Director, Parks - Parks, Forestry Horticulture and Fleet

Department and Commission: Park Operations - Parks, Forestry, Horticulture and Fleet Services, Infrastructure and Community Services
Affiliation: Non-Union
Vacancy Type: New Position
Posting Date: November 09, 2026
Application Deadline: November 23, 2026

About the City of Markham

The City of Markham is consistently ranked among Canada’s top municipal employers. In 2026, the City received its sixth consecutive Canada’s Best Employers recognition from Forbes and Statista Inc., placing third among municipalities and 15th overall in Government Services. An award-winning municipality, Markham is recognized for its leadership in sustainability, innovative urban planning, and strong fiscal management. Serving a diverse and growing community of more than 370,000 residents, Markham combines rich heritage with a vibrant local economy and offers employees the opportunity to contribute to meaningful, impactful work that helps strengthen the community we serve.

Join us and make a lasting difference!

Job Summary

Reporting to the Commissioner, Infrastructure and Community Services, the Director - Park Operations - Parks, Forestry, Horticulture and Fleet Services provides strategic leadership and direction for the City's parks, urban forestry, horticulture, open space operations, playgrounds, sports fields, naturalized areas, and corporate fleet services. The Director is accountable for delivering safe, sustainable, reliable, and cost-effective programs that support community well-being, environmental stewardship, and exceptional municipal service delivery.

As a member of the Infrastructure and Community Services Directors Team and the Department Heads Forum, this role contributes to advancing the City's strategic priorities and organizational excellence objectives. The Director leads a diverse portfolio of operational, capital, and lifecycle programs while ensuring compliance with legislative requirements, managing risk, and supporting the City's continued growth and service expectations.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides strategic leadership for the Parks, Forestry and Horticulture Department, including Corporate Fleet operations, through the development and implementation of short, medium and long-term strategies, business plans, policies, standards, and performance measures.
• Oversees the inspection, maintenance, rehabilitation, and lifecycle management of parks, playgrounds, sports fields, horticultural assets, urban forests, open spaces, and fleet infrastructure to ensure safe, accessible, and high-quality community amenities.
• Directs tree maintenance and replacement programs, natural area stewardship initiatives, park permits and bylaw administration, horticultural services, and contracted maintenance operations.
• Leads the City's Corporate Fleet program, including fleet planning, lifecycle replacement, regulatory compliance, green fleet initiatives, and the effective management of vehicles, equipment, and associated assets.
• Provides operational expertise and strategic advice related to development applications, parks planning, asset management, environmental initiatives, and capital improvement projects.
• Ensures effective risk management frameworks are in place to support public safety, regulatory compliance, environmental responsibility, and operational continuity across all areas of responsibility.
• Serves as a key advisor to the Commissioner, Executive Leadership Team, Council, and Committees on emerging issues, service levels, strategic initiatives, budget matters, and operational risks.
• Represents the City and builds strategic relationships with residents, businesses, contractors, regulators, government agencies, community groups, and professional associations.
• Leads departmental modernization, continuous improvement, workforce planning, succession management, and organizational change initiatives while fostering a culture of accountability, service excellence, safety, and inclusion.
• Oversees operating, capital, and lifecycle budgets, reserve forecasting, procurement activities, and contract management to ensure effective stewardship of public resources.
• Supports the City's emergency management program and provides leadership during emergencies, severe weather events, and other operational incidents affecting municipal assets and services, ensuring cross-departmental collaboration
• Other duties as required.

Qualifications

• Education: University degree in Parks Management, Forestry, Horticulture, Environmental Studies, Public Administration, Business Administration, or related discipline.
• Certifications and licences: Professional designations or certifications relevant to parks management, forestry, horticulture, fleet operations, municipal administration, or leadership are considered assets.
• Experience: Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience, preferably within a municipal or public-sector environment.
• Minimum 5 years of senior leadership experience managing multidisciplinary teams, operational services, capital programs, and complex stakeholder relationships.
• Demonstrated experience leading high-risk public operations, large-scale maintenance programs, capital projects, emergency response activities, and organizational change initiatives.
• Experience managing unionized and non-unionized employees, contractors, consultants, and external service providers.
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Extensive knowledge of municipal parks operations, urban forestry, horticulture, open space management, fleet operations, asset management, and lifecycle planning.
• Strong understanding of municipal governance, budgeting, procurement, contract administration, risk management, and service delivery, and best practices.
• Knowledge of applicable legislation, including occupational health and safety, accessibility requirements, environmental regulations, municipal bylaws, fleet regulations, and Minimum Maintenance Standards.
• Exceptional leadership, relationship-building, negotiation, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Demonstrated political acuity, strategic thinking, and ability to navigate complex and highly visible public issues.
• Strong business, financial, analytical, and problem-solving skills with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications.

Core Behaviours

• Customer Service (Includes Critical Thinking): Demonstrates a customer-focused mindset by applying critical thinking to synthesize complex and ambiguous information, anticipate emerging challenges and opportunities, evaluate strategic risks and impacts, and make high-impact decisions that strengthen organizational performance, shape service strategies, and optimize outcomes for the community and organization.
• Strategic Thinking and Planning (Includes Vision and Political Acuity): Demonstrates strategic thinking by shaping long-term organizational direction, anticipating emerging trends, risks, and opportunities, navigating political and organizational complexity, and aligning strategies, partnerships, and resources to achieve sustainable outcomes for the City and community.
• Change and Innovation: Provides strategic leadership for innovation and transformation by anticipating emerging trends and opportunities, aligning people, processes, and resources, and creating the conditions for sustainable organizational change that advances City priorities and community outcomes.
• Leadership and Management: Creates and sustains a high-performance organizational culture by aligning people strategies with City priorities, fostering inclusive and engaged workplaces, building leadership capability, and anticipating future workforce needs to strengthen organizational effectiveness and resilience.
• Accountability and Results Oriented: Demonstrates accountability by establishing strategic direction, fostering a culture of integrity and ethical behaviour, aligning people and resources to organizational priorities, and ensuring effective performance oversight, risk management, and achievement of organizational outcomes.
• Communication and Collaboration: Shapes a culture of open, respectful, and transparent communication across the organization. Influences and engages diverse audiences, communicates credibly through complex and sensitive situations, and fosters collaboration, trust, and shared commitment to organizational priorities.
• People Development, Relationship and Team Building: Builds organizational capability by developing leaders and teams, fostering a culture of high performance and collaboration, strengthening strategic partnerships, and creating the relationships and conditions necessary to achieve long-term organizational and community outcomes.

Core Values

At the City of Markham, our work is guided by a shared set of core values that shape how we serve our community and support one another.

• Service Excellence: the consistent delivery of high-quality efficient and customer-centric service that exceeds expectations.
• Accountability: our obligation to be responsible and accountable for our actions, decisions and performance.
• People-Focused: putting people first.
• Trust: the confidence we place in each other to act with integrity and fairness.
• Innovation: Investing in each other and the way we deliver our programs and services.

We are looking for candidates who bring these values to life through their actions, decisions, and leadership approach.

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment, you will be required to provide a satisfactory Criminal Record and Judicial Matters check

AI Disclosure

At the City of Markham, we value transparency and fairness in recruitment. While our system (ADP Workforce Now) includes AI-powered features, we do not use AI to screen, assess, or select applicants. All evaluations are conducted by people.

The City of Markham is committed to inclusive, accessible and barrier free employment practices and to creating a workplace that reflects and supports the diversity of the community we serve. Please let us know if you require accommodation and we will work with you to ensure a barrier free hiring process.

Please respect our scent free area by not wearing scented products when visiting the office.