Fire Telecommunicator

City of Charlotte•Charlotte, NC

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Welcome to the City of Charlotte. Charlotte is America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety, health, and quality of life for all residents. Our guiding principles include: Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions. Receives and transmits telephone and radio emergency class for fire and emergency medical incidents and coordinating response with other City/County emergency service and/or non–emergency organizations.

Requirements

All newly hired Fire Telecommunicators will go through a training program of approximately 20 weeks. This includes 8 weeks at the Fire Training Academy and approximately 12 weeks of on-the-job training in the Emergency Communications Center (ECC).
Telecommunicator recruits must meet all standards established by the department, including but not limited to: Successful completion of all academic portions of recruit training.
Certification as an APCO Public Safety Telecommunicator.
Certification as an APCO Fire Service Telecommunicator.
Adherence to all standards, rules, guidelines, and requirements as established by department General Orders and by Training Staff expectations.
Knowledge of the operations of an electronic radio and telecommunications system and related Federal Communications Commission regulations.
Ability to assess people and situations, to apply sound judgment, to remain calm under stressful conditions and to elicit sufficient and essential information for dispatching and assisting field personnel in a timely and efficient manner.
Ability to work simultaneously on different calls with different agencies and staff.
Ability to speak clearly and distinctly.
Ability to maintain accurate and complete work activity records and files.
Knowledge of the Charlotte area road system and geography.
Ability to work in a team setting.
Ability to obtain and maintain minimum training standards and certifications. This includes an initial training period and continuing education.
Positions in this class typically require grasping, talking, hearing, seeing, and repetitive motions.
Essential and marginal functions may require maintaining physical conditions necessary for sitting, and standing for extended periods of time.
Light to moderate lifting and carrying; some crouching, stooping, squatting, crawling, reaching, pushing, and pulling when performing tasks.
Adequate vision, hearing, and speech required.
Concentrated and attentive use of one or more senses (visual, audio, and other sensory modalities) for proofreading, data entry, and tabulating data.
Ability to operate in an environment with frequent interruptions from people and/or noises, which in return could result in some level of stress, fatigue, or strain.
Comprehensive written information in work-related documents.
Ability to hear, understand, and distinguish speech.
A valid driver's license in their current state of residence as a condition of employment.
All applicants must have valid driver's license listing current residence to be considered for the Fire Telecommunicator position.
At least 18 years of age by the date of the written assessment.
High school diploma/GED by the date of the written assessment.
Must meet NENA Hearing Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators (NENA-STA-007.3-00).
Automatic Disqualifiers Include, but are not Limited to: Reason(s) other than Honorable discharge from military Admission and/or conviction of felony offense Admission and/or conviction of misdemeanor involving moral turpitude Illegal drug use within six months before or after the date of the telecommunicator exam Pattern of illegal drug use including distribution Pattern of theft DUI / DWI conviction within the last five years Six or more points for moving violations on driving record during past three years. Court decisions such as Prayer for Judgment Continued (PJC) will be counted as convictions. Three-year period calculated from date of conviction for each violation.
Applicants failing to meet testing qualifications may not retest during that same job posting. However, they are welcome to reapply after 6 months’ time has passed.
Applicants who do not pass the panel interview may reapply after 12 months’ time has passed.
Applicants who are considered to be a “no call, no show” for any portion of the hiring process will be disqualified for a period of 2 years. This includes all testing, observations, and the interview.
The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte.
Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination.
During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of the Charlotte area road system and geography.

Responsibilities

Receives incoming routine and emergency calls, dispatches, and maintains contact with all operational units.
Process emergency and non-emergency calls from the public, dispatch appropriate Charlotte Fire Department apparatus, and monitor and respond to emergency and non-emergency radio traffic.
Work involves monitoring multiple calls with different agencies, apparatus, and personnel.