There's no doubt, these are tough times to find a good job.

There is however one job posting in the Tri-Cities that might be of interest - if you think you can run a mid-sized municipality.

The search is in full swing to find a new chief administrative officer to lead the city of Port Coquitlam.

The city has hired headhunting firm Pinton, Forrest and Madden to help in the search.

The firm has been armed with a job description and a mandate to meet with city staff and community stakeholders to help identify the qualities of the next CAO.

PoCo Mayor Greg Moore suggested the city is looking for a CAO who allows city staff to flourish, but can also come up with innovative ways to deliver new services.

"It's not every day you get to pick a new CAO for your community, so we want to make sure we get the best one that will have a long and successful career here," he told The NOW.

Long-time CAO Tony Chong stepped down on April 30 after 27 years with the city to take a job in the private sector.

Since then, the city has laid out the process to find Chong's replacement.

The deadline for the opening is set for the end of June.

The recruiting firm is then expected to report back to council with a list of candidates. That list will be whittled down to a handful of applicants, who will then be interviewed by the entire city council.

Moore indicated council wants to make a decision by mid July in order to give the new CAO a chance to get his or her affairs in order and in the seat by early fall.

"We want to move forward with starting to make the decision on who the person is going to be," he said, noting the timeline isn't necessarily set in stone.

Interestingly, the CAO is the only position city council has a hand in hiring.

The mayor expects plenty of interest in the position.

Moore said Port Coquitlam is a great size in that it isn't too big for the work to get bogged down, while also allowing for new and interesting initiatives to come forward.

He also suggested the region is an attractive place for people to live and work. The final candidate is also in line for a pretty good salary to boot.

In 2010, Chong was the only city staffer to earn more than $200,000. His salary rang in at $201,750, according to municipal remuneration documents.

In April, Port Moody filled its top non-political job by hiring Kevin Ramsay as the new city manager.

Ramsay was formerly the CAO at the District of Squamish.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com