Senior Water Treatment Plant Operator

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THE position
This recruitment is being conducted to fill three full-time vacancies. The list established by this recruitment may be used to fill future full-time, part-time, limited term, and temporary vacancies for up to one year.</undefined>

Why Join the City of Vallejo Water Department
The City of Vallejo Water Department is staffed by dedicated professionals with deep technical expertise and a strong commitment to public service. Our team values integrity, accountability, and collaboration.
We cultivate a supportive, growth-oriented environment where employees are encouraged to expand their skills, share innovative ideas, and take ownership of their work. With a strong emphasis on training, professional development, and sustainability, this is more than just a workplace-it’s a place where your contributions have a lasting impact and where teamwork drives success.</undefined>

The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate for the position of Senior Water Treatment Plant Operator will have sufficient working knowledge and progressively responsible experience working in a T3 system (or higher) drinking water treatment facility, comparable to Vallejo’s surface-water treatment processes.</undefined>

THE DEPARTMENT
The Vallejo Water Department is a dynamic organization engaged in growth and positive change for the benefit of our customers and community. The Department provides potable water to 121,000 customers through a highly complex system including multiple raw water sources, three treatment plants, a Sludge Dewatering Facility, 600 miles of distribution pipes, 8 pressure zones, 27 pump stations, and 37,000 service connections. Vallejo Water is a Treatment-5/Distribution-5system. In 2017, Vallejo water services transitioned from a division of Public Works to a standalone Water Department reporting directly to the City Manager. This change gives drinking water-related operations and issues greater visibility and strategic direction for the benefit of rate-payers. The Water Department’s strategic goals include: infrastructure reliability, public trust, sustainability, organizational performance, and financial viability.
The Water Department has six Divisions: Water Treatment, Engineering, Distribution, Water Quality, Watershed and Facilities Management, and Administration/Conservation. </undefined>

THE CITY OF VALLEJO
The City of Vallejo is located in Solano County and has a population of approximately 121,000 residents. Vallejo is a rapidly changing, highly diverse community located midway between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento. It is a friendly, active waterfront community that attracts innovative, hardworking people and takes great pride in its 148-year history and maritime heritage. Residents of Vallejo are situated to take advantage of the best of what the area has to offer. Golf, museums, performing arts, boutique shopping, brewpubs and a wide selection of restaurants are all available in Vallejo. Residents and visitors alike enjoy Vallejo’s delightful historical downtown area, weekly downtown farmer’s market, and beautifully restored Victorian homes and business facades. Vallejo is also home to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, one of America’s only combination wildlife, oceanarium and theme parks.</undefined>
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
This is the advanced journey level classification in the Water Treatment Plant Operator series. Employees in this classification have successfully obtained their Grade T4 and demonstrated their ability to perform and lead others in the full range of responsibilities involved in the operation and maintenance of a serviceable water supply through the City’s transmission, distribution facilities, water treatment plants and sludge de-watering facility, without direction. Incumbents function with a high degree of autonomy to apply advanced concepts and expertise in specific areas to resolve issues/problems that are often of a unique nature without precedent and/or structure. Assignments may include formulating strategies and making recommendations for improved processes and allocation of resources. This classification is distinguished from Water Treatment Plant Supervisor in that the latter is a first-line supervisory classification responsible for the direct supervision and development of assigned staff, planning, goal implementation, policy development, assisting with budget preparation, as well as managing the day-to-day operations of an assigned treatment plant.
As a condition of continued employment with the City of Vallejo in the classification of Senior Water Treatment Plant Operator, incumbents are required to maintain a Grade T4 Water Treatment Plant Operator certification by the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). If incumbent is unable to maintain a Grade T4 Water Treatment Plant Operator certification, employment will be terminated.
SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED
Receives direction from Water Treatment Plant Supervisors and supervisory and management staff.
Provides lead direction to Water Treatment Plant Operators and Water Treatment Plant Operator Trainees.

