Communications Operator Family
Career series with 6 positions across 3 levels
New Jersey classifies Communications Operator as a 3-level family, 6 titles in all, built for step-by-step advancement.
Entry is typically through Communications Operator 1, advancing through the ladder toward Communications Operator 3. Pay across the family spans $50,059 to $92,953, around the 23rd percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 198 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Corrections.
Communications Operator reports to supervising titles such as Senior Sewage Plant Operator / Sewer Repairer and Senior Telephone Operator.
Specializations
Positions in This Family
- COMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR 1 (21802) $50,059 - $72,550/year
- COMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR 1, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (21802C) $50,059 - $72,550/year
- COMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR 2 (21803) $53,282 - $77,371/year
- COMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR 2, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (21803C) $53,282 - $77,371/year
- COMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR 3 (21804) $63,663 - $92,953/year
- COMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR, DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS (40820) $50,059 - $72,550/year
What the Communications Operator family covers
New Jersey classifies Communications Operator as a 3-level series holding 6 separate title codes. Every title in it is a state title, so the employer is a state department, commission or authority rather than a county or municipality.
Public safety classifications are built around rank rather than around grade, so advancement means competing for a different title instead of climbing steps in the current one. Entry requirements are unusually hard-edged: age limits, residency rules, medical and psychological screening, and an academy that must be completed after appointment rather than before it. Pay comes from separate schedules negotiated by separate unions, and those schedules often carry a contract-negotiated jump near the top of the ladder that the civilian tables do not have.
The ladder, ordered by pay
Sorted by pay instead of by title number, the Communications Operator family stacks up as follows. Here the numbering happens to agree with the pay order, which is not guaranteed elsewhere in New Jersey's plan.
- Communications Operator 3 — $63,663 to $92,953 (3 years of experience)
- Communications Operator 2, Environmental Protection — $53,282 to $77,371 (2 years of experience)
- Communications Operator 2 — $53,282 to $77,371 (2 years of experience)
- Communications Operator, Department of Corrections — $50,059 to $72,550 (1 year of experience)
- Communications Operator 1, Environmental Protection — $50,059 to $72,550 (1 year of experience)
- Communications Operator 1 — $50,059 to $72,550 (1 year of experience)
The distance from the bottom of Communications Operator 1 to the top of Communications Operator 3 is $42,894, an increase of about 86% over the entry minimum.
What each title does
The specifications themselves are the clearest guide to what separates these titles. Here is how each one opens.
- Communications Operator 1: Under the close supervision of a Communications Operator 3 or other supervisory official in a centralized or regional communications center, monitors, receives…
- Communications Operator 1, Environmental Protection: Under the close supervision of a Communications Operator 3 or other supervisory official in the Department of Environmental Protection…
- Communications Operator 2: Under the general supervision of a Communications Operator 3 or other supervisory official in a centralized or regional communications center, functions as a…
- Communications Operator 2, Environmental Protection: Under the general supervision of a Communications Operator 3 or other supervisory official in the Department of Environmental…
- Communications Operator 3: Under the direction of a Communications Officer or other supervisory official in a State department or agency, supervises a centralized and/or regional…
- Communications Operator, Department of Corrections: Under close supervision of a custody supervisor or other supervisory official in the Department of Corrections, performs a variety of…
Getting in: the stated requirements
None of the specifications in this family names a degree requirement, which places these titles among the New Jersey positions open to applicants without formal higher education. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 3 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.
On how the jobs are filled: 6 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination.
Who actually employs these titles
198 people appear on the state payroll under 6 of these titles, at 5 agencies. Corrections alone accounts for about 51% of them.
- Corrections — 101 employees
- Transportation — 36 employees
- State Parole Board — 28 employees
- Environmental Protection — 25 employees
- Law and Public Safety — 8 employees
Median actual pay varies across the family, from $50,539 for Communications Operator 1 up to $81,320 for Communications Operator 3. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.
State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.
How the pay is set
The family is split across 2 salary schedules (A-P-R-S and C-I-O), so two titles that look adjacent can be paid from different tables with different step structures. More than one union has members in this family: CWA and IFPTE.
Where these jobs exist
Hiring for this family runs through state service. Departments, commissions and boards fill these titles from eligible lists built by the Civil Service Commission, so the route in is an announcement and a filing deadline rather than a posting you apply to directly. What state jurisdiction means, and a breakdown of who employs what.
Related titles elsewhere in the plan
Nearby in the plan, ranked by how distinctive the shared terms are rather than by how many words happen to match.
- Communications Operator Trainee ($46,727 to $46,727, state jurisdiction)
- Communications Operator, Secured Facilities ($50,059 to $72,550, state jurisdiction)
- Communications Officer ($72,896 to $106,798, state jurisdiction)
- Communications Officer ($76,287 to $111,856, state jurisdiction)
- Communications Technician (local jurisdiction)
- Director of Communications (state jurisdiction) — in the Director family
Common questions about Communications Operator jobs
How many separate Communications Operator classifications does New Jersey have?
The Communications Operator family holds 6 title codes arranged across 3 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.
How much is a Communications Operator paid?
Published salary data for this family runs from $50,059 at the bottom of Communications Operator 1 to $92,953 at the top of Communications Operator 3. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.
Is there a civil service test for Communications Operator?
Yes for most of the family. 6 of the 6 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.
What are the requirements to become a Communications Operator?
No degree requirement is parsed from the specifications in this family, which puts these titles among the New Jersey civil service jobs reachable without formal higher education. Experience of 1 to 3 years is named where a requirement is stated.
Which agencies employ Communications Operator staff?
State payroll records show 198 people in this family across 5 agencies, with Corrections the largest at 101. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.