton seeks a Park Maintenance Specialist to care for parks, open spaces, trails and medians across the city. You will work outdoors with an open-space team, starting early and performing turf, planting, irrigation, and landscape tasks in a collaborative setting.
The role involves operating equipment, maintaining irrigation systems, and overseeing seasonal maintenance; training staff and ensuring safety on site.
Qualifications
- High school diploma or GED required with related grounds maintenance experience.
- Experience in park, open space or grounds maintenance is preferred.
- Knowledge of pesticide/herbicide safe use and regulatory compliance is desirable.
Responsibilities
- Waters, mows, weeds, trims, renovates, and fertilizes municipal turf areas.
- Maintains trees, shrubs, annuals, and flowerbeds; clears snow and debris.
- Operates and maintains park irrigation systems and related equipment.
- Trains staff, assigns tasks, and ensures safety compliance on site.
- Supports civic events planning and implementation as needed.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Standard shifts run from 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM, providing an early start with afternoons mostly free. The position offers year-round outdoor work in fresh mountain air with 300+ days of Colorado sunshine, featuring diverse, hands‑on tasks across municipal parks and facilities.
Thornton is an expanding municipality with active community development and growing public grounds teams. Whether starting a new municipal career or bringing seasoned horticultural expertise, there is strong demand for skilled maintenance professionals. Our organizational mission is to serve Thornton residents, visitors, and city employees with excellence.
Our Open Space team may be small, but we take pride in the work we do and the natural spaces we help maintain. We’re looking for someone who enjoys working outdoors, starting the day early, and spending their workday in the field rather than behind a desk. You might be a great fit if you have an interest in native prairies, can identify grasses and weeds, enjoy learning about wildlife and habitat management, or are excited by the opportunity to pilot a 55 kg drone. You don’t need to bring every skill to the table - we’re looking for someone with curiosity, a willingness to learn, and an appreciation for the outdoors.
The work offers a welcome change of scenery and the opportunity to make a tangible difference in the community. Outdoor work comes with its share of challenges, including summer heat, winter cold, and unpredictable weather, but it also means experiencing the seasons firsthand. There are spring mornings when the prairie comes alive, fresh air instead of fluorescent lights, and the satisfaction of knowing your work helps preserve the natural spaces people enjoy. If you’re looking for meaningful, hands‑on work outdoors with a close‑knit team, we encourage you to apply!
Under specified supervision, the Park Maintenance Specialist performs a variety of duties maintaining parks, open space, trails, municipal grounds, rights‑of‑way (ROW), medians, and roundabouts; or (occasionally) executes arboricultural responsibilities including the care and preservation of trees, shrubs, and ornamental flowers.
Under general supervision, incumbents assigned to this class are expected to perform the full range of work assigned to this class and to work with independence and initiative.
Under direction incumbents work independently, exercising judgment and initiative. Incumbents may train employees on duties and safety practices, and lead a crew in the absence of a crew leader or supervisor.
- Base Hourly Rate:$26.05 – $39.37 hourly, based on qualifications, relevant experience, and classification level.
- Multi‑Lingual Pay Program:Employees fluent in Spanish, Hmong, or American Sign Language (ASL) are eligible to participate in the City’s Multi‑lingual Pay Program, earning supplemental pay for using language skills in community and team service.
- Paid Vacation & Sick Leave Accrual:New employees begin accruing paid vacation leave at 10 hours per month (120 hours/year) and paid sick leave at 8 hours per month (96 hours/year) starting from their initial hire date.
- Recreation Center & Wellness Access:Complimentary city recreation center pass for the employee, alongside substantial family membership discounts.
- See the "Benefits" tab for more information!
(Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include the following tasks, knowledge, skills and other characteristics. The list of tasks is ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY, and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and tasks performed by positions in this class.)
- Naturally Thornton Program Conversions:Executes turf conversions by removing Kentucky bluegrass, grading and preparing seedbeds, reseeding native varieties, modifying irrigation lines, and maintaining weed‑free establishment.
- Open Space & Aquatic Corridors:Maintains waterways, lakes, trail corridors, and undeveloped open properties. Identifies and controls noxious weeds and invasive trees and shrubs.
- Trail Upkeep & Wildlife Monitoring:Maintains public trails and trail amenities, monitors localized wildlife and fish health conditions, and enforces litter mitigation.
- Computerized Irrigation Maintenance:Operates, repairs, and programs computerized central irrigation systems, replacing sprinkler heads, adjusting controller schedules, and assisting in plumbing pipe installations.
- Civic Event Coordination:Assists in planning, logistics setup, and execution for major civic events including Arbor Day, Thorntonfest, and Trees for Tomorrow; leads tree workshops and educational presentations.
- Safety Hazards & Traffic Control:Inspect parks and trail networks for safety hazards (debris, landslides). Deploys approved traffic control signage and devices when performing work in medians and rights‑of‑way.
- Regulatory Compliance & Logging:Applies pesticides and herbicides strictly in accordance with state and federal regulations; maintains detailed daily chemical usage logs and equipment run records.
- Crew Leadership & Flexibility:Trains co‑workers, assigns field tasks, and monitors work progress of seasonal maintenance personnel. May be required to work overtime, emergency shifts, and varying schedules.
- Snow Response and Removal:Adapts schedule to respond to snow events, including early‑morning or late‑night shifts. Works in adverse weather conditions shoveling snow, operating light equipment, or driving a plow truck for extended shifts.
