Details
01/16/2019
Fire Chief
City of Winchester, VA
The City of Winchester, VA is seeking an experienced and passionate leader to serve as Fire Chief. The Fire and Rescue Chief position is a very visible member of the senior leadership team of the City and requires well-developed leadership abilities and management skill sets that are based upon consensus building and problem-solving. He/she must be a highly motivated, self-starting, and confident individual with excellent, genuine, and trustworthy interpersonal skills. The City is seeking progressive candidates committed to excellence in delivery of fire and EMS services.
About the City:
The City of Winchester, VA (pop. 27,932), located at the top of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia is a vibrant, historic community that has been welcoming visitors with warm hospitality for over 270 years. The City covers 9.3 square miles (virtually all of which is land) and is located in the Shenandoah Valley between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains, approximately 75 miles west of Washington, D.C. Old Town Winchester has over 30 unique restaurants, 60 fun shops and numerous history sites and museums, including Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters Museum, George Washington’s Office Museum, and a 45-block National Register Historic District.
The City is organized under the Council-Manager form of government. The governing body, the Common Council, is elected by voters under a ward system defined in Section Four (4) of the Winchester City Charter. Between 2006 and 2008, City Council transitioned from a thirteen (13) member body to a nine (9) member body. Today, two council members are elected from each of the four wards, and the Mayor is elected at large. The City’s FY19 adopted budget is $251 million with the Fire and Rescue Department’s budget at $6,975,600 from the General Fund and $1,125,000 from the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fund.
About the Fire Department:
The Fire and Rescue Department is an effective combination modern fire and rescue department comprised of four (4) volunteer- owned fire stations. Those volunteer fire companies include the Friendship Volunteer Fire Company, the Rouss Volunteer Fire Company, the Shawnee Volunteer Fire Company, and the South End Volunteer Fire Company. The City of Winchester provides the staffing for each of the stations working a 24/48 shift schedule. Alongside the Chief, the department has 72 positions which include 63 field operations, training, EMS billing, and administrative functions. The volunteer component additionally adds twenty-one (21) active operational volunteers and sixty (60) active administrative volunteer members. Collectively, most volunteers own the stations, all the ambulances and fire apparatus that are utilized for emergency response within the city. The department provides 24-hour fire protection and Advanced Life Support (ALS) medical services and responded to over 6,000 calls in 2017 with approximately 75% of the calls as EMS emergencies. The department received an ISO Class 3 rating in 2014 and was upgraded to a Class 2 in 2018. The City and Department are focused on services and Community Risk Reduction outreach.
The successful candidate will provide: Possession of a valid and appropriate driver’s license. Possess and maintains valid and appropriate certificates for the following: Fire Officer – Level I, II, III, & IV NFPA 1403 Compliance Officer, NFA – Incident Safety Officer, Fire Instructor – Level I & II, Firefighter Level II, Emergency Medical Technician, Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (Level III), Driver Operator – Pumper AND Aerial, Mayday Firefighter Down and Hazardous Material Operations. Certificates must be available and recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Successful candidates must possess: • A bachelor’s degree in Fire Science or related field • Ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in fire and rescue administration, emergency medical services, firefighting, emergency management and hazardous materials. • A Master’s Degree in Fire Science, Public Administration or other related fields is preferred. • Graduation from the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and Emergency Manager and Incident Manager Certifications preferred.
The annual salary for this position is $110,000 (+/-) depending upon qualifications and reports directly to the City Manager. The City of Winchester, VA also offers an attractive and competitive benefits package. Interested professionals should apply online at www.GovHRJobs.com with a résumé, cover letter and contact information for five (5) work-related references by February 22, 2019 attention:Tim Sashko Electronic submissions are required. Telephone inquiries: GovHR USA (847) 380-3240.
THE CITY OF WINCHESTER IS PROUD TO BE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
