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Job Description
Natural Scientist
at The City of Fort Worth
Park & Recreation
Pay Range: $28.84 - $37.49/hr. | $59,984 - $77,979 annual compensation
Job Posting Closing on: Thursday, March 12, 2026
Workdays & Hours: Varies. Ability to work a nontraditional schedule, including evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays, as required.
Benefits for this position include: 11 Paid Holidays, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid Time Off, Pension Plan, Professional Development Opportunities. Find Out More!
The City of Fort Worth is one of the fastest growing large cities in the U.S. Our employees serve the needs of over 1,000,000 residents, promoting our values of exceptional customer experience, mutual respect, embracing our diversity, continuous improvement, ethical behavior, and accountability.
A Natural Scientist job is available with the City of Fort Worth Park & Recreation Department in the Forestry Section. The Park & Recreation Department is comprised of more than 12,000 acres of parkland and includes 300 park and recreation facilities. From hike and bike trails to fitness centers, the Park & Recreation Department is a vital part of Fort Worth, Texas and is an exciting and fulfilling place to work.
The primary role of this Natural Scientist position will be to coordinate and manage the utilization of the Forestry Section's tree removal and pruning contractors. The selected candidate will regularly communicate with vendors, issue any work needed, check to ensure work is performed according to established standards, and coordinate monthly billing and payment of invoices. This position will also serve on a rotational basis as the emergency contact for after-hours and emergency activation.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in a natural or physical science, including biology, geology, botany, range management, environmental science, forestry, or a related field
- One year of experience working in a natural science field providing group instruction and/or developing and implementing natural resource management plans
- Valid Texas driver's license
Preferred Qualifications:
- International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist.
- Knowledge and experience with local trees and proper tree care
- Experience in reconciling invoices and preparing purchase orders
- Experience in developing and maintaining spreadsheets, analyzing data and preparing reports
- Experience in drafting and managing contracts
The Natural Scientist job responsibilities include:
- Verify work performed is in compliance with industry standards, contract specifications and service request instructions
- Communicate inadequacies to contractor and reinspect for compliance after rework
- Coordinate monthly invoices and rectify against contracted rates and service request priority surcharges
- Arrange payment of invoices within accepted timeframe
- Track and forecast expenditures to remain within budget and purchasing agreement thresholds
- Create reports to demonstrate spending trends and statistics for forecasting and planning purposes
- Weekly communication with each vendor to keep informed of progress, work load, response time and resolve any issues
- Resolve citizen inquiries and ensure any damaged property is restored by the responsible contractor
- Management of special projects utilizing approved contractors such as the Neighborhood Improvement Strategy or budget decision packages
- Serve as Forestry's on-call contact for after-hours or weekend activation (occurs for one week per month)
- Assist Hazard Abatement with preliminary on-site inspection of service requests
- Periodic review and revision of contract specifications for potential updates to ensure results meet expectation and to keep up with technology and innovation.
- Pursue renewals as needed, monitor for vendor permitting requirements (e.g., street use permit, etc.) and initiate communication for rebid process
Working Conditions and Physical Demand
Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically require touching, talking, hearing, seeing, grasping, standing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, walking, repetitive motions, climbing, balancing, pushing, pulling and lifting.
Medium work - Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically exert up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, up to 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 20 pounds of force constantly having to move objects.
Apply Now! Come be part of something special in Fort Worth.
Conditions of Employment
The City of Fort Worth is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is the policy and practice of the City to recruit, hire, train and promote a diverse workforce without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, or another non-merit factor.
The City of Fort Worth is committed to full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to participate in the job application or interview process and to perform essential job functions.
Candidates who do not meet the Education requirement, may be considered if they have more relevant work experience than the position requires. Those selected for employment will be required to pass Pre-Employment checks depending on the position requirements. Those could include, but are not limited to: criminal background check, drug screen, education verification, etc. criminal convictions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Employees are paid by direct deposit only.
