Special Events Coordinator (Recreation Coordinator)

City of Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 52,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Santa Barbara's Parks and Recreation Department is seeking a Special Events Coordinator to support community events and photo/film permits across our parks, beaches, and public spaces. This role serves as a primary contact for event organizers, coordinating with City departments to obtain permits, inspections, and approvals while ensuring timelines and budgets stay on track.

Ideal candidates are highly organized, customer-focused, and able to manage multiple events, requests, and

Qualifications

• Three years of increasingly responsible administrative, recreation programming and clerical experience, including experience working with the public.
• Equivalent to completion of the twelfth grade is required.
• Equivalent to a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in recreation services, physical education or a related field is preferred.
• Possession or ability to obtain a valid Community First Aid and CPR certificate.
• Possession or ability to obtain a valid California Driver's License.
• Oral Spanish language fluency is a plus but not required.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary point of contact for event organizers, providing prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable assistance throughout the City’s event permitting and approval process.
• Respond to inquiries regarding special event applications and photo/film permits and explain applicable City requirements, processes, and timelines.
• Review event and photo/film permit applications, contracts, and plans; coordinate or approve permits in accordance with City requirements.
• Coordinate with Police, Fire, Public Works, Waterfront, and other City departments or agencies to facilitate required reviews, permits, inspections, and approvals.
• Track numerous event requirements, deadlines, documents, and approvals and develop effective systems to ensure that assigned events remain on schedule and all required steps are completed.
• Prepare and review event layouts, staffing plans, timelines, cost estimates, and other event materials.
• Assists in coordinating event logistics, including safety requirements, equipment needs, contractor support, security, and crowd management.
• Conduct outdoor venue inspections and serve as the City’s onsite representative for assigned events, responding to organizer questions and ensuring compliance with applicable regulations.
• Participate in coordination meetings with City departments, event organizers, and other stakeholders.
• Prepare post-event evaluations and billing statements, including determining applicable labor and equipment charges.
• Assist senior staff on large-scale community events.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Skills

Event management

Customer service

Organizational skills

Communication

Public engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred (recreation services or related field)

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Accela

PerfectMind

Job description

ABOUT US

At the City of Santa Barbara, the best part of our organization is our people. As a City of Santa Barbara employee, you will work in an environment with other motivated individuals who are passionate about their work. We strive to provide employees with the support they need to thrive. Discover more about us, our values and our organizational culture here.

The City of Santa Barbara’s Parks and Recreation Department is seeking an enthusiastic, highly organized, and customer-focused Special Events Coordinator to support community events and commercial filming across our parks, beaches, and other public spaces. This position plays an important role in helping residents, businesses, nonprofits, and other community partners bring safe and successful events and photo/film shoots to life in Santa Barbara’s public spaces.

The Special Events Coordinator serves as a key point of contact for event organizers, helping them navigate the City’s event permitting and approval process from initial inquiry through completion of the event. This requires coordinating with multiple City departments and outside partners, tracking numerous requirements and deadlines, and ensuring that permits, plans, inspections, fees, and other details are completed accurately and on time.

The position focuses primarily on coordinating public events as well as routine photo and film permit processing, and assists senior staff with large-scale citywide events such as parades, festivals, and community celebrations. This position facilitates special event inquiries, outdoor venue inspections, pre-event permitting, and outdoor onsite event support before, during, and after events.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a primary point of contact for event organizers, providing prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable assistance throughout the City’s event permitting and approval process.
• Respond to inquiries regarding special event applications and photo/film permits and explain applicable City requirements, processes, and timelines.
• Review event and photo/film permit applications, contracts, and plans; coordinate or approve permits in accordance with City requirements.
• Coordinate with Police, Fire, Public Works, Waterfront, and other City departments or agencies to facilitate required reviews, permits, inspections, and approvals.
• Track numerous event requirements, deadlines, documents, and approvals and develop effective systems to ensure that assigned events remain on schedule and all required steps are completed.
• Prepare and review event layouts, staffing plans, timelines, cost estimates, and other event materials.
• Assists in coordinating event logistics, including safety requirements, equipment needs, contractor support, security, and crowd management.
• Conduct outdoor venue inspections and serve as the City’s onsite representative for assigned events, responding to organizer questions and ensuring compliance with applicable regulations.
• Participate in coordination meetings with City departments, event organizers, and other stakeholders.
• Prepare post-event evaluations and billing statements, including determining applicable labor and equipment charges.
• Assist senior staff on large-scale community events.
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Ideal Candidate:

The ideal candidate is an exceptionally organized, customer-focused professional who enjoys helping people navigate complex processes and coordinating many details at once. This position requires someone who can keep track of numerous requirements, deadlines, approvals, and follow-up items across multiple events and City departments. Because the position does not rely on a single system to track every step of the event process, the successful candidate will be proactive and resourceful in developing and maintaining their own effective work-tracking systems.

The ideal candidate is also comfortable working with a wide range of people and maintaining a professional, helpful demeanor in challenging situations. The position requires frequent communication with event organizers as well as internal City staff who provide plan reviews, inspections, approvals, and other services needed to move events forward. Strong customer service skills, sound judgment, persistence, and the ability to build positive working relationships are essential.

This position is also well suited to someone who enjoys a varied work environment. Approximately 20% of the work occurs in the field and may include outdoor venue inspections, event setup and support, and onsite event coordination. The successful candidate should be comfortable approaching and speaking with people they do not know, answering questions in a public setting, and representing the City in a professional and approachable manner.

The ideal candidate is available to work standard business hours Monday through Friday with an option for a 9-80 schedule. This position will also require occasional evening and weekend work, with as much advance notice as possible.

For complete job description, click here: Recreation Coordinator

Experience:

Three years of increasingly responsible administrative, recreation programming and clerical experience, including experience working with the public.

Training:

Equivalent to completion of the twelfth grade is required. Equivalent to a Bachelors degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in recreation services, physical education or a related field is preferred.

License or Certificate:

Possession or ability to obtain a valid Community First Aid and CPR certificate. Possession or ability to obtain a valid California Driver's License.

Language:

Oral Spanish language fluency is a plus but not required.

Desirable Skills and Competencies:

• Event management or hospitality experience.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to independently track multiple projects, requirements, deadlines, approvals, and follow-up items.
• Strong communication and customer service skills, including the ability to work effectively with residents, nonprofits, promoters, businesses, City staff, and other partners.
• Ability to explain processes and requirements clearly and help event organizers navigate complex City procedures.
• Ability to build effective working relationships across departments and follow up professionally and persistently to obtain needed information, reviews, and approvals.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, problem-solve in dynamic situations, exercise sound judgment, and maintain professionalism under pressure.
• Experience with Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) as well as the ability to learn specialty programs such as Accela and PerfectMind.
• Familiarity with event planning, public facility operations, crowd management, and basic health, fire, and safety standards.
• Ability to learn and apply City requirements, permitting procedures, safety standards, and other regulations related to special events and public spaces.

It is important that your application show all the relevant education, training, and experience you possess which qualifies you for this position. All applications will be reviewed and the most qualified candidates will be invited to continue in the selection process. Be sure to be thorough in your responses. Statements such as “See application”, “Extensive Experience”, or "See Resume" are not an acceptable substitute for a completed application.

The selection process may consist of an application screening, written exam, computer skills exam and/or an oral interview. The successful candidate's employment history will be thoroughly evaluated prior to appointment.

Communication regarding your application and/or status will be sent to the email address listed on your application. Please check your email and spam regularly throughout the recruitment process. You may also log into your governmentjobs.com account to view these emails.

CITY APPLICATION MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5:30 PM ON SEPTEMBER 7, 2026.