• Perform complex or unusual operations that assume a high level of skill and proficiency including the scheduling and performance of start-ups and shutdowns, startup testing of new installations, plant configuration changes, troubleshooting problems, minor equipment maintenance and calibration, collaborate with other staff on process or water quality challenges, treatment equipment testing and filter media surveillance.
• Prepare aliquots, solutions for use in bench-scale process testing, to verify or adjust correct chemical Application and achieve optimal processes.
• Check regulatory compliance through thorough observations, assessments and accurate recordings of analytical results.
• Assemble documentation; provide updates and maintain information in plant operating logs and reports; perform and record mathematical calculations related to plant performance and operational control activities.
• Examine and interpret plant operating logs, test results, maintenance work performed, unusual operating conditions and report recommendations to supervisor.
• Dispatch call-out personnel as required as required for emergency situations at all hours; may act in a central communications functional role as follows; receiving, relaying and providing information to and from City personnel or other responder services as required.
• Perform lead operator responsibilities on shifts or as assigned.
• Instruct and monitor work of Operator Trainees and Staff Operators in all facets of plant operations and required maintenance.
• Assist Plant Supervisor with special projects.
• Work cooperatively with other City sections or project teams and make every effort to enhance public relations; lead and conduct general tours of the facilities.
• Participate in organizational meetings, operator training programs, emergency preparedness training and exercises.
• Assist supervisors in assessing readiness and team performance.
• Provide for safe plant conditions and working environment at all times exercising a routine of attentiveness and proactive responses to plant safety and security matters.
• Observe and participate in shift change turn-overs and ensure information exchanged is accurate and complete.
• Perform related duties and responsibilities as required.

• Advanced principles of mathematics, biology, chemistry, and hydraulics as applied in the operation of a drinking water treatment facility.
• Advanced principles and practices of drinking water treatment plant operations, laboratory analysis techniques and current drinking water standards and regulations.
• Advanced operating principles and practices of drinking water treatment plant operations, laboratory analysis techniques and current drinking water standards and regulations.
• Advanced operating principles of plant equipment such as valves, pumps, motors, controls, instrumentation and telemetry.
• Basic computer (PC) skills in Microsoft Office Suite software.
• Current safety regulations pertaining to industrial work practices and use of related equipment.
• Performance and water quality regulations pertaining to water treatment plant operations.
• Regulations, techniques and equipment used in managing, mitigating, recovery and reporting of hazardous materials incidents.
• Practical knowledge of United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and California State Water Resource Board (CA SWRB) drinking water regulations that apply to the treatment techniques, operational control and performance of conventional surface water treatment plants.
• Practical understanding of roles and responsibilities as defined in California Office of Emergency Services Standardized Emergency management System (S.E.M.S.),
• Incident Command System (ICS) and in the City’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP).

• Understand and carry out written and oral instructions.
• Read and interpret gauges and other recording devices, plant piping and distribution diagrams and other technical documents.
• Logically solve problems and identify hazardous work conditions.
• Apply the practices, procedures, techniques, and treatment rules pertaining to the operation of water treatment plants and distribution system into daily practice.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.
• Work any shift, rotations, weekends, and holidays, at any Water Department facility. Water Treatment Plant Operators may be assigned and required to report directly to any City treatment facility location, and to travel to alternate duty/work locations and offsite meetings.
• Lift 55 pounds and move heavy chemical containers.
• Operate and maintain water treatment plant equipment.
• Perform simple to complex tasks while wearing Level A personal protective equipment.
• Wear respiratory protection equipment as required; perform required duties while wearing a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA).
• Maintain the ability to perform required duties while wearing a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), and to maintain facial hair at all times as required to not interfere with wearing respiratory protective equipment.
• Diagnose operating problems and take effective courses of action.
• Make independent technical decisions to maintain proper treatment process and techniques.
• Perform repair maintenance to plant equipment such as pumps, valves, and electronic monitoring devices.
• Independently operate all of the Water Department’s facilities in unusual conditions.
• Exercise highly skilled operations in all phases of plant operations: start-up, shutdown, reduction or bypass of unit processes, adverse of emergency conditions.
• Accurately observe and record operating conditions and provide verbal or written reports. Travel to alternate duty/work locations and offsite meetings.
• Work independently without supervision.
• Assist and mentor operators in technically challenging aspects of plant operations and treatment processes.
• Perform duties and responsible tasks of a plant shift operator.
• Operate a personal computer and common applications such as emails, word processing, spreadsheet and database programs.