Public Design Commission Liaison

City of New York•Flushing, NY

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Public Design Commission Liaison serves as the Parks Agency’s main point of contact to the Public Design Commission (PDC), under the direction of the Deputy Chief of Landscape Architecture and Interagency Coordination. The position supports the successful approval of more than 300 annual designs and facilitates collaborative design policy and special projects with the commission. It is based at Olmsted Center in Queens. The role coordinates monthly design submissions across Parks units, public and private partners, and sister agencies; maintains relationships with PDC staff and commissioners; manages communications and records throughout the review cycle; and represents the agency at monthly PDC meetings. It also prepares design teams for public hearings and committee meetings, supports design review administration and presenter coaching, coordinates project nominations for PDC’s Annual Awards for Excellence in Design, and helps maintain shared design resources to promote quality and consistency in in-house projects. This vacancy is open only to specified current full-time, annually paid Parks employees who meet the stated civil service title, comparable title, or eligible-list requirements. Applications must be submitted through cityjobs.nyc.gov. References may be required. Hired candidates are subject to a processing fee of $40 to $101 based on the salary range; candidates not currently employed by the City are also subject to a $107.50 background check fee.

Requirements

The vacancy is open only to current full-time, annually paid Parks employees who meet one of the stated eligibility routes: serving in, or on leave from, the Administrative Community Relations Specialist civil service title; permanent Parks employees in or on leave from a comparable title; employees reachable on the relevant civil service list or a comparable list; or employees who qualify for a comparable title.
Applicants must indicate the exam title, exam number, and list number or comparable title on their resume, as applicable.
Administrative Community Relations Specialist qualification route: a bachelor’s degree from an appropriately accredited college or university and four years of satisfactory, full-time community liaison, community organization, or community relations experience, including at least two years in a broad administrative or policy-making capacity involving responsibilities such as planning, organizing, coordinating, developing, evaluating, or administering a large community service program or activity.
Alternative qualification route: a four-year high school diploma or equivalent and eight years of satisfactory, full-time experience as described above, including at least two years in a broad administrative or policy-making capacity with the described responsibilities.
Education and/or experience equivalent to either of the stated qualification routes may be accepted, subject to the stated substitution rules.
Undergraduate education above high school may substitute for community liaison, community organization, or community relations experience at 30 semester credits per year, up to four years, but may not substitute for the required two years of broad administrative or policy-making experience.
Graduate education beyond a bachelor’s degree may substitute for community liaison, community organization, or community relations experience at 30 graduate credits per year, up to two years, but may not substitute for the required two years of broad administrative or policy-making experience.
All candidates must have a four-year high school diploma or equivalent and two years of full-time experience in a broad administrative or policy-making capacity with the described responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Serve as the Agency’s main point of contact to the Public Design Commission under the direction of the Deputy Chief of Landscape Architecture and Interagency Coordination.
Help ensure approval of more than 300 annual designs and facilitate collaborative design policy and special projects with the commission.
Maintain high-level relationships with PDC staff and commissioners to support efficient communication during the review cycle.
Manage monthly design submissions for Parks units, public and private partners, and sister agencies; coordinate project managers and design consultants to align milestones and ensure materials are complete, accurate, and submitted on time.
Coordinate accurate responses during the review cycle, ensure they match the Agency’s standard tone and support approval, maintain correspondence, interagency status memos, and approval certificates, and manage the project database.
Represent the Agency in person at every monthly PDC meeting alongside the Chief of Landscape Architecture.
Guide and prepare design teams to present proposed designs succinctly and respond appropriately at public hearings and committee meetings, in coordination with the Chief of Landscape Architecture.
Nominate Agency projects and coordinate materials for PDC’s Annual Awards for Excellence in Design.
Support Design Administration staff with design review coordination and facilitate in-house and Commissioner reviews as needed.
Coach presenters and provide preparation sessions before design reviews, matching the level of detail to the audience.
Support administrative duties for the shared Design Resources folder to promote design quality and consistency for in-house projects, in coordination with the Director of Landscape Architecture Resources and the Chief of Landscape Architecture.