- Waters, mows, weeds, trims, renovates, and fertilizes municipal turf areas throughout city parks, rights‑of‑way, medians, and roundabouts.
- Plants, waters, edges, prunes, and removes trees, shrubs, bushes, perennials, and flowers. Designs, installs, maintains, and clears annual flowerbeds.
- Clears snow, ice, fallen leaves, and hazardous debris from municipal rights‑of‑way, public sidewalks, trails, sports courts, and athletic fields.
- Empties park trash and recycling receptacles and safely transports collected rubbish to the landfill.
- Inspects and completes maintenance repairs on municipal park amenities, playground structures, picnic tables, grills, and public fixtures.
- Operates and maintains equipment necessary to complete the duties required for the position.
- May train employees, assign work, monitor progress, and inform supervisor of performance issues.
- Performs routine maintenance on municipal ball fields, including repairing and reshaping batter's boxes and pitching mounds.
- Blows turf border zones, hand‑rakes perimeters, edges boundaries, and performs scarifying, nail dragging, and safety dragging on infield clay.
- Cleans and clears litter from bleachers, sweeps dugout dugouts, and transports athletic grounds equipment between facilities.
- Maintains urban trees throughout the City by watering, pruning, trimming, planting, felling, and brush chipping. Identifies and coordinates pruning/removal of high‑risk trees on public grounds.
- Selects, purchases, and plants trees and ornamental nursery materials. Evaluates tree health, planting sites, soil conditions, pests, and fungal diseases, recommending corrective care.
- Maintains municipal tree and shrub inventories using ESRI/ArcMap software; assists with mapping deliverables and required documentation for Thornton's annual Tree City USA designation.
- Participates in the maintenance of the city's specialized Xeric Garden; provides tree care diagnostic guidance and advice to residents, civic groups, and staff; updates web page arboriculture resources.
Performs other duties as assigned.
High school diploma or GED and twelve months related experience. Experience in grounds maintenance, forestry, horticulture, parks operations, open space management, code enforcement, public safety, homeless outreach, social services, natural resource management preferred. Equivalent combinations of education and experience may be considered.
High school diploma or GED and three years’ experience in park, open space, or grounds maintenance, forestry, horticulture, or related field. Equivalent combinations of education and experience may be considered.
Valid Colorado driver’s license with a safe driving record. Commercial Driver’s License preferred.
Ability to obtain one of the following certifications within twelve months of hire; pesticide applicator license, Certified Arborist certification from International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), or mastery badge from the Colorado State University Certified Gardener program.
In addition to previous licensing requirements, must possess Landscape Technician certification, Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) certification from ISA, or a Certified Playground Safety Inspector through the NPRA.
Drone Pilot Licensure preferred.
Knowledge of laws and safety related to vehicle operation.
Knowledge of park, open space, forestry, or horticulture maintenance safety procedures.
Knowledge of materials and equipment used in park, open space, forestry, or horticulture maintenance, including tractors, mowing equipment, edgers, string trimmers, backpack blowers, chippers, pesticide applicators, backhoes, dump trucks, loaders, power drills and saws, aerators, hand tools, and snow removal equipment.
Knowledge of the policies, procedures and goals of the city of Thornton and the department.
Knowledge of the principles and practices of park, open space, forestry, or horticulture maintenance.
Knowledge of laws, regulations and procedures for proper application of pesticides and herbicides.
Knowledge of tree identification, defects, species culture, planting, pruning, removal, pests and diseases.
Skill in operating a two-way radio.
Skill in the safe and lawful operation of all equipment required for the job.
Skill in performing horticultural functions, including maintaining and repairing turf, plants, shrubs, flowers, and trees.
Skill in applying pesticides and herbicides in compliance with all regulations and laws.
Skill in maintaining records and logs.
Skill in traffic control devices when working in the right‑of‑way.
Ability to use standard office equipment, personal computer and job‑related computer applications including electronic mail.
Ability to comprehend and follow verbal or written instructions.
Ability to listen well and communicate effectively orally and in writing with various audiences.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with City employees and the general public.
In addition to previous requirements:
Knowledge of the general principles and practices of employee supervision.
Knowledge of tree risk assessment and remediation.
Knowledge of and ability to assess tree health and recommend issue resolution.
Knowledge of ArcMap/ERSI inventory procedures.
Skill in inspecting parks, open space, municipal grounds, trees, rights‑of‑way and trails for safety hazards.
Skill in installing, maintaining and repairing computerized park irrigation systems.
Ability to supervise, train and monitor seasonal park maintenance employees.
While performing the essential duties of this job, the employee is required to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach, stand, walk, push, pull, lift, finger, grasp, feel, talk, hear, and make repetitive motions. This position is mostly medium work; exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 30 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects. The employee is required to have close visual acuity. The employee is subject to environmental conditions, outside environmental conditions, both inside and outside conditions, extreme cold, extreme heat, noise, vibration, hazards, and atmospheric conditions that affect the respiratory system of the skin.
Examinations may include but are not limited to application screening beyond minimum qualifications; written, oral, practical exercise or any combination thereof or other job related assessment deemed appropriate by Human Resources.
Your application will be used as a screening tool. Completeness and accuracy are important! Any false or untrue statements or material omissions in the application and related paperwork or during the selection process could disqualify you from consideration.
As a condition of employment, the city of Thornton conducts background investigations for all positions which may also include a review of credit report and/or driving record. A drug screen, physical, and/or psychological examination administered by a city‑designated provider will be required for pre‑determined positions.
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