Are you a resident of New York City? Do you have excellent communication, managerial and organizational skills? What about experience in urban planning and managing budgets?

If you have these qualifications, and several others, you may be just the right person to fill the district manager position at Community Board 7.

Rita Kessler, District 7’s longtime head staffer, resigned June 30 leaving the position vacant for the first time in 18 years. Few current members of the Board have ever participated in the hiring of a district manager. In fact, says Board chair Gregory Faulkner, most board members were surprised that the Board played any role in the process, much less make the final decision about who to hire.

“The Community Board makes this decision and it’s probably the most important decision this Board can make,” Faulkner said.

In the absence of any city guidelines for how to go about out finding a new district manager, Faulkner and the Board’s search committee have come up with their own.

Stopping by the Norwood News office last Thursday, Faulkner laid out each step in the process, starting with advertisements in newspapers and ending, probably in October, with the final selection of a new district manager.

Official posting of the job and distribution of the position to the media and board members was scheduled for July 9. The deadline for applications is Aug. 15. The Board’s Search Committee will conduct the first round of interviews the week of Sept. 4 and three finalists will be interviewed in public, possibly with the participation of representatives of local community organizations, the week of Sept. 24. The search committee will meet to select a candidate the week of Oct. 8 and the Board will hold a special meeting to vote on the candidate the week of Oct. 22.

Faulkner said the public interview portion of the process is designed to invite community input. He vowed that there would be “no back-room deals.”

“It’s all going to be on the merits,” he said. “We want an outstanding person.”