City jobs — Sebastian, Florida

The City of Sebastian hires its own employees through a Human Resources Department at Sebastian City Hall, 1225 Main Street.

City of Sebastian jobs are filled by the city itself, not by Indian River County, through the Human Resources Department at Sebastian City Hall, 1225 Main Street. The department lists its work as benefits administration, employee recruitment and retention, training and development, labor relations and negotiations, risk management, new employee orientation, position classification and salary administration, and workers compensation and safety. Office hours, according to the city FAQ, are Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4:30 pm, with City Hall closed for the listed federal and local holidays, including both the day after Thanksgiving and the day before Christmas.

Authority to hire comes from the City Charter. The Charter, as codified on Municode through Ordinance O-25-16 of December 3, 2025, names the city manager, city clerk and city attorney as Charter officers, appointed by the Sebastian City Council. Under Charter Section 3.04 the city manager, as chief administrative officer, shall appoint, suspend, demote, or dismiss any city employee under his jurisdiction, following the law and the personnel rules of the city, and may delegate that power to department heads. Section 2.10 bars Council members from dictating the appointment or removal of any employee other than the Charter officers, which keeps Sebastian hiring on the administrative side of City Hall rather than the political side.

The city describes itself as an equal employment opportunity employer. Its Benefits page states that the City of Sebastian prohibits discrimination and harassment and that the policy covers recruitment, promotion, transfers, training, wages and working conditions, with the City Manager responsible for disseminating it.

Sebastian job openings are posted on the city Job Listings page, the NEOGOV portal at governmentjobs.com and the bulletin board in the City Hall lobby.

Openings appear in several places. The city FAQ lists the City of Sebastian bulletin board in the lobby at 1225 Main Street, a 24 hour automated job hotline, the city government channel, newspaper classifieds and the city website. On the website, the Job Listings page links each posting to the city's online application portal on NEOGOV at governmentjobs.com, where applicants create an account, build an application once and reuse it for later Sebastian openings.

The list is short at any given moment. On October 10, 2026, the Sebastian Job Listings page carried two postings: a Police Department volunteer position and a Police Officer position. The Police Officer posting on governmentjobs.com is a standing recruitment, job number 2324PO in the Police Patrol division, with an opening date of 12/01/2023, which reflects how the Sebastian Police Department recruits officers continuously while civilian jobs at City Hall, the Sebastian Municipal Airport or Public Works are posted only when a vacancy opens.

Timing matters because Sebastian accepts applications only during active recruitment. The FAQ states that an employment application may be submitted when the city is actively recruiting and there is an opening, and the Employment Information and Applications page warns that some positions may close without notice, leaving applicants responsible for checking status with Administrative Services or Human Resources.

A City of Sebastian application must be complete, filed for an open position by its closing date, and backed by a high school diploma or G.E.D.

The rules are written out on the Sebastian Employment Information and Applications page. Applications are accepted for open positions only, and must be fully completed. Resumes only are not accepted in lieu of an application, although a resume may be attached as supplemental information. To be considered, an application along with a High School Diploma or G.E.D. must be received on or prior to the closing date of the position; applicants still in high school may submit a birth certificate instead of the diploma.

Human Resources staff screen each Sebastian application by comparing the education, experience, skills and training listed against the qualifications in the job advertisement. The closest matches may be called for testing and interviews. According to the city FAQ, interviews are held before a panel using a structured selection process that may include practical, job related exercises, and an impartial monitor assigned from the Human Resources Department sits in on all interviews. The chosen applicant is notified by phone, followed by a conditional offer letter by mail.

A conditional offer is followed by checks. The City of Sebastian lists a complete background check, a reference check, a history check through FDLE where applicable, a pre-employment physical examination, a pre-employment drug test screening and a post offer medical history questionnaire. Applications will remain on file for a period of 180 days from the date an application is received, after which a new application is required, and Human Resources gives 772-388-8222 as the number for status updates.

