Chief of Police City of Wilson, NC

Position Closes March 15 2026

The innovative and growing City of Wilson NC is seeking a collaborative and forward-thinkingChief of Policeto lead a department at an important moment of organizational change and community growth. The nextChiefmust be a visible engaged leader who prioritizes communication trust-building and morale while creating a culture where employees feel heard supported and valued. Staff are looking for aChiefwho has an inclusive and transparent leadership style that empowers supervisors promotes accountability and strengthens communication across all levels of the organization.

The ideal candidate combines strong people skills with solid hands-on policing experiencesomeone who understands the importance of supporting experienced officers while mentoring and developing a younger workforce that may view policing differently than past generations. The department sees significant potential in its newest hires and is looking for a leader who listens actively understands a changing workforce remains open to new ideas and provides clear consistent direction.

Equally important is a commitment to community policing and relationship-building. The nextChiefwill maintain strong connections with residents the community and regional partners while ensuring the department remains responsive to a growing increasingly diverse community. Above all the nextChiefwill bring integrity transparency and a willingness to listenrecognizing that the department has strong potential new staff with significant promise employees who want to be led and a genuine openness to new ideas.

About the Community:

The City of Wilson was incorporated in 1849 and is located on the eastern seaboard along Interstate 95 in NC. It is the largest municipality in Wilson County and serves as the county seat. The city once known as the Worlds Greatest Tobacco Market covers nearly 33 square miles of land and is just 40 miles from the states capital Raleigh. Today Wilson enjoys a diverse economy including a healthy mix of more than 1800 private businesses in biotech agriculture manufacturing healthcare commercial and service industries. Wilson is home to several major companies including Bridgestone Americas Collins UTC Aerospace Systems Truist Bank Merck Novartis Fresenius Kabi BD Medical Purdue Pharmaceuticals Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Alliance One Tobacco United Technologies Duke-LifePoint Healthcare and Linamar with recent announcements of Fed-Ex Johnson & Johnson and Schott Pharma.

In addition to employment Wilson has worked hard to be a community of choice. The citys investment in state-of-the-art recreational facilities creates outstanding leisure and recreational opportunities for residents. These facilities have attracted youth baseball and soccer teams to play in national and regional tournaments. A hallmark of Wilson is Greenlight the Citys state-of-the-art fiber-to-the-premise system that provides customers with affordable data voice and video services. Since its inception in 2008 Greenlight has grown to provide services to more than 13000 customers. Greenlight was the first service provider in the state to offer Gigabit Fiber-to-the-Home service making Wilson North Carolinas Gigabit City bosting some of the fastest internet speeds in the United States.

Wilsons nearly 50000 community members love the citys friendly neighborhood culture annual festivals and events that connect the community and the abundance of parks walking trails and lakes to explore. They appreciate Wilsons landscape and mild climate. Known for the best Eastern N.C.-style pork barbecue Wilsons many restaurants highlight abundant offerings and are known to draw long lines and repeat customers.

Historic Downtown Wilson features excellent cuisine craft beverages unique treasures custom furniture handmade artisan goods a vibrant art scene a social district with lively entertainment and a growing residential population. Wilson is also home to Barton College a four-year private liberal arts college that provides nearly 1200 undergraduate students and almost 80 graduate students with a strong academic focus and opportunities for leadership development. Wilson is also home to Wilson Community College a two-year public institution that provides nearly 1580 students with associates and technical degrees and certifications.

Most notably the Wilson City Council approved an estimated$280 million development project to be completed in Historic Downtown Wilson in Spring 2026. This project will feature a new downtown sports entertainment complex which houses the Milwaukee BrewersMinorLeague baseball team the Wilson Warbirds. A 100-room hotel multi-family housing and commercial development are also part of the plans for this significant development adjacent to the citys most renowned award-winning and unique destination theVollis Simpson Whirligig Park. More information about the City can be foundon the Citys website.

About the Organization Department and Position:

The City of Wilson which operates under a Council/Manager form of Government is led by a Mayor and seven council members. Wilson is well-managed and has several high-performing and award-winning departments including accredited Police Fire Parks and Recreation Departments and the Downtown Development Division. Wilson Energy which serves 35000 customers in a five-county region is a Reliable Public Power Provider and is consistently recognized for first-in-class reliability.

The Citys recently completedWilson Growing Together: The 2043 Comprehensive Planguides future development and growth within Wilson and addresses many key issues including growing intentionally connecting people and places fostering vibrant neighborhoods promoting economic prosperity conserving green places creating active and thriving communities plan implementation and community engagement. The CitysFY2026 budgettotals $ and maintains the Citys current tax rate of $0.525 cents per $100 of taxable valuation. Learn more about the City of Wilsonhere.

Reporting to the Assistant City Manager theChief of Policeoversees aFY2026 budget of approximately $ million and leads a senior staff that includes two majors and six captains as well as a department of 143 employees. A primary responsibility of the nextChief of Policewill be to increase staffing levels and strengthen recruitment and retention efforts to address current vacancies workload challenges and burnout. The department must compete more effectively in a regional market where surrounding agencies may offer comparable or higher pay with less work. TheChiefwill play a central role in workforce planning advocating for competitive pay and incentives and ensuring staffing strategies align with anticipated growth new industry development and major initiatives such as the upcoming baseball stadium. Additionally theChiefwill evaluate operational practices policies and leadership approaches to ensure fairness transparency and clarity while helping the organization move forward in a unified direction.

Key Position Priorities:

Learn more about the City of Wilsons Police Departmenthere.

Qualifications:

The City of Wilson seeks a law enforcement leader with at least 20 years of progressively responsible policing experience in a municipality with a population comparable to Wilson (approximately 48000 residents) or no more than 30% smaller. Must have 4-7 years of cross-functional and progressively responsible experience including administrative and command-level work. A BA/BS degree and equivalent years of experience are required.

The following qualifications are preferred:

Transfers:In-state candidates may transfer their law enforcement officer certification to another agency in NC provided they have less than a 12-month break in service at the time of -state candidates with less than a three-year break in NC service may receive partial credit toward basic law enforcement training. Out-of-state candidates serving or have served as a local or state law enforcement officer must have successfully completed a basic law enforcement training course accredited by the state from which they are transferring and cannot have a break in full-time service exceeding three years at the time of appointment. Individuals with federal law enforcement officer certification who have not had a break in service exceeding three years at the time of appointment may receive partial credit toward NC basic law enforcement training. NC does recognize and give partial credit for military police training if the candidate has completed a formal military basic training program been awarded a military police occupational specialty rating and has served as a military police officer for not less than two of the five years preceding the date of appointment.

The Successful Candidate:

Salary and Benefits: The expected hiring range for the position is $175000 - $190000The full salary range for this position is $140486.58 - $246456.21. Starting salary will depend on experience and qualifications. The citys comprehensive benefits package can beviewedhere on the website.The Police Chief is required to establish residency within the city limits within a period of twelve (12) months from the date of employment.

To applyplease visit click on theChief of Police City of Wilson NCtitle.

The City of Wilson NC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Developmental Associates LLC manages the recruitment and selection process for this position. To learn more about our selection process visit select Client Openings and scroll down to Important Information for Applicants.