Operations Supervisor

Job Description

Think you're the right leader for this job? Read the rest carefully before applying. 

The position

If selected for this role, you'll run field operations across 19 parks and roughly 2,000 acres including Big Hollow Recreation Area which sees about 70,000 visitors per year and Starr's Cave Nature Center at 50,000 visitors. You'll also be responsible for three campgrounds and about 150 campsites, and four Mississippi River accesses where the water level sets your schedule and boat docks sometimes have to be moved on short notice.

You'll supervise three full-time staff, one permanent part-timer, and two or more seasonals through summer. You'll work out of the maintenance shops at Big Hollow, ten miles from the director's office. Hence the "self-motivated" requirement. 

Leading the field team

This is a leadership role, not a management role. You're the person your crew looks to when the standard is being set. What you tolerate becomes the standard. What you model becomes the culture.

We operate a pretty lean department. There are no carpenters on staff, no construction techs, no work that belongs to someone else's job class. If it needs doing, the field team does it, and does it to a standard that outsiders assume takes a bigger budget and more people. That takes real professionalism, honest accountability, and a stubborn instinct to figure it out rather than wait for the resources.

Perpetual improvement runs on two tracks here. The department's - the way it was done last year is a starting point, not the standard. And your own - you're expected to get better at this work than you were last year: to learn your profession, stay open to ideas that aren't yours, and try things that might not work. Above all, to get better as a leader, because your crew's performance follows yours.

It's more than parks

Parks are how this department contributes to Des Moines County, how we create a community worth living in. Economic developers do that with projects, the chamber does it by backing local business, the tourism bureau does it by bringing people here. We do it with parks, campgrounds, and protected land. That means the person in this role sees past the road grading to the kid that will ride her bike on the park road next weekend. Past the ash-filled fire ring to the family trying to get one more camping season in with the grandparents while they can still get around well enough to join them. Past the honeysuckle-choked forest to the new hunter's first harvest. 

You might thrive here if…

• You do this job because it means something more than a paycheck and insurance coverage. 
• You notice a downed sign before anyone reports it, and you see that it gets fixed before anyone calls it in, even if that means doing it yourself while you’re in the park for something else entirely.  
• When something gets missed, you say so before the director finds it.
• You set the tone for four people, and you know a crew reads its supervisor's energy before it reads a work order. Motivated, productive teams aren't an accident, they're the product of good leadership.
• You accept that peak season brings weekend calls. You won't love them. But you'll answer them anyway, and you won't make anyone feel bad for needing you.

Who this job isn't for

• It isn't for someone who needs to be told what to do. The project list, the monthly and quarterly goals, the daily coordination — you build those with your crew and bring them to the table, not wait to receive them.
• It isn't for someone who wants a clipboard. You plan the work, make sure your people have what they need, and then you're in it with them - on the tractor, on the roof, in the water moving a dock. If directing from the truck is the appeal, keep looking.
• It isn't a command-and-control job either. This department is collaborative. Your crew's input shapes the plan, and a supervisor who can't work that way won't last.
• It isn't law enforcement. There's no certified officer on this department and no enforcement authority in this role. There is public contact, and some of it is people who are unhappy, but that’s handled through customer service. Law enforcement is left to deputies.
• And it isn't a rung on a ladder. If this is the next logical step toward somewhere else, you'll be fine, but you won't be great here. This role wants someone who'll stay long enough to leave a mark on it. Someone who wants to impact this community for generations, not just until a position in a wealthier county opens. 

Requirements

You'll need the following certifications for this role. If you don't have them when you're hired, you'll need to get them within 6 months.

• Valid Iowa Drivers License
• NWCG S130-190 fire certification
• Iowa Pesticide Applicators License
• NRA Range Office certification

You'll also need to pass a background check and be insurable under the county's insurance policy. 

To apply

Send cover letter and resume with references to:

Chris Lee, Executive Director
Des Moines County Conservation
11627 Starr’s Cave Rd.
Burlington, IA 52601
conservation@dmcounty.com

• Job Type: Full-Time
• Department: Conservation
• FLSA Status: Exempt
• Salary Range: $51,397 - $64,246 on a merit-based 6-month step increase system.
• Posted: 8/25/26
• Expires: 9/23/26