ASSISTANT CHIEF SEWAGE PLANT OPERATOR

Code: 05279 Local Competitive

Official job specification

The text below is the official specification published by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. The plain-language summary and analysis above are derived from it by NJ Civil Service Navigator. Source: the official specification page at NJ CSC.

Definition

Assists the Chief Sewage Plant Operator in supervising, coordinating, and directing the work performed by all operators engaged in operating and maintaining equipment at a sewage treatment facility.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

The distinction between this level and that of Sewage Plant Operator Foreman lies in the degree to which each class has responsibility for such matters as work planning and organization of the unit, issuance of work assignments to subordinates and review of their job performance, and the exercise of supervisory personnel functions.

The Assistant Chief Sewage Plant Operator has substantially greater responsibility and authority than a foreman with regard to such elements.

The foreman class represents the first full level of supervision in this series. Assistant Chief Sewage Plant Operators on the other hand are generally responsible for and more involved with assisting the chief operator in:

Analyzing work requirements, and determining staff resources, equipment, and other resources needed to accomplish work assignments, and making adjustments among subordinate units as deemed appropriate.

Establishing and adjusting long-range schedules, priorities, and deadlines for regular and special work assignments, and coordinate work schedules among subordinate units.

Reviewing, approving, modifying, or rejecting changes in functions, structure, position design, staffing levels, and the like proposed by subordinates and collaborate with higher levels of management in making decisions relating to major changes in work plans or operations.

Coordinating work operations among subordinates units and with other organizations on matters that may adversely affect other operations or programs.

Reviewing and analyzing records and reports of work procedures costs, and equipment, and staff resource utilization in order to evaluate progress, and to control or reduce costs.

Reporting progress and resolution of problems in the achievement of goals and objectives to higher levels of management.

Typically, the Assistant Chief Sewage Plant Operator assists in directing the accomplishment of assigned work operations within the limits of policies and guidelines established by management officials, and oral and written instructions provided by superiors. Completed work is evaluated by superiors for overall effective and economical use of personnel, equipment, materials, and methods to meet goals and quality standards.

The Assistant Chief Sewage Plant Operator is involved with:

Planning

Assists in planning and scheduling work assignments on a long-range basis for accomplishment by the units supervised within schedules and priorities established by higher level supervision.

In doing this the Assistant Chief Sewage Plant Operator assists in analyzing work schedules, determining manpower, equipment, material requirements, and methods to be used and assists in planning work for which he is responsible.

The Assistant Chief Sewage Plant Operator assists in providing information and advice to higher level supervision on such matters as ability to accomplish work assignments as scheduled, budget estimates, changes in work procedures and standards, rearrangement of machinery or other changes in facilities.

Work Direction

Assists in translating basic management goals and objectives into effective work operations, establishing a good working climate to encourage employees to participate in achieving management goals, and to promote efficient and economical work operations. Assists in scheduling, coordinating, and directing the accomplishment of work operations by subordinates. Assists in determining personnel, material, equipment, and facilities needed.

Assists in establishing basic priorities and work sequences, and maintaining balanced workload among subordinates through proper distribution of work projects and allotment of manpower, equipment, and materials.

In order to be classified in this category, the position must involve the supervision of at least three or more employees on a regular and recurring basis, must occupy a significant or substantial portion of the employee's working time and must not be infrequent, incidental, emergency, or temporary in nature.

A substantial portion of the employee's time includes directing and guiding subordinates in the performance of their duties, assisting in coordinating the work of the unit, instructing new employees in the performance of their duties and reviewing and evaluating the work performance of subordinates.

Positions in this class typically assist the Chief Sewage Plant Operator in all phases (or at least the preponderance) of the specialized activities involved in the operation and maintenance of the plant.

Generally, the responsibility for handling the total plant operations is divided or shared between the Chief Sewage Plant Operator and the Assistant Chief Sewage Plant Operator who serves as the "alter ego" to the chief and in his or her absence assumes all of the duties, responsibilities, and authority of the chief's position. Generally the decisions made by the assistant chief carry the same "weight" or authority as though they were made by the chief.

Positions whose functions, responsibilities and authority are limited to the performance of only a small portion or aspect of the sewage treatment processes or to the more routine tasks should be classified under the title most appropriate for the duties performed.

The employees in this class may perform duties representative of those performed by subordinates, but the performance of such duties does not encompass the majority of the employee's time and is merely and adjunct to the supervisory responsibilities.

Examples of work

• Assists in supervising the work activities of employees.
• Issues work assignments.
• Enforces safety regulations, trains new employees, and recommends action to be taken regarding promotions, discipline, etc.
• Suggests changes in procedures and provides working instructions to operators, repairers, and other skilled and unskilled workers.
• Assists in supervising and works with operators engaged in various wastewater treatment processes such as power generating, grit removal, pump and blower operations, and sludge filtration and/or incineration.
• Assists in supervising and works with employees in various waste water processes, and maintenance and repair activities such as:
• Monitoring control panels and adjusting valves and gates manually or by remote control to regulate the flow of sewage into and out of system.
• Starting and stopping pumps, engines, and generators to control the flow of raw sewage through filtering, setting, aeration, and sludge digestion processes.
• Maintaining work logs and records pertaining to meter and gauge readings.
• Collecting sewage samples and conducting routine laboratory tests to determine P.H. and impurities.
• Seeing that the proper amounts and mixtures of chemicals are fed into the equipment based on laboratory test results.
• Cleaning of equipment and disposal or incineration of sludge.
• Performing minor repairs to mechanical plant equipment which may include the replacement of packing in pumps or valves, replacement of bearing in motors and pumps, and lubrication of machines and equipment parts.
• Inspects work areas to determine material and equipment needed.
• May inspect equipment, such as pumps, settling tanks, filters, and panel boards to detect malfunctions.
• May supervise workers in the maintenance of buildings and grounds.
• May be required to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.

Experience

Four (4) years of experience in operating, adjusting, regulating, repairing, and maintaining pumps, valves, electric motors, and other electrical and mechanical equipment used in a sewage treatment plant.

License

Appointees may be required to possess a current and valid Public Wastewater Systems Operator License and/or a Public Water Treatment System Operator License of the appropriate class issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Appointees will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey only if the operation of a vehicle, rather than employee mobility, is necessary to perform the essential duties of the position.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Knowledge of the various wastewater (sewage) processes, for example, power generating, grit removal, pump and blower, and sludge filtration of incineration.
• Knowledge of the equipment and the function of the various units of equipment found in a sewage plant such as panelboard, settling tanks, grit, and pumps and valves.
• Knowledge of the procedures used in collecting samples of wastewater, how to test samples and what adjustments must be made to chemical feed equipment as a result of these tests.
• Knowledge of the methods used in disposing of liquids and solids resulting from wastewater treatment.
• Knowledge of the safety to be observed while working with sludge or in the presence of gases or fumes or in a work area which has open tanks and manholes.
• Ability to follow established procedures and standards.
• Ability to make judgments and decisions within the frameworks of established practices and procedures.
• Ability to give suitable assignments and instructions to employees engaged in the operation, maintenance, and repair of wastewater treatment plant equipment and machinery.
• Ability to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.
• Ability to read, write, speak, understand, or communicate in English sufficiently to perform the duties of this position. American Sign Language or Braille may also be considered as acceptable forms of communication.
• Persons with mental or physical disabilities are eligible as long as they can perform the essential functions of the job after reasonable accommodation is made to their known limitations. If the accommodation cannot be made because it would cause the employer undue hardship, such persons may not be eligible.