Two further rules stand out. Residency is not required: the FAQ states that applicants do not have to be residents of the City of Sebastian, though some positions may require a valid Florida driver's license for applicants from out of state. And because Sebastian is a public entity, the FAQ notes that employment applications are subject to disclosure under the Florida Public Records Act, so the city cannot guarantee the privacy of what an applicant submits.

A certified Sebastian police officer starts at $60,770 a year, and a non-certified recruit starts at $31,200 while training.

The Sebastian Police Department, which the City Charter requires the city to maintain under a certified chief of police, publishes its pay openly. Its careers page lists a police officer starting salary of $60,770.00, with a potential increase for experienced officers, along with a take home vehicle program after training, holiday and shift incentive pay, tuition reimbursement and an onsite fitness center at the department at 1201 Main Street. The NEOGOV Police Officer posting 2324PO, opened in December 2023, lists $59,000.00 annually.

Sebastian also sponsors applicants with no certification. Non-certified recruits are hired full time at a salary of $31,200.00, which rises to $59,000.00 after graduation from the academy and a passing score on the state exam. While in class or in field training, recruits are paid $15.00 per hour while attending the Academy or being provided Field Training when not in class, capped at 80 hours in a 14 day work period, and they receive the same leave accruals and group insurance as newly hired officers.

For academy entrance, the city FAQ points to the Treasure Coast Public Safety Training Complex at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce and the Brevard Police Testing and Selection Center at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. Younger candidates have an earlier door: the department's Public Safety Cadets program, open to ages 14 to 21, has served as a pipeline into Sebastian police and dispatch jobs, with several current officers and dispatchers starting as cadets. The department also lists civilian positions, both entry level and specialized, posted as openings arise.

City of Sebastian employees receive health, dental, vision, retirement and leave benefits, and most are represented by one of two unions.

The Sebastian Benefits page, which refers to the city's 2025-2026 Employee Benefits Handbook, lists dental care with a base or buy-up plan, a flexible spending account, the ICMA Retirement Plan (457 and Roth), incentive pay based on education and training, life insurance, medical care with a health savings account, pension through the City of Sebastian and Police Officer Pension Plans, sick, vacation, personal and holiday pay, Teladoc access, tuition and education reimbursement, uniforms and equipment, and vision care.

Police pensions are handled separately. The city's Police Pension Plan Disclosures page states that the city has one defined benefit plan, the City of Sebastian Police Officers Retirement System, and publishes its disclosures as Section 112.664 of the Florida Statutes requires, with a link to the state Division of Retirement fact sheet. General employees are covered by a retirement plan and trust administered by its own board of trustees under Section 2-136 of the Sebastian Code.

Most Sebastian employees work under a union contract. According to the city FAQ, CWA Local 3180, the Communications Workers of America, represents full time and regular part time employees, and the Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association represents sworn police personnel. The city runs a bi-weekly payroll for all of its employees.

Seventeen departments and divisions on the City of Sebastian Departments page hire staff, from the Sebastian Municipal Airport to Stormwater.

The City of Sebastian Departments page lists Administrative Services, the Airport, Building and Business Tax, the City Attorney, City Clerk and City Manager offices, the Cemetery, Code Enforcement, Community Development, Finance, the Golf Course, Human Resources, Parks and Recreation, the Police Department, the Procurement Division, Public Works and Engineering, and Stormwater. Each posts its own vacancies through Human Resources.

Several of those jobs exist only because of Sebastian's particular assets. The Sebastian Municipal Airport is located on the northwest side of the City of Sebastian, between Vero Beach and Melbourne, and is run as a city department. The Sebastian Municipal Golf Course is a city enterprise with its own membership and rates. Public Works and Engineering crews handle roads, potholes, sidewalks, tree trimming, drainage, docks, piers, signage and striping. Openings at any of these Sebastian departments run through the same Human Resources process at 1225 Main Street.

Last verified: October 10, 2026, on the City of Sebastian website.