Quality Control Associate - Materials Engineering Lab

Job Description:

Quality Control Associate - Materials Engineering Lab

Description

JOIN A KNOWLEDGABLE AND MOTIVATED TEAM PROVIDING CRITICAL SERVICES TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY! 
The City of Santa Rosa is committed to building a workforce reflective of our community and establishing a lasting culture of equity and belonging within our organization. Our collective talents and expertise contribute to high-quality public services that support a vibrant, resilient, inclusive City for our community and visitors. We celebrate a diverse workforce and welcome all qualified candidates to apply. 
THE BENEFITS OF CITY EMPLOYMENT:
In addition to offering a rewarding work environment, opportunity for career growth, and an excellent salary, the City of Santa Rosa provides a generous suite of benefits, including retirement through CalPERS, a competitive leave package with vacation and sick leave, your choice of health plan, and top of the line employer paid (free to you) vision and dental coverage.  More information regarding benefits associated with this position can be found on our Miscellaneous Employee Benefits Page. 

Additional benefits include:

• A flexible work schedule (9/80) available with management approval
• 12 paid holidays annually, plus 1 to 3 'floating holidays' per year, depending on start date and years of service
• $500 annually for wellness
• The City is a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) Employer

ABOUT THE POSITION:
This is a lead worker classification for the Civil Engineering Technician series.  Quality Control Associates (QCA) operate with a high degree of independence and exercise independent judgement in the performance of their duties. QCAs provide specialized expertise in a defined area and have a higher level of lead, administrative, technical, and paraprofessional responsibility for that area of expertise. In collaboration with other engineering staff, QCAs update and improve the accuracy and efficiency of interrelated engineering systems, processes, and procedures.  Positions in this class establish work priorities for the specialized area to which they are assigned and assure that their assigned area stays current with industry standards and trends.

THE CURRENT VACANCY:
This recruitment is being conducted to fill a current opening in the Materials Engineering Laboratory.  Quality Control Associate's in this division will be responsible for analyzing traffic count data and calculating traffic index for City streets; designing asphalt and concrete pavement structural sections and evaluating alternative sections; evaluating active soils and providing recommendations for mitigation; providing support to the development and maintenance of laboratory testing database; possessing a certification in Radiation Safety and Use of Nuclear Gauges; functioning as Radiation Safety Officer; overseeing training of Laboratory staff in field and laboratory testing procedures, and certifying the staff as to their proficiency.

This recruitment will create an eligible list that may be used to fill future vacancies.
THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE:
The successful candidate will possess:

• The ability to work autonomously as well as collaboratively on a team
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with the proven ability to build and maintain effective working relationships
• Demonstrated experience and ability to provide field observations and testing; as well as laboratory testing
• Sound judgement when providing guidance to internal and external stakeholders
• Experience creating training materials as well as conducting initial and ongoing trainings for field and laboratory staff
• The ability to understand, interpret, and implement State and federal legislation and regulations

THE SELECTION PROCESS:
Please complete a thoughtful, thorough Supplemental Questionnaire submission.  As part of the selection process, your responses will be reviewed for required qualifications and may be scored using criteria specific to this position.  Incomplete responses, minimal or generic responses, or responses such as "See Resume" can result in disqualification from the selection process.

The selection process will include a minimum qualifications assessment, an application and supplemental questionnaire review, followed by department selection interviews.  An eligibility list will be established as a result of this selection process and may be used to fill the current vacancy as well as any future vacancies.

Additional requirements, such as successful completion of a physical exam, drug screen, etc., may apply, depending on the duties and responsibilities of the position. If you receive a conditional job offer for the position, the requirements upon which the offer is contingent will be outlined in the conditional job letter.   

SANTA ROSA - A WONDERFUL CITY TO CALL HOME:
The City of Santa Rosa is located just 55 miles north of San Francisco and 30 miles east of the Pacific Ocean with a population of approximately 180,000. Santa Rosa is the seat of Sonoma County and the center of trade, government, commerce, and medical facilities for the North Bay. The surrounding area is home to over a hundred wineries and vineyards and many beautiful parks and recreational facilities, including golf courses. Santa Rosa is in the center of a nationally recognized cycling area. We boast many attractions associated with large cities, including a symphony, performing arts center, theater productions and internationally recognized restaurants, yet still retain the warmth and small town feel of decades past. Santa Rosa has been named one of the 50 greenest cities in the United States with one of the top five mid-sized downtowns in California.   

Examples of Duties and Responsibilities

Essential Duties (all assignments)
The following duties are considered essential for this job classification:

• Provide complex, paraprofessional engineering guidance to City staff and/or external organizations, agencies and businesses related to area of assignment
• Plan, organize, assign and coordinate field and office paraprofessional engineering work
• Oversee overall processes within specialized area(s)
• Identify training needs and provide training opportunities in area of assignment
• Research and stay current on laws, technology, practices and procedures in area of assignment
• Recommend changes to procedures
• Develop and maintain procedure manuals for section of assignment
• Research, organize, and disseminate information to staff
• Provide timely, accurate service in response to customer requests
• Serve as liaison to other City departments and to professionals in the field
• Anticipate workload trends
• Serve as advocate to management on behalf of the assigned area's issues and needs
• Identify and communicate industry changes

Additional Duties
In addition to the essential duties listed above that are applicable to all assigned areas, each employee assigned to this classification may perform the additional essential duties listed below, in the assigned section. Any single position may not be assigned all duties listed for an assigned department, nor do the examples cover all duties which may be assigned:
 
MATERIALS ENGINEERING:

