Lead Telecommunicator

City of La Porte, Texas•La Porte, TX

9d•Onsite

About The Position

Supervises, leads, and participates in the work of staff responsible for performing a variety of duties involved in receiving incoming calls for police, fire, emergency medical, and animal control assistance and dispatch necessary units; to operate TCIC/NCIC, CAD, 911 and switchboard equipment; and to perform a variety of general support duties related to communications activities. Positions in this class are flexibly staffed. Incumbents assume the responsibility of providing supervision to assigned staff, perform the more technical work of the unit, and provide administrative support to the dispatch operations. Employees at this level are required to be fully trained in all procedures related to the assigned area of responsibility.

Requirements

High School Diploma or GED required.
Two years of experience as a Telecommunicator in Public Safety preferred.
Knowledge of principles of leadership, supervision and training.
Knowledge of operations, services, and activities of a Public Safety Telecommunications and dispatch center.
Knowledge of methods and techniques of receiving, prioritizing, and dispatching and non-emergency calls for service.
Knowledge of functions of the Public Safety Department and other City departments.
Knowledge of geographic features and locations within the area served.
Knowledge of basic office skills, including Windows based PC applications.
Knowledge of English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Ability to lead, organize, and review the work of the Communications Center.
Ability to independently perform the most difficult work related to the area of work assigned including technical and administrative duties.
Ability to provide one-on-one training for new Telecommunicators.
Ability to make independent decisions that affect the safety of all personnel.
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.
Ability to apply standard broadcasting procedures and rules and standard radio or telephone communications receiving and transmitting equipment.
Ability to be familiar with geographic features and streets of the City.
Ability to apply Department procedures and policies, and those of the other user agencies.
Ability to apply Public safety classifications codes and computer commands.
Ability to follow TCIC/NCIC Guidelines.
Ability to operate all communication equipment and office equipment quickly and accurately.
Ability to instruct new employees.
Ability to speak clearly and precisely.
Ability to work under pressure, exercise good judgment, make sound decisions in emergency situations.
Ability to effectively communicate with and elicit information from upset and irate citizens.
Ability to type at a speed necessary for adequate job performance.
Ability to understand and follow oral and written instructions.
Ability to operate teletype and other office equipment.
Ability to spell accurately.
Ability to work various shifts as assigned.

Nice To Haves

Two years of experience as a Telecommunicator in Public Safety preferred.

Responsibilities

Assist the Support Services Supervisor to ensure all calls for service are promptly and efficiently handled by communications personnel and are transmitted or transferred to the appropriate personnel according to current policies and procedures.
Supervise Telecommunicators on assigned shift who handle life and death situations on a daily basis and situations that could incur great liability if not handled properly.
Assist in coordinating the scheduling of dispatch center staff; endure all shifts are sufficiently covered.
Maintain discipline and ensure that Department rules and policies are followed.
Provide a variety of staff and administrative assistance related to the dispatch center; attend monthly meetings with the Support Services Supervisor and other management staff to resolve issues related to dispatch; perform special projects as assigned including researching training opportunities and developing related policies and procedures.
Documents/provides performance feedback and furnishes information for the formal performance evaluation.
Documents and provides information to the Support Services Supervisor regarding any problems or complaints involving assigned shift personnel.
Assist the Support Services Supervisor with any necessary training and development of an evolving training program.
Supervise, train, and evaluate assigned staff.
Perform normal Telecommunicator duties as well.
Perform related duties as required.