Senior Engineering Technician - Environmental Services Department

The Environmental Services Department (ESD) is a place where people do great work and make a difference. To see some of the first-rate work ESDers have accomplished recently, review the ESD 2019 Annual Report. For more information about the department, please visit our website www.sjenvironment.org or @sjenvironment on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

For more information about the Environmental Services Department, please click here or visit @sjenvironment on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

The current vacancy is in the Environmental Services Department San Jose’-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility’s Wastewater Management Division that operates and maintains the Facility. The Facility is a regional wastewater treatment facility that serves over 1.4 million residents and over 17,000 businesses in eight cities. The Facility has been in continuous operation (24X7) since it was first commissioned in 1956 as a small 38 MGD primary-only Facility, to what is now one of the largest advanced wastewater treatment facilities in California having a dry weather design capacity of 167 MGD and a wet weather hydraulic capacity of 271 MGD.

Per the City’s COVID19 Mandatory Vaccination Policy, the City requires all employees starting on or after February 11, 2022 to provide proof of vaccination as a condition of employment absent a documented medical and/or religious exemption. Proof of vaccination means that employees are required to be “up-to-date” with regards to the COVID-19 vaccine. Consistent with the Santa Clara County Public Health Order issued on December 28, 2021, "up-to-date" means that employees are required to be vaccinated with the entire recommended initial series of a COVID-19 vaccine (two doses of the Pfizer, Moderna or Novavax COVID-19 vaccine or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine).

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system. To apply, applicants must complete an application via the City of San Jose’s website at www.sanjoseca.gov/citycareers.

The salary range for Senior Engineering Technician is approximately $83,800.08 - $101,927.28 annually. This amount includes an approximate five percent (5%) ongoing non-pensionable pay. Actual salary shall be determined by the final candidates’ qualifications and experience.

The Wastewater Management Division is hiring one (1) Sr. Engineering Technician (SET) position under the Asset Management, Operation and Maintenance Engineering section. This position is a higher-level class in the Engineering Technical series and may supervise Engineering Technicians and Interns.

Typical duties may include, but are not limited to:

• Operate Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) equipment and associated field software to identify, mark, and record all buried utilities throughout the construction activities.
• Utilize Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) equipment to collect, update and document above and below ground assets throughout the facility.
• Field locate and identify assets, including but not limited to equipment and pertinences, process streams, and document isolation procedures.
• Make use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and associated software to compile, organize, maintain, analyze, and display, a large diverse geographic database representing the facilities geographic information.
• Interface effectively with consultants, contractors, operations and maintenance staff, Capital Improvement Staff, and other city department staff
• Assisting project managers in collecting and analyzing field, operational, and technical data
• Iinterfacing effectively with consultants, contractors, operations and maintenance staff, and other city department staff.
• Assist with program reporting tasks, including collecting data, formatting final reports, and preparing graphics or other material for associated presentations.
• Coordinate document management throughout the program including:
  • Establishing and maintaining electronic libraries
  • Organizing hardcopy files in physical libraries
  • Implementing city document retention policy
  • Assisting with overall project file management and closeout activities

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Competencies

The ideal candidate will possess the following competencies, as demonstrated in past and current employment history. Desirable competencies for this position include:

Job Expertise – Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations.

• Knowledge of locating municipality underground utilities and experience in using underground utility locating devices.
• Understanding of and experience with interpreting, reviewing, and analyzing construction plans, infrastructure data, detailed drawings, charts, schedules, and specifications,
• Experience in working with GIS software and possesses strong problem solving/analytical skills with the ability to analyze and produce visually geographic solutions.
• Knowledge of primary workflows with Geodatabases, Shapefiles, and online web mapping applications.
• Knowledge and experience in working with consultants, contractors, and other field staff.
• Knowledge of safety precautions and procedures in an industrial environment.
• Proficient in SharePoint or other electronic document management system

Computer Skills – Experienced with common business computer applications including but not limited to: Adobe Acrobat, MS Outlook, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, MS SharePoint, and MS Excel.

Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills – Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.

Initiative – Exhibits resourceful behaviors toward meeting job objectives; anticipates problems, is proactive, and avoids difficulties by planning ahead; displays willingness to assume extra responsibility and challenges; pursues continuing education opportunities that promotes job performance.

Problem Solving – Approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue; determines the significance of problem(s); collects information; uses logic and intuition to arrive at decisions or solutions to problems that achieve the desired outcome.

Reliability – Completes quality work assignments in a timely and efficient manner; fulfills responsibilities and maintains confidentiality as appropriate.

Supervision – Sets effective long and short-term goals based on a good understanding of management practices; establishes realistic priorities within available resources; provides motivational support; empowers others; assigns decision-making and work functions to others in an appropriate manner to maximize organizational and individual effectiveness.

Planning – Acts to align own unit's goals with the strategic direction of the organization; Defines tasks and milestones to achieve objectives, while ensuring the optimal use of resources to meet those objectives.

Project Management – Ensures support for projects and implements agency goals and strategic objectives

Communication Skills – Communicates and listens effectively and responds in an timely, effective, positive and respectful manner; written reports and correspondence are accurate, complete, current; well-organized, legible, concise, neat, and in proper grammatical form responds to statements and comments of others in a way that reflects understanding of the content and the accompanying emotion; asks clarifying questions to assure understanding of what the speaker intended, ensures consistent communication takes place within area of responsibility.

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Education: Completion of high school or equivalent (General Education Development [GED] Test or California Proficiency Certificate)

2. Experience: Six (6) years of increasingly responsible sub-professional engineering/technical support experience, of which two (2) years of experience includes preparing engineering drawings, contract specifications, and cost estimates; drafting and structural detailing for final plans; construction or infrastructure inspection; or field surveying.

Acceptable Substitution: Successful completion of two (2) academic years or sixty (60) semester units of college level engineering technology courses or related field from an accredited college or university may be substituted for the remaining two (2) of four (4) years of sub-professional engineering/technical support experience. There will be no substitution for the two (2) years of experience preparing engineering drawings, contract specifications, and cost estimates; drafting and structural detailing for final plans; construction or infrastructure inspection; or field surveying.

3. Licenses or Certificates: Possession of a valid State of California driver’s license.

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

Selection Process

The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to the Job Specific Questions. Only the candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to proceed in the selection process. Additional phases of the selection process will consist of one or more interviews.

You will be prompted to answer the following job-specific questions during the online application process. Please note that there is a 4,000-character limit, including spaces, for each text response.

• Do you have at least two (2) years of experience managing the SharePoint sites? If yes, include the number of years of experience, where you gained the experience, and a summary of your responsibilities in each position.
• Do you have AutoCAD or GIS experience? If Yes, please describe your level of proficiency (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and describe your experience consistent with your job history.
• Describe a team project you were involved with that required coordination and working with various work groups and/or organizations. What was the desired outcome of the project? Describe your role and responsibilities.
• Describe your experience performing field inspections, engineering calculations, data analysis, preparing graphics, maps, and other material for presentations and reports. Please include employers, years of service, job titles, and job duties. Your answers must be consistent with your employment history.

You must answer ALL questions in order to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration.

If you have questions about the duties of these positions, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Irina Orozco at Irina.Orozco@sanjoseca.gov.

Click here for information on Benefits.

Click here for information on the California Equal Pay Act.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system. To apply, applicants must complete an application via the City of San Jose’s website at www.sanjoseca.gov/citycareers.

The application deadline is 11:59 PM on Monday, July 24, 2023. Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application. Please contact Human Resources at (408) 535-1285, or Human.Resources@sanjoseca.gov if you have any questions.