SAUGUS — The town hopes to fill a handful of vacancies in major positions, including director of the planning and development department, which was created less than a year-and-a-half ago.
“What we would hope for is to fill the position with somebody that has the passion and enthusiasm to take on projects and advise and assist the community in transitioning with a lot of this new development that’s happening on Route 1,” said Town Manager Scott Crabtree.
A job posting on the town’s website describes the job as “the point of contact and manager for all short term, intermediate, and longer range master planning.” Qualifications include a minimum of five years of planning and community development or related economic experience, a bachelor’s degree, and a preferred master’s degree in planning community development or a related field.
Former director Stephen Cole resigned from the $82,000 per year job more than a month ago. He served the town for about 14 months and was the first to fill the position, which was created by Crabtree more than a year ago as developers began to show interest in creating major developments along Route 1.
When hired, he was tasked with tackling land use and planning, energy, housing, and open space projects, and infrastructure needs and assessments. Crabtree praised him for his wealth of experience and qualifications working as operations manager of development services, chief of staff for the mayor, and project manager for the financial division in the city of Springfield.
He declined to comment on why Cole resigned from the position.
“With all positions within the community, we are always looking for people that have the right qualifications and relative experience and that will be a good fit, particularly with our vision and goals of development going on with the planning department,” Crabtree said.
Hiring someone that brings the right resources, support, and engineering expertise is particularly important as the town faces a transition, he said.
“I know that the manager is very interested in getting that position filled,” said Peter Rossetti, chairman of the Planning Board, who works closely with the department. “It’s obviously an important position and I’m sure he wants to make sure he gets the right person in the right spot, so I’m sure he is doing his due diligence.”
A second department head, director of human resources Lisa Crowley, stepped down about a week ago to take another job, leaving her job open.
Applications are being accepted or the position, and candidates should have a bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, or a related field, and five years of experience.
While there is an urgency to fill the position, Crabtree said he wants to take the time to hire the right person.
“There are a lot of applicants for that and we’re going through that process now,” he said.
The town will also hire a new general assistant to the police chief, general assistant at Town Hall, and an administrative assistant and snow emergency dispatcher for the Department of Public Works.