Water Cross Connection Specialist

Join the City of Albany as a Water Cross Connection Specialist and play an important role in protecting the community’s drinking water. This specialized position is responsible for administering the City’s Cross Connection Control Program, conducting inspections and investigations, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting water distribution operations. The position offers an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on public health and the reliable delivery of safe drinking water to the Albany community.

Benefits include:

• Excellent medical, vision and dental benefit package for the employee and qualified family members with low monthly out-of-pocket cost. Employee-paid premium is approximately $59 per month for employee-only coverage up to a maximum of $170 per month for family coverage.  
• City-paid contribution to a VEBA Trust account for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Currently, the annual contribution is $1,000 for employee-only and $2,000 for employee plus dependent(s).
• Paid time off including:
  • 8 hours of vacation leave per month, with progressive increases
  • 8 hours of sick leave per month
  • 10 paid holidays per year
  • 24 hours of floating holiday per year

• Excellent retirement benefits including: 
  • City-paid participation in the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System (OPSRP and City pays 6% IAP contribution) 
  • City-paid 0.5% contribution into pre-tax deferred compensation plan 
• In addition, other benefits such as job-related college tuition and book reimbursement, employee assistance program, basic life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, and flexible spending accounts for healthcare and childcare expenses.

To learn more about our organization, our community, and our benefits, click here. 

Distinguishing Characteristics
The Water Cross Connection Specialist classification is distinguished from the Water Maintenance I/II/III series by performance of specialized regulatory compliance duties pertaining to the Cross Connection Control Program. 

Nature of Work
This position performs a variety of tasks in the water distribution system and protects the City of Albany’s drinking water supply against cross-connection. Operates a variety of equipment in the construction, operation, repair, maintenance, and replacement of City water distribution; and performs related work as required.

The duties listed are intended only as illustrative examples of the various types of work that may be performed by individuals in this classification.  Any of the following duties may be performed.  These examples are not necessarily performed by all incumbents and do not include all specific essential functions and responsibilities the incumbent may be expected to perform.

1. Ensures water system customers comply with Municipal Code governing backflow prevention.
2. Ensures the City's Cross Connection Control Program is in compliance with federal, state and local statutes, rules, ordinances, etc.
3. Monitors, maintains, and updates the City's Cross Connection Control Program database to make certain all information is current.
4. Reviews plans for new water service connections, recommends required protection, and performs onsite verification that new devices are installed correctly.
5. Surveys the water distribution system to identify both unprotected cross connections and unaccounted for devices.  Follows up with property owners to assure compliance.
6. Provides GIS corrections and updates to maps.
7. Performs onsite inspections to identify cross connections and recommend required protection.
8. Responds to potential backflow events, investigates, and provides written report of event and any recommendations to the supervisor.
9. Performs public contact through inspections, permits, and public information meetings.  Deals effectively with regulated business and residential owners and the public, including possibly disgruntled or irate individuals. 
10. Develops, coordinates, and distributes public information materials regarding the Cross Connection Program; prepares a variety of documents including memos, letters, articles, and reports.
11. Assists Water Distribution field crew with water field work as time allows. Work may include general labor, preventative maintenance tasks, component installation/repair/replacement, customer service requests, water quality sampling, testing, etc.
12. Maintains regular job attendance and adherence to working hours; and may be required to work a rotating weekly afterhours on-call shift for emergency call-back including weekends and holidays.
13. Operates large service vehicles safely and legally.
14. Performs all duties in conformance to appropriate safety and security standards and best practices.
15. Represents the City of Albany by responding to the public, citizens, its employees, and others in a prompt, professional, and courteous manner while continuously maintaining a positive customer service demeanor. Regards everyone, internal and external, as a customer and deliver the best service possible in a respectful and patient manner.
16. Works to create a high-performance work culture by demonstrating a positive attitude and modeling the City’s mission, vision, and values. Conducts self with high integrity, proactive in conserving City resources, and seeks and incorporates customer feedback for ongoing performance improvement. Demonstrates continuous effort to improve operations, decrease turnaround times, streamline work processes, and work cooperatively and jointly to provide quality customer service.
17. Serves as a member of various City committees as assigned.
18. Assists other staff in the performance of their duties as assigned; and may provide training and orientation to new assigned personnel.
19. May be assigned acting-in-capacity duties of the Lead Operator.
20. Maintains regular job attendance and adherence to working hours.
21. Adheres to appropriate attire, grooming, and hygiene standards established for the position.
22. Operates a motor vehicle safely and legally.
23. Performs other related duties as required/assigned.

Works under the day-to-day guidance of a Lead Water Operator, and the supervision of the Water Operations Supervisor.

