Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

City Of Jacksonville Begins Search For Chief Resiliency Officer

This 2017 file photo shows a flooded San Marco street during Hurricane Irma.
Jessica Palombo
/
WJCT News
This 2017 file photo shows a flooded San Marco street during Hurricane Irma.

The city of Jacksonville has begun its search for a Chief Resiliency Officer, posting the position on its list of current job openings.

The Jacksonville City Council voted in December to create the position, at the recommendation of the Council’s Special Committee on Resiliency, and Mayor Lenny Curry included funding for the role in this year’s city budget.

Jacksonville is currently the only major city in Florida without a Chief Resiliency Officer (CRO).

Related: Climate Advocacy Group Commends And Criticizes Mayor Curry’s Handling Of CRO Bill

According to a job description posted by the city, the CRO will be appointed by the mayor, is subject to City Council confirmation, will report to the Director of Planning and Development and will be responsible for developing and coordinating Jacksonville’s resiliency strategy across city departments and with affiliated agencies.

The city is looking for candidates with a master’s degree or higher in engineering, environmental sciences, biology, sustainability, planning or another closely related field and at least 4 years of relevant work experience. The posted annual salary range is $91,408.76 to $149,238.62.

Jacksonville was on track to have a CRO in 2016 thanks to funding from the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities initiative. However, shortly after Mayor Curry took office, the city dropped out of the program, which awarded cities around the world $1 million to address extreme weather, crime and sea level rise.

Brendan Rivers can be reached at brivers@wjct.org, 904-358-6396 or on Twitter at @BrendanRivers.

Special Projects Producer Brendan Rivers joined WJCT News in August of 2018 after several years as a reporter and then News Director at Southern Stone Communications, which owns and operates several radio stations in the Daytona Beach area.