Recreation Manager

THE COMMUNITY

Located in California’s great Central Valley, Stockton has grown from a community with rich agricultural roots to an urban destination with a rich arts and culture scene, fine dining, shopping, sports, recreation, and family activities. With a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural population of over 320,000 residents, Stockton is the 11th largest city in California. It is centrally located 60 miles east of the San Francisco Bay Area and 45 miles south of Sacramento, offering an easy and scenic drive to numerous world-famous attractions such as Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, and the California Coast.

In addition, Stockton has many local natural resources, including the San Joaquin Delta.

Stockton is home to the Stockton Center, San Joaquin Delta College, and a variety of private and vocational schools. The city offers year-round events and cultural attractions, including the award-winning Stockton Flavor Fest, the Brubeck Jazz Festival, the Haggin Museum, the historic Bob Hope (Fox California) Theatre, the Children’s Museum of Stockton, and the Stockton Symphony. The 10,000-seat waterfront Stockton Arena hosts the Stockton Kings, G‑League affiliate of the NBA Sacramento Kings, while the nearby Banner Island Ballpark—consistently ranked among the nation’s top minor league ballparks—is home to the Stockton Ports, a single‑A minor league affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.

The City of Stockton is a full‑service charter city operating under a Council‑Manager form of government. With approximately 1,790 full‑time employees and a FY 2024–2025 budget of $955 million, the City is one of Stockton’s largest employers.

The City of Stockton’s Community Services Department is committed to building a healthy, active, and connected community by delivering high‑quality, innovative recreation programs and services for all. Through integrity, innovation, inclusion, collaboration, and service excellence, we create welcoming spaces where children, teens, families, and adults thrive.

The Recreation Division takes pride in exceptional customer service and in designing responsive programs that reflect the evolving needs of Stockton’s diverse residents. We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Recreation Manager to provide visionary leadership with a strong emphasis on youth and teen engagement, sports programming, aquatics, and comprehensive recreation services. The incumbent will develop and implement structured staff training, mentorship, succession planning, and performance management systems to strengthen organizational capacity.

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker and hands‑on leader who understands the power of recreation in advancing public safety, youth development, workforce readiness, and overall quality of life.

The Recreation Manager oversees the operations of citywide recreation programs and facilities, providing leadership in planning, implementation, and evaluation of a broad spectrum of services. This role carries significant responsibility for:

• Children, youth and teen development initiatives
• Competitive and recreational sports programs
• Aquatics operations and safety compliance
• Community‑based recreation programming across multiple sites

The incumbent will work 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Schedule may be subject to change. May be required to work additional hours and/or weekends to provide operational support.

Incumbents in this position are included in the Civil Service system, in a "for‑cause" employment status, and represented by the Mid‑Management/Supervisory bargaining unit. (Classified/Represented)

This recruitment is being conducted as an Open/Promotional recruitment. Current full‑time City of Stockton employees may apply for this position as a promotional opportunity, and successful candidates will be placed on a promotional list. All other candidates may apply for this position as an open competitive opportunity, and successful candidates will be placed on an open list. The appointing authority will have the option of requesting names from the promotional list or a combination of both.

This list may be used to fill future vacancies.

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