Brad Purcell

Brad Purcell is Chief of Staff at the St. Johns River Water Management District, bringing with him more than 30 years of experience in environmental work in the public and private sectors.

As Chief of Staff, Brad provides leadership to the Water Supply Planning, Regulatory Services, Finance, Information Technology, Fleet and Facilities and Business and Administration Service functions.

Purcell began his career working for the District from 1995 to 2000 and returned to the agency in December 2012. Prior to being named Chief of Staff in October 2021, Purcell worked in a variety of capacities for the agency, including the Director of Process Excellence and Special Projects and Service Center Director for the Palatka headquarters, and served as Ombudsman.

In addition to three terms of elected office as a county commissioner in Putnam County, he was president of a multidisciplinary planning, engineering and environmental science consulting firm and worked for Georgia Pacific as an Engineer focused on environmental compliance.

Purcell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Jacksonville University and a black belt from the Lean Six Sigma program at Flagler College. He has received honors such as Legislator of the Year from the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, Presidential Advocacy Award from the Florida Association of Counties and the Division of Emergency Management’s Florida Outstanding Service Award.

Outside the office, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Putnam County YMCA, Board of Directors for the First Coast Community Credit Union, Board member for the United Way of Putnam/St. Johns County, and Board of Trustees for Putnam Memorial Hospital.