Assistant Fire Chief/Training Officer job in Lynden

City of Lynden is seeking an experienced Fire Service leader to serve as Assistant Fire Chief. For application materials please visit https://www.lyndenwa.org/administration/employment. First consideration given to applications received by 2/8/21.

Our Fire Department

The Lynden Fire Department (LFD) is a combination career/volunteer fire and emergency medical response service, and has served the Lynden community since 1910. The Department includes 15 FTEs and 10 volunteers who protect the City’s 6.5 square miles. It has a $3.1 million-dollar operating budget.

Over the past twenty years the City population has increased from about 8,000 to approximately 15,000, and correspondingly the call volume to the LFD has increased from 450 to an estimated 1,800 per year. During this period of growth, LFD has also worked to professionalize itself by implementing standards and training requirements modeled off of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), while maintaining its commitment to providing the highest level of service to the community.

The Position

Under the direction of the Fire Chief, the Assistant Fire Chief performs a variety of technical, administrative and supervisory work. The Assistant Fire Chief serves as the department’s Training Officer and assists the Fire Chief with planning, organizing, directing and implementing training operations, fire prevention, suppression and emergency medical services. The position will also provide oversight of departmental functions including: personnel management and scheduling, life safety inspections, health and firefighter safety awareness, and emergency services delivery and operations

Major Responsibilities

Leadership and Direction
• Embrace, promote, and model the City’s Vision and Values.
• Directs and participates in major department programs.
• Provides leadership and technical and administrative direction to the programs, activities, and staff of the department, including supervision and personnel management.
• Facilitates problem solving within the department and encourages a high degree of communication between employees and supervisors.
• Develops and implements programs that educate and build partnerships with the public.
• Responds to incidents as needed, assuming command when necessary, or when assigned as duty officer.
• Assists in the development of SOPs, SOGs, and pre-fire planning.
• Performs duties as the City’s Fire Inspector.
• In the absence of the Fire Chief, will serve as Acting Fire Chief.

Supervisory Responsibilities
• Plans, schedules, and directs day-to-day operations within the fire department.
• Supervises Department Officers in the operation of emergency services.
• Conducts performance evaluations for assigned personnel.
• Oversees scheduling and coordination of annual leave, shift changes and daily shift coverage of assigned personnel.
• Assists in developing the department’s budget including capital, operational and personnel costs.

Training and Personnel Management
• Serves as the department’s Training Officer.
• Plans, oversees, and facilitates the department’s training program.
• Assigns personnel and equipment to such duties and uses as service requires.
• Maintains departmental discipline, conduct, and general behavior of all subordinate personnel.
• Assists with the handling of grievances and complaints from career and Volunteer personnel.
• May participate in labor relations through contract negotiation and bargaining.
• Assists with department hiring process.

Other Duties
• Coordinates Life Safety inspections of businesses and other properties.
• Liaise with County Fire Marshal for fire investigations.
• Participates on the City’s Technical Review Committee. Conducts new construction inspections, and assists with new commercial, residential, and remodel plans examination.
• May be asked to attend conferences and meetings to keep abreast of current trends in the field.
• May be asked to represent the City of Lynden and its Fire Department in a variety of local, county, state and federal meetings.
• Maintains effective working relationships with other emergency service providers in Whatcom County.
• Serves as a member of various employee committees.
• Performs the duties of command personnel as needed and fulfills obligations during on-call duty days or duty weeks.
• Performs other related duties as needed and assigned.

Education & Experience

Qualified candidates will have at least an Associate’s Degree in Fire Science, Public Administration or a closely related field, AND minimum of ten (10) years’ experience in the fire service WITH at least five (5) years of full-time administrative experience in an upper level position in a public safety agency. For full qualifications and special requirements, please refer to the job description.

Ideal Candidate

The Assistant Fire Chief, may fill-in for the Fire Chief, as a member of the City’s Leadership Team. As such, the successful candidate is expected to embrace and model organizational Vision and Values. Further, the successful candidate must be willing to take a broad leadership role on issues that affect not only the Fire Department but the entire organization. As a leader in this organization, this individual must hold him/herself to the highest standards of public service.

The successful candidate will have a demonstrated record of accomplishments and leadership within the fire service. They will be an effective communicator, especially when presenting information to elected officials and the general public. Demonstrated skills in evaluating and implementing programs that enhance the department’s professionalism and solid infrastructure are essential.

Challenges & Opportunities

The Fire Department relied on volunteers from its inception more than 100 years ago until about 2009 when it became staffed predominately, but not entirely, with full-time career firefighters. The department culture is rapidly changing with this new reliance on trained, professional firefighters. The new Assistant Fire Chief must help and support the Fire Chief in actively guiding the Department through this change.

The Lynden Fire Department enjoys a reputation as a good partner with other emergency service providers in Whatcom County. There is great potential to collaborate on training, facility sharing, and mutual/automatic aid. The new Assistant Fire Chief should be prepared to develop and foster mutually beneficial relationships.

January 2021, Lynden’s fire station located at 215 4th St. will undergo a renovation of the existing building and the addition of a second floor. The main floor work consists of seismic retrofits for the apparatus bays, new exercise room and major renovation to offices, day room and kitchen. Second floor addition consists of a living room, seven dorm rooms and four individual bathrooms. The estimated completion date for this project is mid-October 2021.

Though still a small city, Lynden is being discovered as a very desirable place to live with an extraordinarily high quality of life. As a result, the City will grow significantly in the next 10-15 years. The new Assistant Fire Chief must be forward looking and capable of assisting the Fire Chief in developing a Strategic Plan to manage the impact this growth will have on emergency services.

Whatcom County voters recently approved the addition of one paramedic unit. The way that new resource is deployed, and the way it interacts with the Lynden Fire Department, will be among the issues the new Assistant Fire Chief will be asked to help plan and coordinate.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $99,246 - $129,494, DOQ
Benefits Include:
Medical/Prescription, Dental & Vision Insurance
Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (LEOFF)
Voluntary Flexible Benefits/Cafeteria Plan
Social Security replacement contribution (currently 6.2%) to Nationwide or Wa State Deferred Comp Plans
Vacation Leave
Sick Leave
Paid Holidays
Industrial Insurance
Relocation Assistance if needed