Content Creation and Unmanned Systems Administrator

WHAT WE OFFER: 

The County of Ventura offers an attractive compensation and benefits package. Aside from our base salary range, an employee within this position may also be eligible for the following:

• General salary increase: 3.5% effective December 20, 2026, and 3.5% effective December 19, 2027.
• Educational Incentive: 2.5% for an associate's degree, 3.5% for a bachelor's degree, or 5% for a graduate degree not required for the position.
• Annual Leave Redemption: The option to cash out up to 100 hours of the total 208 hours of Annual Leave accrued per year. A candidate selected for this position will earn 208 hours per year increasing to 288 hours after 5 years of service.
• Deferred Compensation: Section 457 Plan and/or 401(k) Shared Savings Plan with up to a 3% match on your 401(k) contributions.
• Health Plans: You are afforded a flexible credit allowance of up to $26,626.86 annually for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from a group of authorized plans.
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Pre-tax benefit towards eligible medical, dental, and vision care expenses.
• Pension Plan: Participation in the County's defined benefit plan which has reciprocity with CalPERS.
• Bilingual Incentive: Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational need and certification of skill.
• Holidays: 13 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.

THE DEPARTMENT

The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) is committed to excellence in public safety, delivered with pride. Serving more than 840,000 residents in the unincorporated areas of Ventura County and the cities of Ojai, Port Hueneme, Moorpark, Camarillo, Santa Paula, Simi Valley, and Thousand Oaks. 

Established in 1928 as a special district, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors serves as the Department’s Board of Directors. VCFD’s mission is to anticipate and respond to the evolving public safety needs of a diverse community through prevention, education, communication, and emergency response. The Department provides fire protection, emergency medical services, rescue operations, hazardous materials response, and a broad range of additional services to protect life, property, and the environment.

THE POSITION

PAYROLL TITLE: Program Administrator II

DEPARTMENT/AGENCY: Ventura County Fire Protection District

Program Administrator II is a Management classification and is not eligible for overtime compensation. 

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

OPENING DATE: Wednesday, October 21, 2026

CLOSING DATE: Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 5:00 PM 

Duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Content Creation 

Unmanned Systems 

These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.
 
EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

Any combination of education, training, and considerable professional experience which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

The required knowledge, skills, and abilities can be obtained by three (3) years of paid professional experience in the development of comprehensive multimedia productions that support departmental training, recruitment, outreach, internal communications, and public relations

One (1) year of paid professional experience serving as a resource for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) operations, including advising personnel on capabilities, limitations, aviation safety, regulatory requirements, and emerging technologies. 

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Working knowledge of: Principles and practices of program and project management; Public-safety UAS/UGV operations, aviation safety, and operational risk management; Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulatory requirements applicable to UAS/UGV operations; UAS/UGV aircraft, sensors, software, communications systems, mapping technologies, automated flight systems, and emerging technologies; Training-program development and adult-learning principles; Instructional design and digital-learning methodologies; Learning Management Systems and principles associated with online course development, publication, administration, and evaluation; Multimedia and digital-content development, including video, photography, graphics, presentations, and other instructional media; Methods for evaluating program effectiveness and performance; Data management, privacy, cybersecurity, records management, and appropriate handling of digital information; Principles of effective written, oral, and visual communication.

Ability to: Plan, organize, implement, and evaluate technical programs and projects; Develop and maintain safe, compliant, and operationally effective UAS/UGV capabilities; Interpret technical and regulatory information and translate requirements into practical organizational procedures; Develop effective digital-learning and multimedia training products; Work collaboratively with subject-matter experts to identify learning objectives and convert specialized knowledge into effective instructional content; Communicate complex technical information clearly to personnel with varying levels of technical expertise; Learn, evaluate, and effectively utilize new software, equipment, and technology platforms; Manage multiple projects, competing priorities, timelines, and stakeholders; Analyze information and program performance and develop recommendations for improvement; Exercise sound independent judgment regarding aviation safety, operational risk, technology implementation, and project priorities; Establish and maintain effective working relationships with Department personnel, public agencies, vendors, regulators, and other stakeholders; Communicate effectively orally, visually, and in writing; Utilize Microsoft Office applications, including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook; Utilize professional video-editing software such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, or comparable platforms; manage a budget effectively.

Supplemental Information: Work is primarily performed in an office, training, production, or technology environment; however, assignments may also require work outdoors, at fire stations or training facilities, and at emergency incidents.

UAS/UGV assignments may involve work in proximity to emergency operations, aircraft, fire, smoke, hazardous environments, uneven terrain, adverse weather conditions, or other conditions inherent to fire and emergency-service operations.

The incumbent may be required to transport, set up, operate, and maintain UAS/UGV and multimedia equipment and may occasionally work evenings, weekends, or outside normal business hours based upon operational or training needs.

FINAL FILING DATE: Applications must be received by the County of Ventura Human Resources no later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
 
To apply online, please refer to our website at www.venturacounty.gov/jobs. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Ave., L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.
 
Applicants must provide sufficient information under the Education/Work Experience portion of the application and supplemental questionnaire to determine eligibility. A resume may be attached to supplement your responses in the above-referenced sections; however, it may not be submitted in lieu of the application.

NOTE: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here (Download PDF reader) (Download PDF reader) for additional information.
 
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire will result in the application being removed from consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION - qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether the stated requirements are met. Those individuals meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the screening and selection process.

TRAINING and EXPERIENCE EVALUATION - qualifying: The Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by a candidate, including the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the candidate meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining who are the better qualified among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the department. Candidates are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of candidates is exceptionally strong, many qualified candidates may receive a score or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process.
 
NOTE: The selection process will likely consist of an Oral Exam, which may be preceded or replaced with the score from a Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E), contingent upon the size and quality of the candidate pool. In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questions within the application are completed with care and diligence.

ORAL EXAMINATION - 100%: A job-related Oral Examination may be conducted to evaluate and compare participating candidates' knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to those factors which job analysis has determined to be essential for successful performance of the job. Candidates must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.
 
If there are three (3) or fewer qualified applicants, an examination will not be conducted. Instead, a score of seventy percent (70%) will be assigned to each application, and each applicant will be placed on the eligible list.

ELIGIBLE LIST 
Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year.

The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary and Fixed-term), Intermittent, and Extra Help vacancies for this position only. There is currently one (1) Regular, full time vacancy within the Ventura County Fire Department. 

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION

A thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information and driving record is required for this position.
 
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Lucy Fernandez by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (805) 389-9739.