Parks and Recreation Director

The parks and recreation department is typically a city-run program that offers sports, classes, and community events. It also runs the city parks, community centers, and playgrounds. The Parks and Recreation Director is in charge of managing the budget, resources, and staff that make all that happen.

For a small community, there might be just a few parks, but with a larger one, the Parks and Recreation Director could have dozens under his or her umbrella. If you’re the Parks and Recreation Director, you keep your eyes open for new opportunities, meaning you work to identify property that could be developed by the parks and recreation department. You also oversee the shelter rentals for birthday, graduation, anniversary, or wedding celebrations.

In addition to managing the parks, you direct the activities too. That means formulating summer programs for kids, group activities for adults, and family functions for the community. Whether it’s a cooking class for adults, an animal science camp for fourth graders, or a series of concerts in the park, you take care of every detail to make each event safe and fun.

Managing your staff is another pivotal part of the job. You can’t do all that work by yourself, so you rely on your staff to answer questions, provide good customer service, be knowledgeable about the services that the parks and recreation department offers, and run the application and reservations programs.

Sure, you have a lot on your plate, but with the right balance of management, creativity, enthusiasm, motivation, organization, and business sense, your efforts bring an entire community together.