Head of Parks and Urban Forest

HEAD OF PARKS AND URBAN FOREST
 
About Moonee Valley City Council

Moonee Valley City Council is a diverse and vibrant municipality in Melbourne’s inner north-west, delivering a broad range of services that support the amenity, environment and everyday experience of the community.
  
Council is focused on delivering high-quality, responsive and sustainable services while continuing to strengthen how its operations are planned, managed and delivered.
  
This position presents an exciting opportunity to lead one of Council’s largest operational functions and shape the future delivery of its parks, open space and urban forest services.
  
About the Role
  
The Head of Parks and Urban Forest is a senior position responsible for the planning and delivery of Council’s sports fields, conservation, parks, cityscapes and tree services, ensuring high standards of presentation, amenity, safety and environmental performance.
  
Reporting to the Manager City Presentation, you will oversee a large multidisciplinary operational function, with responsibility for developing capability, strengthening performance and creating a positive and accountable team culture. With much of the service delivered in-house, a key priority will be strengthening workforce planning, scheduling and resource allocation to support efficient and responsive service delivery.
  
The role will take a broader view of how the function operates, identifying opportunities to improve systems, processes and service performance while building capability and accountability across the team. You will also oversee budgets and key contracts, balancing operational priorities with safety, service quality and value for the community.
  
Working collaboratively across Council and with community stakeholders, you will help ensure these highly visible services continue to respond to organisational priorities, environmental outcomes and community expectations.
  
About You
  
You are an experienced operational leader with a background across parks, trees, open space, sports grounds or a related service environment. Experience at Coordinator level or above within Local Government, or in a similarly complex service delivery environment, will be highly regarded.
  
Importantly, you will bring strong people management capability, with experience overseeing sizeable and diverse operational teams. You know how to build capability, set clear expectations and create a culture of accountability, safety and high performance, while confidently managing change and addressing performance when required.
  
You bring the ability to step beyond day-to-day operational requirements and look at the bigger picture, identifying opportunities to improve workforce planning, resource allocation, scheduling and the way services are delivered.
  
Commercial and financial capability will also be important, with experience managing budgets, contractors and resources and making considered decisions around service quality, cost and value.
  
A collaborative and pragmatic approach will be key. You will be comfortable building strong relationships across Council, engaging with the community and bringing people with you as the function continues to evolve.
  
A relevant tertiary qualification directly related to the portfolio is required, with postgraduate qualifications in business management or a related discipline viewed favourably.
  
Application Process

Public Sector People is partnering with Moonee Valley City Council to recruit this newly created opportunity within the City Presentation department.
  
For a confidential discussion or to request a copy of the position description, please contact Blanche Grimaux at Public Sector People.
  
To apply, please submit your CV and a brief cover letter via the link.
Applications close at 5pm Tuesday 29th September 2026.