Fire Chief Executive Recruitment

The City of Columbus, Ohio, Department of Public Safety is issuing a Request for Proposals seeking qualified executive search firms to conduct a nationwide recruitment for a Fire Chief position. The City of Columbus, the 15th largest city in the United States with a population of approximately 942,000, operates the Columbus Division of Fire (CFD), the second largest fire department in the nation with a budget exceeding $336 million, 1,765 uniformed personnel, 56 non-sworn personnel, and annual incident response volume of approximately 166,087. The procurement requires firms to demonstrate competence in executive-level recruitment, provide a technically sound and feasible proposal for the recruitment strategy, demonstrate the ability to perform competently and expeditiously, and provide evidence of past performance through three completed Performance Questionnaires from previous clients, preferably from large metropolitan jurisdictions with similar scope and complexity. The evaluation criteria include Competence (20 points), Quality and Feasibility of the technical proposal (40 points), Ability to perform competently and expeditiously (20 points), and Past Performance (20 points). Written questions are due March 10, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. EST with City responses posted by March 12, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. EST; proposals are due March 20, 2026 at 11:00 a.m., with finalist notifications by March 25, 2026 and presentations on March 27, 2026. Contract negotiations are scheduled between March 30 and April 3, 2026, with legislation submitted to City Council on April 20, 2026 and anticipated contract commencement on April 23, 2026. The contract term is anticipated to be two to four months from execution.

All contractors must obtain a valid Contract Compliance Certification Number from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion prior to contract award and must demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion in their recruitment strategy. Selected firms must comply with all applicable federal, state, and City regulations, including wage theft prevention requirements, and provide Commercial Liability Insurance with minimum limits of $500,000 per person and $1,000,000 per accident for bodily injury and property damage, with the City named as additional insured. Cost proposals are not required in the initial submission phase; only the highest-scoring offerors will be invited to submit cost proposals during a later evaluation phase, meaning the contract value has not been disclosed in the RFP documentation. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the solicitation materials. The specific budget range for this recruitment engagement has not been stated in the available documentation.