City Manager - Oak Ridge, TN

Oak Ridge, TN (pop. 31,402), a growing and historically significant city rich in natural beauty, seeks a highly collaborative, entrepreneurial, experienced municipal government professional to serve as its next City Manager. Oak Ridge has a council-manager government structure under a 7-member council that is elected at large. The city has benefitted from elected and appointed leaders who value consensus building and teamwork, resulting in a culture described as collaborative and supportive. Oak Ridge, located 25 miles west of Knoxville in both Roane and Anderson counties, is strategically located in a valley between the Cumberland and Great Smoky Mountains, providing numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation in a stunning part of the country.  Oak Ridge is a vibrant, family friendly community with a wide variety of restaurants, shopping, numerous community events and excellent schools -- Oak Ridge Schools are consistently ranked among the top in Tennessee.

Oak Ridge was created by the federal government to construct the first atomic weapon and is known as the Atomic City and the Secret City. The federal government still owns a sizeable fraction of the land area, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has a large presence, with major facilities operated by multiple contractors for different components of DOE. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a multiprogram research laboratory of the DOE Office of Science.  The Y-12 National Security Complex is a production facility of the National Nuclear Security Administration, responsible for the maintenance and production of uranium components of nuclear weapons in the United States arsenal. As the nuclear stockpile is reduced, Y-12 dismantles these devices to allow the special materials to be used for electric power generation by the commercial power industry.  The DOE Office of Environmental Management oversees ongoing activities to remove legacies from past decades of federal nuclear work. Also, the city is home to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The city has developed a Blueprint for Oak Ridge  that is a citizen supported, visionary plan for future growth and development.  The next step is to work on a new Comprehensive Plan that will guide growth and amenities into the future with an eye toward being the most livable and progressive community for its citizens.

• Oak Ridge is a full-service city with a FY2023 total budget of $220 million and 418 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions across all funds. The City’s budget includes the budget for the highly rated Oak Ridge public schools.  The city and the Oak Ridge School system have a collaborative working relationship which is critical as the community grows and further develops.
• The City Manager will be expected to: 1)Effectively represent the city’s interests in interactions with multiple DOE components and federal contractors ; and  2)Promote and support private-sector development and business activity in the city that utilizes specialized technical expertise and workforce skills associated with local DOE research and production; and 3) Address and improve recruitment and retention efforts for city staff; and 4) Foster a variety of ongoing and planned capital projects, including completion of the  new water treatment facility and a planned General Aviation airport; and (5) stimulate progress toward achieving the city’s goal of “creating a downtown” via mixed-use development in the central city;  and 6) Address aging housing stock some of which was built by the federal government in the 1940s for the Manhattan project.
  
  
• The City Council seeks candidates with an engaged, active management approach that enables them to remain versed on major priorities and issues while empowering their managers to lead. Successful candidates will have a track record of cultivating productive teams with positive morale. They will have a strong grasp of municipal finance and budget, high emotional intelligence and a commitment to building relationships with local government partners and community stakeholders.

Qualifications: A master’s degree in public administration, business administration, urban planning, or related field and seven to ten years of progressively responsible municipal government experience, including senior management leadership, ideally in a region with a large federal presence. Under Tennessee law applications may be subject to open records request. The anticipated hiring range for this position is $200,000 to 215,000 +/- DOQ. The manager will be required to reside in the city of Oak Ridge after a reasonable amount of time. Apply by June 2, 2023, at www.GovHRjobs.com to the attention of Heidi Voorhees, President and W. Lane Bailey, Senior Vice President, GovHR USA. Tel: (847) 380-3240.