Senior Tree Surgeon

Los Angeles Unified School District; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

CalPERS retirement

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Job summary

LAUSD is seeking a Senior Tree Surgeon to assist the Tree Maintenance Supervisor in planning and supervising tree surgery and trimming work across school and office sites in the Los Angeles area.

The role requires three years of tree surgery experience, a high school diploma or equivalent, and a valid California driver’s license. The position includes leadership responsibilities and safety oversight on job sites.

Qualifications

• Graduation from high school or equivalent educational proficiency is required.
• Three years of experience in tree surgery and tall tree trimming.
• Valid California driver’s license to operate a motor vehicle.

Responsibilities

• Supervise tree maintenance crews and plan pruning and trimming work.
• Inspect trees on sites and determine methods for surgery and trimming.
• Estimate labor and material costs for proposed tree work and track job costs.
• Climb, repair, trim, prune, and shape trees as needed.
• Maintain records of time expended on jobs and supervise safety near power lines.

Skills

Tree surgery

Tree trimming

Supervising

Cost estimation

Safety awareness

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Job description

Application Open Date: Monday, November 2, 2026

Application Close Date: Monday, November 16, 2026

INFORMATION ABOUT LAUSD

We are LAUSD. We are at the forefront of innovation in public education, focused on a clear and inspiring vision of the future for all of our students as they venture forward on their journey as lifelong learners. Here, you will have the opportunity to exercise your potential in a role supporting the business of education. Our work directly contributes toward the goal of ensuring that our students graduate ready for the world – ready to thrive in college, career and life. LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation with an enrollment of nearly 575,000 students. We serve an area totaling 710 square miles, with over 1,190 schools and educational centers, and we employ over 74,000 individuals, making us one of the largest employers in our city.

LAUSD Employees: Please be advised that all LAUSD employees must sign in to the GlobalProtect Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to submit an application from an external network outside of an LAUSD location. For assistance with installing the GlobalProtect virtual network, please contact Information Technology Service at [phone] or [phone].

BENEFITS

Insurance: Paid premiums for your choice of several medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. Retirement: Membership in the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS). Vacation: Full-time employees earn up to two weeks of paid vacation to start. Three weeks after five years of year-round paid service. Paid Holidays: Up to 13 days.

JOB DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

A Senior Tree Surgeon assists the Tree Maintenance Supervisor in planning and supervising tree surgery and tree trimming work, estimates job costs, and performs skilled tree surgery and trimming.

Typical job duties of an incumbent include:

• Supervises the work of personnel performing tree surgery and tree trimming.
• Inspects trees on school and office sites and determines the best methods of performing tree surgery and trimming.
• Estimates labor and material costs of proposed tree work. Inspects work progress and the quality of work performed.
• Climbs, repairs, trims, tops, prunes, and shapes trees.
• Boxes, balls, cables, braces, and fells trees.
• Strips or supervises the stripping of vines from buildings.
• Operates hand and power tools and equipment. Inspects hand and power tools for serviceability and safety.
• Sharpens or supervises the sharpening of cutting edges.
• Changes or supervises the changing of blades inside chippers and on chain saws.
• Performs the more difficult tree surgery work.
• Maintains records of time expended on jobs.
• May act for the Tree Maintenance Supervisor during absences

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

PROMOTIONAL STATUS IS REQUIRED. You must be a current or retired employee of LAUSD with 130 paid days in regular status in the Classified Service or permanent status in the Certificated Service or have been laid-off within the past 39 months from a regular, permanent LAUSD position in which you passed probation. Laid-off employees’ eligibility as a promotional candidate expires at the end of their 39 month period; as such, laid-off employees applying for promotional career opportunities may not be eligible to complete the assessment process or may be removed from the employment eligibility list once their eligibility as a promotional candidate expires.

EDUCATION: Graduation from high school or evidence of equivalent educational proficiency, preferably supplemented by courses in supervision, tree surgery, and arboriculture.

EXPERIENCE: Three years of experience in tree surgery and tall tree trimming.

SPECIAL: A valid driver’s license to legally operate a motor vehicle in the State of California and use of a motor vehicle.

Special Physical Requirement: Agility to climb tall trees by means of ropes, safety belts, and other climbing apparatus.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate for this position will possess knowledge of:

• Types and treatment of various tree diseases and pests
• Care of trees and shrubbery in the Los Angeles area
• Tree surgery techniques
• Tree trimming and pruning
• Types of knots and rigging required in tree climbing and felling
• Methods of cabling, bracing, boxing, and balling trees
• Bud cutting and angular tree cutting
• Safety precautions and equipment necessary in tree surgery and tree trimming work
• Operation of tools and machinery used in tree moving and trimming

The ideal candidate for this position will possess the ability to:

• Plan, assign, supervise, and review the work of tree maintenance crews
• Estimate time and material costs and keep job cost records
• Prepare job order requests
• Determine corrective measures for tree diseases and pests
• Supervise the installation of safety measures in areas where tree work is in progress and when felling trees close to power lines and buildings

EMPLOYMENT SELECTION PROCESS

The Assessment process for this classification may tentatively consist of an Interview.

This is a competitive process as we anticipate a number of well-qualified candidates for this recruitment. Please make sure that you describe in DETAIL, your experience, education, and training that most closely relates to this position in the online application. In your application you may include a professional resume, but it will NOT be in lieu of a detailed application. Additionally, please attach evidence of graduation from high school or evidence of equivalent educational proficiency demonstrating you meet the EDUCATION requirement (refer to the Minimum Requirements section). Please be sure to include correspondence from @lausd.net and @successfactors.com as an approved sender so that messages aren't accidentally placed into your spam/junk e‑mail folder. For more information about the LAUSD employment assessment process, visit the 'MyLAUSD Career' section of our website at https://careers.lausd.org/pc .

If you have questions regarding the employment selection process, please contact the analyst- in-charge Alexis Anderson at [e-mail]

ADDITIONAL POSTING INFORMATION

The Los Angeles Unified School District is committed to providing a working and learning environment free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation, abusive conduct, or bullying. The District prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, abusive conduct or bullying based on actual or perceived race or ethnicity, gender/sex (including gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding/lactation status and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, religion, color, national origin (including language use restrictions and possession of a driver’s license issued under Vehicle Code), ancestry, immigration status, physical or mental disability (including clinical depression and bipolar disorder, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, epilepsy, seizure disorder, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease), medical condition (cancer related and genetic characteristics), military and veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age (40 and above), genetic information, political belief or affiliation (unless union related), a person's association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance, or regulation in any program or activity it conducts or to which it provides significant assistance. For inquiries or complaints contact our Equal Opportunity Section, [phone]. Selection and promotion are based on a competitive employment assessment process. Candidates who pass all parts of the assessment process are placed on a hiring (eligibility) list based on their assessment score. Hiring departments may make job offers to candidates on the top three ranks of the hiring list. Eligibility typically lasts for 12 months. The hiring list resulting from this assessment process may be used to fill open positions in related job classifications.

LAUSD Talent Acquisition and Selection Branch