Vegetation Management Leader: Drive Reliability & Safety

Dairyland Power Cooperative; Rushford (MN); On-site; USD 93,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401K and retirement pension

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

Dairyland Power Cooperative seeks a Vegetation Management Manager to lead cross-organization vegetation programs in collaboration with MiEnergy Cooperative and Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative. You will guide safety standards, budget planning, and contractor management while driving reliability and outage reductions.

Responsibilities include strategic vegetation planning, field leadership, and community engagement, with a focus on OSHA/NESC/ANSI compliance and data integration into system

Qualifications

• Associate degree in Forestry, Arboriculture, Environmental Science, or ISA certification; or Utility Arborist certification; plus 5 years in line clearance/vegetation management/tree work/arboriculture.

Responsibilities

• Lead MiEnergy's and Allamakee-Clayton's Vegetation Management Programs to ensure safe, reliable line clearance operations across service territories.
• Develop and execute long-term vegetation management strategies to reduce outages and improve system reliability.
• Manage vegetation contractors, including contract performance, billing review, and compliance with safety, environmental, and quality standards.
• Supervise and support while providing leadership to contractors.
• Oversee vegetation management systems and tools to plan, schedule, track, and report activities.
• Establish and monitor performance metrics (cycle completion, outage reduction, safety, productivity) to drive improvement.
• Conduct field audits and inspections to ensure OSHA, NESC, ANSI, DOT, and environmental regulations.
• Partner with Engineering & Operations to integrate vegetation data into planning and reliability efforts.
• Lead risk tree assessment and line patrols to mitigate vegetation hazards.
• Develop and manage annual vegetation budget and ensure cost-effective resource use.
• Support contractor procurement, bid evaluation, and contract administration.
• Serve as escalation point for member concerns and provide professional resolutions.
• Lead community outreach on tree planting best practices and vegetation programs.
• Promote safety, accountability, and continuous improvement across vegetation activities.
• Strong verbal skills for communicating with members.

Skills

Computer skills

GIS

Microsoft Office

Tree biology knowledge

Vegetation management

Education

Associate degree or ISA/Utility Arborist cert

Tools

Vegetation management software

GIS software

Job description

Dairyland Power Cooperative seeks a Vegetation Management Manager to lead cross-organization vegetation programs in collaboration with MiEnergy Cooperative and Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative. You will guide safety standards, budget planning, and contractor management while driving reliability and outage reductions.

Responsibilities include strategic vegetation planning, field leadership, and community engagement, with a focus on OSHA/NESC/ANSI compliance and data integration into system