Nick Kittle

Nick Kittle, who had been the team leader of the city’s Public Works Department, is now the innovation and sustainability manager, a new position under the Bach administration.

Kittle, who will report to Chief of Staff Steve Cox, will be paid $110,333 a year, the same salary he had been getting as public works team leader.

Kittle joined the city in 2004 as a senior analyst earning $53,382 a year.

Kittle, who received yearly pay raises, went to work  in what used to be the City Manager’s Office as part of a reorganization in 2010. His salary at the time was $92,496.

Kittle received a $17,837 salary increase in April 2010 when he became the public works team leader, overseeing the fleet, engineering, streets and transit departments.

Kittle has myriad responsibilities in his new job.

“Kittle will lead citywide grants coordination, sustainability efforts, and city contracting functions. He will also be responsible for implementing a comprehensive innovation effort for the entire organization. This will include an analysis of different service models to maximize performance in the most cost-effective ways. He will also review practices and policies to improve business processes, increase efficiency, consolidate redundant services, and realize the maximum potential of new technologies,” a press release states.

“Examining the true cost of doing business and striking the right balance between contracted and in-house service is key to maintaining the organization’s fiscal health as we go forward,” Kittle said in a statement.

“We want to ensure that services are being provided in the most effective way possible, and I am looking forward to taking on this challenge,” he said.

According to the city:

Kittle has a bachelors of science degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University and a MBA from the University of Colorado.

Before joining the city, Kittle worked in the private sector with British Petroleum, PricewaterhouseCoopers, El Paso Natural Gas and co-founded and invented EasySubmittals in 2003, which was the nation’s first electronic construction submittal approval process.

He has recieved several awards for innovation, including the 2001 Innovative Leadership Award, and was named the 2005 Internal Support Services Employee of the Year.