Closing Date/Time: Thursday, March 12, 2026 -
ABOUT THE COMPANY
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City of Fort Worth
Show moreThe Community
The City of Cowboys & Culture is known for its Texas hospitality. The stunning and sprawling City of
Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. And it’s no wonder — With great neighborhoods, scenic terrain and a rich history of arts and culture, paired with world-class opportunities for business and education, it’s not only fun to visit Fort Worth, it’s even more rewarding to call it home.Fort Worth truly offers all the benefits and amenities of a bustling metropolitan city, while keeping the small- town charm that keeps it unpretentious and charismatic in all the right ways. Designated as one of America’s “Most Livable Communities” by the Partners for Livable Communities, the city truly offers a melting pot of culture, commerce, community and yes, cowboys.
There are over a dozen remarkable districts full of treasured history among modern luxuries and unique places to have fun, making it the No. 1 tourist destination in Texas and welcoming more than 9.4 million visitors annually.
Being one of the fastest-growing among large cities in the country, Fort Worth has received multiple accolades, including number one downtown (Livability), and the second-best City in the nation for job seekers (Forbes). Our employees serve the needs of over 900,000 residents representing culturally diverse communities.
Exciting Growth & Future Development
One of the most fascinating aspects of the City of Fort Worth is its almost unprecedented growth over the past several years. Both in terms of population and industry, and as the 12th largest city in the United States, Fort Worth is truly booming — which presents both challenges and opportunities to truly develop this city in the right way. Every 30 minutes a new person moves to Fort Worth, so we’re looking for candidates who can embrace an evergrowing and changing environment and improve on it with solutions that work for the entire community of Fort Worth.
Mission
We are working together to build a strong community that others can look to as a pillar of unity and excellence. Through grassroots efforts within the community, and large scale construction and transportation plans that continue to add the infra- structure a growing city like Fort Worth needs, we’ll provide the public services our community requires to continually cultivate the unique city we call home.
Vision
Fort Worth’s vision is to be the most livable and best managed city in the country. We’ll do this by taking care of our citizens, implementing the highest quality standards in our schools, continually improving the neighborhoods we thrive in and the facets of the city that make our town so unique.
Benefits That Are Well Worth It
The City of Fort Worth continues to be dedicated to its employees’ well-being by providing competitive health benefits, a well-rounded wellness program and a Zero Accident Philosophy® workplace. All regular full-time employees and those employees who work 30–39 hours per week are eligible for all City of Fort Worth Benefits. Part-time employees who work 20–29 hours per week are eligible for dental, basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, flexible spending accounts, 457 Deferred Compensation plan and other voluntary benefits.
Medical Program
The City offers two plan options through Meritain Health, an Aetna company.
The Health Center Plan – Offers employees and their family’s
primary health care services that are 100% completely free and unlimited. Employees can visit any one of the three City of Fort Worth Employee Health Centers and receive guaranteed same or next day appointments for sick visits. Also, services are available at any one of the five satellite locations that serves employees across the city.
The Consumer Choice Plan – Is offered to employees at no cost or low monthly premiums to cover eligible dependents and provides the financial benefits of a Health Savings Account (HSA).
• Preventative services are covered at 100% on both plans.
• Prescription Drug coverage including mail order pharmacy are also included.Vacation
Eligible for 3 weeks of vacation: After successful completion of probationary period (usually
6 months), employees may take time off for rest, relaxation, vacation, illness, religious observances, and personal business.Holidays
Available on the first day of employment, the city provides employees with paid holidays, including two personal holidays.
Wellness Program
The city’s Healthy Challenge Wellness Program rewards all full-time, benefit-eligible employees on the city’s health insurance. The Healthy Challenge Program utilizes a points system. Participants may earn points throughout the year (Jan. 1-Dec. 15) for completing specific program activities and participants can redeem points at the end of the year for a cash reward. By participating, individuals can earn $150, $200 or $250 by accumulating program points.
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