Statement of Duties
The Superintendent of Grounds is responsible for the management and operation of all City public grounds maintenance and cleaning, including all schoolyards, parks, playgrounds, community paths, athletic fields, green spaces, and athletic courts, as well as the continued health/maintenance of all public shade trees within the City of Somerville.
Essential Functions
The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various type of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.
- Manages a staff of foremen, tree care professionals, motor equipment operators, mechanics and laborers spanning the Grounds Division in the Department of Public Works.
- Plans, organizes and directs the delivery of maintenance services for all planting beds, irrigation systems, surfaces and play structures for a portfolio of over 60 public open spaces.
- Implements, develops, and monitors a variety of service contracts related to grounds maintenance including landscaping and surface maintenance, irrigation maintenance and repairs, play structure maintenance and repairs, as well as all cultural work on our the City’s natural grass fields and parks.
- Develops, recommends and implements best practices for the maintenance and upgrading of the urban forest, including tree health evaluation/preventive maintenance, contracts to fertilize, spray, trim, remove dead trees, prevent Dutch elm disease, Pine Bark Beetles, Emerald Ash borer, and other urban forest deliverables per City plans.
- Acts on the City’s behalf to protect the public in cases of emergency/hazardous situations involving all trees, including issuing orders to correct hazardous conditions.
- Manages City vendors, including assessing and documenting vendor performance and efficiency.
- Oversees seasonal changeovers and decorations on City property.
- Coordinates departmental cooperation with stakeholders in other City departments, including City Administration, OSPCD, School Department, Recreation, Constituent Services, Infrastructure and Asset Management, Inspectional Services and others.
- Supports, adjusts, and manages the City’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan in parks and playgrounds.
- Prepares a wide variety of written materials (e.g. City Council agenda items and briefings, contracts for professional services, budgets, property contracts, legislative updates, contract changes, requests for proposals, a variety of narrative and statistical reports related to constructions, maintenance, and modernization of facilities) for the purpose of documenting activities, providing written reference, seeking input, and/or conveying information.
- Oversees and administers the purchasing of supplies and equipment according to Federal, State, and City purchasing policies and procedures.
- Makes preliminary estimates of the cost of repairs and maintenance to City and School facilities.
- Researches new products, laws, and regulations for the purpose of recommending purchases, contracts, maintaining city-wide services and compliance.
- Selects vendors and contractors who provide ground maintenance services.
- Reviews, comments on, and closes out all Grounds service orders, and ensures that work is completed appropriately and efficiently.
- On site availability, at any hour, for all severe weather events including snow and flooding.
- Oversees removal of snow from parks and playgrounds.
- Other related duties as assigned.
Recommended Minimum Qualifications
Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Business Administration, Parks and Recreation Management, Turfgrass Science and Management or a related field, with five to seven (5-7) years of work experience managing one or more crews or laborers, with a preference for experience maintaining a portfolio of parks and playgrounds, or similar assets (athletic fields, golf courses, landscapes, etc) ; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.
Other Requirements:
Valid Class D driver’s license required, Commercial Drivers License preferred.
Knowledge, Abilities and Skill
Knowledge:
- Knowledge of operations, services and activities of a comprehensive park management program, including principles and practices of park management and facilities maintenance; playground safety, inspections and record keeping; irrigation system installation, maintenance and operations; tree, shrub and lawn care; installation and maintenance of large scale landscape environments; regular inspections and scheduled preventive maintenance on built fixed assets such as benches, fencing, water play features. Will also manage living assets such trees, shrubs, perennials, and diverse planting beds.
- Knowledge and experience with work order management systems and ability to prioritize, schedule frequencies and assign work orders.
- Knowledge of principles and practices of municipal budget preparation and administration preferred.
- Working knowledge of state procurement laws preferred.
- Knowledge of grant administration preferred.
Abilities:
- Ability to manage staff and oversee multiple work crews and individuals subject to distinct collective bargaining agreements and operating in a variety of parks and open spaces.
- Ability to lead others, enforce policies and regulations, coordinate training and professional development, receive feedback and problem-solve.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks in a detailed and accurate manner.
- Ability to read and interpret construction plans, diagrams and blueprints.
- Ability to write and schedule preventive maintenance job plans, prepare technical reports and formulate recommendations.
- Ability to think creatively, exercise emotional intelligence and maintain or shift focus in accordance with changing priorities.
- Ability to establish effective working relationships with employees and contractors doing business with the City.
- Ability to deal with community members and other customers in a tactful and professional manner.
Skill:
- Strong administrative, leadership and mentoring skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Computer and technological fluency in Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and Computer Management Maintenance Systems (CMMS); ability to learn City financial and constituent service request tracking software systems.
- Bi-lingual or multilingual ability in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole and/or Nepali is preferred.
Work Environment
The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. When in the field or attending meetings, the environment can be at construction sites and outdoors. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.
Physical and Mental Requirements
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an
employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.
Physical Skills
Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of driving, stooping, crouching, walking, and standing. Work requires some agility such as moving in or about construction sites or over rough terrain. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as books, office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.) When in the field, more physical skill may be required to accomplish the duties required.
Motor Skills
Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job requires motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone system, computer and/or most other office equipment, typing and/or word processing, filing, and sorting.
Visual Skills
Visual demands include constantly reading documents for general understanding and for analytical purposes and routinely reviewing documents and plans with a need for color vision.
Hours: 8:00am - 4:00pm Monday - Friday plus other hours as needed
Salary: $110,000 annually plus benefits
Union: Teamsters Local 25
FLSA: Exempt
Date Posted: May 13, 2026
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The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact the ADA Coordinator at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or ADA@somervillema.gov.
Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:
- MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
- Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees
Overview of Total Rewards:
- 4 weeks annual vacation for non-union positions. Union positions vary by contract. Please note, police officers are members of the SPEA union. Public Health Nurses are part of Union A (SMEA).
- Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
- Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
- Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
- Long term disability through Sun Life
- Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
- Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
- Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
- Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
- Annual cancer screening & wellness release
- Somerville Retirement Pension System
- Tuition reimbursement
- MBTA pass program
- FREE Blue Bikes membership
- Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)
Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.
