The Department of Natural Resources encourages all applicants to upload a current resume and cover letter to their online application.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Parks, Forests, and Preserves Bureau is seeking a driven, analytical, and highly collaborative professional to serve as our Guest Services and Reservation System Manager (Program Planner 3). If you are looking for a purposeful career where your daily work directly impacts the lives of millions of Iowans, this is your opportunity. In this role, you will become the heartbeat of Iowa's state park accessibility, ensuring that families across the state can seamlessly connect with nature, camp, and recreate. By joining our team, you will contribute directly to our shared mission to conserve and enhance our natural resources in cooperation with individuals and organizations, improving the quality of life in Iowa and ensuring a vibrant outdoor legacy for future generations.
We know that to successfully take care of Iowa's natural resources, we must first take care of our people. The DNR prides itself on cultivating a professional yet deeply family-friendly environment that actively supports a healthy work-life balance. This position offers a highly predictable and stable Monday through Friday schedule from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, ensuring your evenings and most weekends remain your own to spend with loved ones. Within this supportive agency culture, you will enjoy a high degree of operational autonomy, professional growth opportunities, and the satisfaction of knowing your talents serve a distinct public good.
Core Responsibilities and Daily Work
Operating with significant independence, you will serve as the statewide technical authority and lead contract manager for Iowa’s fully digital, 100% reservable campground and facility reservation system. In this capacity, you will manage the comprehensive contract lifecycle, direct vendor compliance, and formulate dynamic business rules to adapt to shifting market influences. Your primary fiscal duties will include auditing complex monthly vendor invoices and exercising independent oversight to authorize non-standard customer refunds. Additionally, you will coordinate critical campground modernization projects across the state, strategically managing the acquisition and field deployment of IT hardware to establish public Wi-Fi networks. As a key administrative strategist, you will also formulate official agency positions on high-profile public inquiries, draft formal language for the Iowa Administrative Rulemaking process, and deliver presentations to the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and the Administrative Rules Review Committee (ARRC).
Beyond high-level contract administration, you will champion platform optimization and field staff empowerment. You will lead intra-bureau work groups to systematically evaluate platform user interfaces and conduct rigorous backend user-acceptance testing (UAT) on system updates, fixes, and alerts prior to public deployment. To ensure our field teams are fully supported, you will author and maintain the official Centralized Reservation System Operating Policies and Procedures manual, identify staff training needs, and produce instructional resources. Your administrative oversight will also extend to essential compliance programs, where you will act as the bureau administrator for pesticide licensing renewals and mandatory Human Trafficking prevention training records.
Collaboration is a core element of this position. You will partner closely with the Communications Bureau to guide public information strategies, manage digital publication schedules, and technically validate promotional codes within the reservation platform. To keep Iowa aligned with broader outdoor recreation trends, you will also integrate multi-source operational data to compile our state's annual park statistics for regional and national benchmarking, providing finalized datasets for the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD) and the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA).
Who We Are Looking For
The ideal candidate is a proactive, customer-focused team player who balances technical logic with exceptional communication skills. We are looking for an individual who exhibits high productivity and self-management, alongside a proven capacity for contract management, project management, and financial data analysis. Success in this position requires the integrity to handle sensitive public inquiries independently and the technical writing skills necessary to transform complex administrative rules into clear, structured guidelines for staff and the public. If you are an accountable professional who wants to use your administrative and technical expertise to make a meaningful difference for Iowa families, we encourage you to apply.
Essential Functions
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Directs the administrative, fiscal, and technical operations of the fully digital, 100% reservable statewide campground and facility reservation system
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Manages the centralized vendor contract lifecycle, executing end-to-end performance monitoring and vendor compliance reviews.
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Formulates and drafts formal regulatory proposals and language for the Iowa Administrative Rulemaking process.
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Designs and updates statewide business rules to proactively adapt to shifting market trends and stakeholder demands.
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Audits and reconciles monthly vendor invoicing and authorizes complex financial exceptions or non-standard customer refunds.
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Coordinates technical campground modernization projects, directing the distribution and field deployment of IT network infrastructure hardware.
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Leads intra-bureau work groups to systematically evaluate reservation platform functionality, field staff user interfaces, and public end-user deliverables
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Authors, maintains, and updates the official Centralized Reservation System Operating Policies and Procedures manual and public-facing informational publications.
Critical Job Competencies
Accountability, Integrity, Interpersonal Skills, Team Player, Communication Skills, High Productivity, Self-
Management, Customer Focus, Computer Skills, Project Management, Technical Skills (Contract Management & Financial Systems and Technical Writing and Compliance).
What You Get from Us:
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A competitive pay plan and rewarding work.
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Insurance benefits that start the first of the month following 30 days of employment.
(Premiums can start as low as $64/month for single and $210/month for family coverage).
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Separate vacation and sick leave accruals that start on the first day and can roll over annually.
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Nine paid holidays/year.
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Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS) retirement package with employer match.
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Optional deferred compensation (457/401A) plan with employer match.
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Professional training opportunities.
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Family friendly and professional work environment.
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Employee Discount Programs (vision, cellular, fitness, recreation, season passes, travel, counseling)
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The State’s total compensation package features benefits that are worth about 30% of your total compensation. For a list of additional benefits, please visit the DAS website for more information.
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Flexible work schedules (as approved by the supervisor).
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Opportunities for hybrid telework (as approved by the supervisor).
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Workout/Gym facilities available onsite at 6200 Park Ave.
Comments
The starting salary for new state (Executive Branch) employees is expected to be at the base of the pay range. Additional salary increases may occur after the first six months, and then annually (if applicable). The State’s total compensation package features an outstanding set of employee benefits that are worth about 30% of your total compensation. Visit the DAS website for more benefit information.
Ensure you are kept up to date of this position by checking your email regularly for emails from [email protected]. This is a system generated email from the DAS application system, and it may be sent directly to your Junk/Spam folder.
DNR Application Tips
For more information about DNR Employment Opportunities and position specific notices, please visit the DNR Employment website.
The State of Iowa is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.
E-Verify and Right to Work
The State of Iowa participates in E-Verify, a federal program that helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. Within the required timeframe, new hires will be verified through the E-Verify system to ensure authorization to work in the United States. The State of Iowa also complies with the federal Right to Work laws, which protect employees’ rights to work without being required to join a labor organization. For more information, please visit www.e-verify.gov.
Iowa DNR Mission
To conserve and enhance our natural resources in cooperation with individuals and organizations to improve the quality of life in Iowa and ensure a legacy for future generations.
