Manager of Park Ambassador Program

Manager of Park Ambassador Program

Madison Square Park Conservancy

Madison Square Park Conservancy is the nonprofit entrusted by the City of New York to operate Madison Square Park, a 6.2-acre public space in the heart of Manhattan. Our mission is to conserve, maintain, and program this ever-evolving, historic green space, including raising 100% of the park’s operating budget. Our dedicated team takes great pride in caring for and shaping an urban oasis for all to enjoy.

Anchoring a diverse and vibrant live-work community, Madison Square Park is both an intimate neighborhood park and an international destination for 60,000 daily visitors. A public space since 1686, the park has long been a gathering place for people from all walks of life. Today, it is also a public garden, urban forest, wildlife habitat, public art exhibition space, a haven for children and pets to play, and one of New York City’s most transcendent and welcoming places.

Reporting to the Director of Horticulture and Park Operations, the Manager is responsible for overseeing, scheduling and supporting a team of full-time and part-time Park Ambassadors, and ensuring that Madison Square Park is a safe, welcoming, and informative space for all visitors and MSPC staff. This is an amazing opportunity to lead a new, evolving program while spending time outdoors interacting with the local community, tourists and other park-users.

Organizational Structure

• Manager reports directly to the Director of Horticulture and Park Operations
• Direct reports to this position: 5 Park Ambassadors

Key Responsibilities:

• Leadership
  • Hire, train, mentor and manage Park Ambassadors.
  • Identify and suggest improvements to park and community engagement and communication to improve visitor experience.
  • Implement procedures to encourage teamwork between Park Ambassadors and Park Operations team, maintain employee morale, and create an inclusive, positive work environment.
  • Develop and maintain relationships with outside partners such as the Parks Department, NYPD, FDNY, Department of Homeless Services, and Department of Sanitation, and homeless outreach organizations assigned to the Madison Square Park area.
• Administration
  • Set and manage Park Ambassadors’ work schedules and program objectives, and develop staff training to create a safe and welcoming Madison Square Park.
  • Maintain detailed daily records and monthly reports, including end-of-tour reports, incident reports, inspection forms, etc.
  • Respond to emails, Slack, phone inquiries, and other requests in a timely and appropriate fashion.
  • Validate park use permits, including special event permits, parking permits, sound permits, film permits and food vendor permits.
  • Actively participate in training opportunities.
  • Support ongoing visitor experience research through data collection, data entry, and related tasks.
• Safety
  • Conduct rounds of all facilities.
  • Learn and enforce Park Rules and Regulations with visitors
  • Monitor, inspect, and report park safety hazards, vandalism, quality of life issues, etc.
  • Contact and assist partner safety organizations such as NYPD, FDNY, permit offices, emergency medical technicians, and homeless outreach services as conditions occur.
  • Open and close facilities and amenities as directed.
  • Be available during inclement weather and other emergencies.
  • Direct vehicle and patron traffic as needed.
• Visitor Experience
  • Engage visitors, answer questions, and foster a positive impression of the park and MSPC.
  • Provide accurate, clear, timely information to support visitors’ experience in the park.
  • Share Madison Square Park Conservancy’s mission and goals with visitors, including upcoming programs and events and how they can access additional information about MSPC.
  • Support the operation of all visitor-facing programs, events, and activities.
  • Share visitor feedback with other MSPC staff, including senior management, to improve the visitor experience.
  • Return lost and found items.

Qualifications

• At least 3 years of experience in public-facing safety/security and/or social services employment.
• The Park Ambassador Manager is required to have an NYS Security Guard License within 30 days of hire and is required to maintain the license throughout their employment.
• Experience or training in social work and/or mental health services and experience in customer service preferred
• Experience managing and supporting a small team that is often confronted with difficult customer situations
• Ability to clearly and confidently communicate with the public and safety officials, representing the organization to visitors and other external stakeholders in person, in writing, and by telephone
• Comfort approaching non-compliant individuals or groups to enforce rules and regulations
• Experience and comfort diffusing conflicts and tense public situations
• Experience interacting with diverse constituents
• Detail-oriented, decisive problem solver who can adapt to shifting priorities and address issues in a timely manner as they arise
• Ability to perform physically demanding work outdoors in all weather conditions, both alone and as part of a team
• Comfort working in an environment with dogs and urban wildlife
• Ability to multi-task and juggle multiple priorities
• Ability to actively listen, taking time to understand the points being made, ask questions as appropriate, and not interrupt, and to get to satisfactory resolution quickly and calmly
• Working knowledge of technology, including Google suite, Slack, and Zoom
• Familiarity navigating partnerships with government agencies
• The ideal candidate enjoys interacting with people from all walks of life and will consider the “ambassador” component of the job as important as the enforcement and security component.

Compensation and Schedule

Salary range is $55,000 - $65,000 based on relevance and duration of past experience

Benefits include: Paid Employee Health plan, Paid Employee Dental & Vision Plan, Vacation/Sick Days, Personal Day, Floating Holidays, 401K Plan after a year, commuter benefits; work phone provided

Schedule: Full-time (40 hours per week) onsite. Saturday- Tuesday 4 PM- 12:15 AM, Wednesday 1 PM- 8:30 PM

Application instructions

To apply, please email a cover letter and resume as a single PDF attachment to: jobs@madisonsquarepark.org

Please be aware that Madison Square Park Conservancy requires Covid-19 vaccination for all employees. The organization will consider accommodations for disability and religious-based reasons.

Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Madison Square Park Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity (“EEO”) laws.

MSPC prohibits discrimination against applicants for employment because of the individual’s race or color, religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, domestic partnership status, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or pre-employment conviction record or any other characteristic protected by law.