The Town of Matthews, North Carolina, operating under a Council-Manager form of government, seeks an outstanding leader to be their next Fire/EMS Chief.  The successful candidate will appreciate Matthews’s progressive Town culture with active citizens, employees and close proximity to Charlotte. A track record of open accessibility and engaging with the community and staff to collaborate to reach community goals is essential. The successful candidate will have be a strategic and visionary team builder who possesses operational and tactical experience to lead the Fire/EMS department.  

The Community

Located along Highway 74, the Town of Matthews, with a population of over 30,000, is adjacent to the city of Charlotte  in Mecklenburg County. Matthews encompasses 17 square miles and features a variety of shops, restaurants, cultural activities, commercial districts, and a vibrant historical downtown district.  In 1996, the National Register of Historic Places listed 10 downtown buildings in Matthews. Known as Matthews Commercial District, they comprise a small, but remarkably intact, collection of structures dating from the late 19th to the early 20th century including a charming train depot now used as the Matthews Visitor Center.  A combination Town Hall and Public Library opened nearby in 2001.  Family Dollar Stores, a Fortune 500 company has its headquarters in Matthews. The area boasts hiking trails, greenways and is close to the largest equestrian population in the state.   To learn more about the community, click here.

Position description and responsibilities:  Reporting to the Town Manager, the Fire/ EMS Chief will lead a combination department of two fire stations and 15 FTE staff consisting of 2 fire captains, 3 lieutenants, 9 firefighters/EMTs, and 1 administrative support position. In addition, the Chief supervises more than 70 volunteers from the rank of firefighter/EMT through Assistant Fire Chief.  The Chief will supervise a $2.0M budget.  At Station 1 there are one ladder truck, one rescue truck, one brush truck, one squad truck,  and one pumper truck. Station 2 has two pumper trucks and one squad truck.   The department provides first responder BLS-level care at emergency scenes but does not transport patients. Career staff covers the stations Monday through Friday from 6 AM - 6 PM, while nights and weekends are covered exclusively by volunteers.  Matthews Fire & EMS responded to approximately 3,500 calls for service in 2015. The department responds to neighboring cities and towns when requested as part of the county mutual aid agreement. In addition to emergency response, the department also participates in numerous public relations events. Such events include education/prevention at schools, birthday parties at the fire station, and apparatus displays at various businesses during safety days.  The Matthews Fire Department carries an ISO rating of 5 for residential and commercial properties and wants to evaluate this going forward.  The Chief is expected to be an engaged chief, trusting his staff to manage incidents but engaged with his fire fighters, with citizens, and partners in multiple jurisdictional agreements.

The successful candidate:

·       has a proven track record in building and maintaining morale through effective teambuilding, advocacy and consistency of policy application;

·       is strategic in assessing needs and changes in Town and adapting plans, technology and staffing as needed to meet the safety needs of the community;

·       has outstanding interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills 1:1, and in small or large groups; 

·       is skilled at engaging collaboratively and diplomatically with a variety of stakeholders such as fire department staff, other Town employees, individual citizens, community groups, Town Board members, and regional, state and federal authorities in order to leverage department opportunities and manage challenges;

·       is committed to continued training and professional development for staff in order to build skills, achieve performance excellence and develop staff for promotional opportunities and varied job assignments;

·       has a track record of developing community and regional partnerships;

·       understands volunteer departments and can work to blend career and volunteer professional cultures;

·       has experience in developing and maintaining mutual aid relationships;

·       is an individual with the highest level of integrity and a proven record of consistency and reliable performance;

·       has experience working in council-manager form of government and skills to both advocate for the department and partner to meet strategic goals of the Board and Town Manager;

·       has held multiple assignments across functional areas such as suppression, prevention, EMS, and administration leading to a rich understanding of breadth and depth of roles that fire fighters assume.

·       demonstrates knowledge and familiarity with all areas of fire and rescue suppression, operations, and prevention as well as technology supporting these functions;

·       is skilled in budget development and management, policy development and application;

·       is committed to developing progressive fire service strategies and advancing the department despite budget constraints, and;

·       communicates well both verbally and in writing and possesses excellent interpersonal skills and abilities.

Qualifications and Pay:   

The Town seeks a fire safety leader with a minimum of 10 years progressive fire safety experience and 5 years of cross-functional and progressively responsible experience including fire suppression, prevention, EMS and administrative work at rank of Battalion Chief or higher; an associate’s degree is required while a BA/BS degree is preferred along with National Fire Academy certification.       

The hiring range is $70,000- $90,000, depending on qualifications and experience.   

To apply, you must complete an online application via Developmental Associates’ online system (or copy and paste https://www.developmentalassociates.com/client-openings/ into your browser).  Resumes may be uploaded to the system but will not be accepted in lieu of a fully completed application.    All inquiries should be emailed to Matthewshiring@developmentalassociates.com.  The application closing date is June 25, 2016 and an assessment center will be held in Matthews on August 4-5, 2016 for selected finalists. The Town of Matthews is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The recruitment and selection process is being managed by Developmental Associates, LLC.