• Analyze traffic count data and calculate traffic index for City streets
• Design Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) and Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) pavement structural sections and evaluate alternative sections
• Evaluate active soils and provide recommendations for mitigation
• Support the development and maintenance of laboratory testing database
• Possess a certification in Radiation Safety and Use of Nuclear Gauges
• Function as Radiation Safety Officer, as needed
• Oversee training of Materials Engineering staff in field and laboratory testing procedures and certify the staff as to their proficiency as required by the Quality Assurance Plan
• Oversee Caltrans Reference Program which demonstrates testing proficiency
• Evaluate new technologies in HMA and PCC and equipment for testing these and related materials
• Ensure Materials Engineering equipment is maintained and within specifications
• Manage Pavement Management database and perform pavement analysis relating to preserving and/or rehabilitation of the City street network

Additional Duties (depending on area of assignment):
In addition to the essential duties for specific areas of assignment as described above, the following duties may be essential depending upon the area of assignment:

• Support the development and maintenance of engineering databases, department web sites, and survey/CAD coordination
• Research the availability of public grants for engineering projects and coordinate the application process for obtaining those grants
• Maintain schedules and follow up to assure that project deadlines are met
• Coordinate changing design and construction standards for engineering projects

Required Qualifications

Knowledge of: Methods used in effectively leading and directing the work of others; training concepts and methods and needs assessment; group problem solving techniques; modern principles, practices, and techniques of participatory decision making; City design and construction standards and specifications; applicable City codes, policies and procedures; research techniques, sources of information, and methods of report presentation; applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules and regulations pertaining to the operations of municipal government; terminology, methods, practices, and techniques of construction inspection; surveying principles and practices; materials sampling and testing methods and techniques; engineering design and construction practices; quantity and cost estimating; customer service techniques; principles of project planning and administration; principles of statistics and mathematics as applied to engineering tasks.
 
Ability to: Plan, organize and oversee overall processes within specialized area(s); provide effective lead direction to others; deal tactfully with others; read and interpret plans and specifications; set priorities and meet deadlines; identify and implement effective courses of action to complete work assignments; work effectively with all levels of staff and management; identify training needs and resources; seek input and involvement from staff in decision making; organize technical information and communicate it to others orally and in writing; use independent judgment in formulating and presenting recommendations for improved processes and procedures; apply engineering design criteria; analyze administrative policies and procedures and make recommendations for changes; effectively plan and coordinate the administrative support staff work of assigned specialized area; communicate clearly and concisely orally and in writing; properly interpret and make decisions in accordance with laws, regulations, and policies; read figures and make accurate mathematical and statistical calculations; use trigonometry as applied to the computations of angles, areas, distances, and traverses; understand and follow oral and written instructions and sketches; comprehend and make inferences from written materials; understand and use computer-aided design, and/or other engineering application programs as well as spreadsheets and word processing; read and understand engineering maps, records, drawings and specifications; operate office equipment, computers and copy machines; and maintain engineering records.
 
Experience and Education: Any combination equivalent to experience and education that could likely provide the required knowledge and abilities would be qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be: Experience - Sufficient field and/or office paraprofessional experience in civil engineering design and construction practices, typically at the level of Civil Engineering Technician III or higher, or equivalent prior work experience obtained outside City employment, to demonstrate possession of the knowledge and abilities listed above for the specialized area where the position is being filled; Education - Courses in supervision, public and/or business administration, mathematics, computer-aided design, construction practices, surveying, materials testing, and/or other related courses. A certificate of completion from an accredited Civil Engineering Technology Certificate Program or other related technical program may be substituted for a portion of the experience requirement.
 

Additional Information

The work is performed indoors in an engineering office environment and outdoors in field conditions involving heavy traffic, steep terrain, muddy construction sites and exposure to poison oak. Field work is performed outdoors in a variety of weather conditions and involves walking on rough, uneven or rocky surfaces. Incumbents communicate with others orally, face to face, and by telephone and/or two-way radio. Incumbents are given oral direction or graphic information such as blueprints, schematic drawings, and layouts or other visual aids when receiving assignments. When operating office equipment such as a computer keyboard, mouse, and/or calculator, incumbents make fine, highly controlled, repetitive arm/hand movements. When operating a computer, incumbents sit for extended time periods with the ability to move at will. Incumbents raise arms overhead and/or bend and stoop to retrieve documents from file drawers. When performing field inspections and office duties, incumbents climb stairs and/or ladders, walk and stand for extended periods of time, and stoop and crouch with the ability to change positions as needed. When performing field inspections, incumbents respond to auditory warning devices. Construction inspection duties require incumbents to coordinate movement of more than one limb simultaneously while driving, to get in and out of a vehicle repeatedly, and to make visual inspections of contractors' work. During inspections, incumbents observe people in the field to monitor compliance with safety standards. Incumbents sometimes perform construction inspections at night and/or on weekends and holidays. Incumbents review or check the work products of less experienced staff. Incumbents sometimes use common hand tools such as a hammer, saw, or screw driver, pick or a utility box lifting device for design and inspection activities, or power tools such as a drill, power saw, or grinder. Incumbents discriminate among or match colors in order to inspect curb painting, pavement marking, and traffic signs.
For more information regarding this exciting opportunity, please contact Human Resources at 707-543-3060.
The City of Santa Rosa is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

The City does not discriminate on the basis of disability in employment. Requests for reasonable accommodations needed to participate in the recruitment process may be made by submitting a Request for Reasonable Accommodation Form within five (5) business days of being noticed that an event requiring accommodation is occurring. 

Salary:

$104,727.00 - $127,422.00