This is a non-supervisory position.  Lead work and coordination of work of others is not a typical function assigned to this position. Incumbents in this position may provide training and orientation to newly assigned personnel.Education and Experience:
A high school diploma or its equivalent and five years of experience relating to cross connection control and the construction, maintenance, or repair of water distribution systems; or an equivalent combination of education and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Special Requirements:

1. Possession of or ability to obtain a valid Oregon driver's license and a driving record that meets the City’s driving standards.
2. Possession of a valid State of Oregon Cross Connection Specialist Certification within six months of job placement.
3. Possession of a valid State of Oregon Backflow Assembly Tester Certification within one year of job placement.
4. Possession of a valid State of Oregon Water Distribution Level II or higher certification is preferred.
5. The individual shall not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of themselves or others.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 
Extensive knowledge of: methods, procedures and practices of administering a large scall cross connection program including all federal, state and local regulations; equipment, facilities, materials, methods, and procedures used in municipal water distribution operation, maintenance, construction, and repair activities.
Skill in: operation of a computer, including word processing and database programs; various hand/power tools; and investigation, and enforcement in response to noncompliance; and operation of listed tools and equipment used.
Ability to: be self-directed; communicate professionally both verbally and in writing; maintain effective working relationships with the public, cross connection testers, and other employees and departments. Be able to carry out both written and verbal instruction; and deal with customers or citizens who may be dissatisfied or irate. 

Work Environment:
The work environment is in an office setting and regularly outdoors in outside weather conditions. The employee frequently works near moving mechanical parts and is frequently exposed to wet and/or humid conditions and vibration. The employee frequently required to work and traverse slippery, uneven ground. May be required to work in utility excavations, vaults, manholes and other confined spaces and/or potentially hazardous environments. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderately loud. The position requires daily travel to various work sites around the city. May be required to be on-call and to work weekends, holidays, and evenings.  

Physical Demands: 
The factors described herein are representative of, but not all-inclusive of, those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the job.Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Detailed information may be available in a supplemental Job Task Analysis document.

The work is very heavy work which requires lifting up to 90 pounds occasionally, and carrying up to 90 pounds occasionally, pushing and pulling up to 185 pounds occasionally.   Additionally, the following physical abilities are required:

• Balancing:   sufficient to maintain body equilibrium to prevent falling while walking, standing or crouching on narrow, slippery, or erratically moving surfaces. The amount of balancing exceeds that needed for ordinary locomotion and maintenance of body equilibrium.
• Climbing: sufficient to ascend or descend ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps, poles and the like, using feet and legs and/or hands and arms. Body agility is emphasized.
• Crawling: sufficient to move about on hands and knees or hands and feet.
• Crouching: sufficient to bend the body downward and forward by bending leg and spine.
• Feeling: sufficient to perceive attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips.
• Fingering: sufficient to pick, pinch, type, or otherwise work, primarily with fingers rather than with the whole hand as in handling.
• Grasping: sufficient to apply pressure to an object with the fingers and palm.
• Handling: sufficient to pick, hold, or otherwise work, primarily with the whole hand.
• Hearing: sufficient to perceive the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discrimination in sound. 
• Kneeling: sufficient to bend legs at knee to come to a rest on knee or knees. 
• Lifting: sufficient to raise objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position. Occurs to a considerable degree and requires substantial use of upper extremities and back muscles. 
• Mental Acuity: sufficient to make rational decisions through sound logic and deductive methods.
• Pulling: sufficient to use upper extremities to exert force in order to draw, haul or tug objects in a sustained motion.
• Pushing: sufficient to use upper extremities to press against something with steady force in order to thrust forward, downward or outward.
• Reaching: sufficient to extend hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction.
• Repetitive Motion: Substantial movements (motions) of the wrist, hands, and/or fingers.
• Speaking: sufficient to express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word including the ability to convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately and concisely.
• Standing: Particularly for sustained periods of time. 
• Stooping: sufficient to bend body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist. Occurs to a considerable degree and requires full motion of the lower extremities and back muscles. 
• Talking: sufficient to express or exchange ideas by means of the spoken word including those activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Visual Acuity: sufficient to observe violations of codes, to effectively operate standard office equipment; ability to read and write reports, correspondence, instructions, drawings, etc.; and to operate motor vehicles and/or heavy equipment, by both day and night.
• Walking: sufficient to move about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or move from one work site to another.

Tools & Equipment Used:
In the performance of job duties, the employee will use a computer and various software programs; motorized vehicles and equipment, including dump trucks, pickup trucks, utility trucks, backhoes, forklifts, and vacuum excavation equipment; saws; pumps; compressors; generators; common hand and power tools; shovels; wrenches; detection devices; phone; copiers; computers; and other related tools and equipment. 

Safety Equipment:
This is not an exhaustive list. Hearing protection (including earmuffs), safety glasses, steel toed boots, gloves (nitrile, latex, leather), hardhat, knee pads, respirators and dust masks, traffic cones, safety vest, fall-restraint equipment when required. Develops safe work habits and contributes to the safety of self, co-workers, and the public.