Permit Technician

King County•Chinook Building 401 5th Avenue Seattle, WA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Environmental Health Services Division of Seattle & King County Public Health is seeking to hire one (1) candidate for a career service in the Permit Technician role. Seeking to select qualified candidates with excellent customer service and technical skills to support and perform a variety of duties focused on serving the public to help us meet our mission to identify and sustain environmental conditions that promote health equity, healthy people and communities in Seattle and King County. The Permit Technician works as part of a team to collect and process permits, conduct in-take for plan review, letters, and perform customer service-related duties. The Environmental Health Division processes over 13,000 permits for food establishments, pools/spas, meat cutters, solid waste services, pet business, and plumbing and gas piping services. The successful candidates in this position will be extremely motivated to provide excellent customer service in a fast-paced environment and independently prioritize a high volume of work while working as a member of a team. These positions will report to the Program Supervisor for our Permit Technician team within the Environmental Health operations section at the Chinook/downtown offices. The Program is committed to the principles of racial equity and social justice and values diverse perspectives and life experiences in its workforce. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. About the Environmental Health Services (EHS) Division: Through the work of over 190 dedicated employees, the Environmental Health Services Division (EHS) promotes healthy and equitable environmental conditions and prevents disease through sanitation, safe food, air, and water (drinking, surface, and recreational), and reduction of exposure to hazardous materials. In addition to permitting and inspecting public pools, spas, pet businesses, plumbing installations, on-site septic systems, and solid waste facilities, the Division also works in partnership with community to address unhealthy environmental conditions and leads the department’s climate change efforts. Our vision is healthy, safe, and vibrant communities that are free of health disparities based on race, gender or economic status. The Division’s core values include equity and social justice, integrity, community service, collaboration, a supportive work culture, and learning from each other and the communities we serve. This recruitment will be used to create an eligibility pool to fill additional Career Service, Term-Limited Temporary (TLT), or Special Duty Assignment (SDA) vacancies that may occur over the next six months.

Requirements

Two (2) years of customer service experience demonstrating the ability to communicate with customers using discretion, patience, etiquette, and professionalism.
Strong communication skills both written and verbal.
Experience with complex accounts receivables/payable functions.
Experience in automated financial and management information systems, word processors, spreadsheets, database, and similar software applications.
Ability to follow oral and written instructions; adjust to changes in workload demands; and research, gather and compile technical information from a variety of sources.
Strong organization, problem solving and researching skills.
Intermediate to advanced computer skills, including MS Office application such as Word, Excel, and Outlook.
Skill in maintaining data accuracy and integrity.
Strong math and analytical skills.
Excellent time management and priority setting skills; able to handle multiple tasks with extreme accuracy.
Skill in tracking and following through on assignments.
Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new computer applications.
Knowledge and experience working with people from diverse backgrounds.
Ability to positively contribute in a team environment; actively listens to others and builds trust and confidence.
Ability to be reliable and dependable with assignments and work schedule.
Skill in teamwork and collaboration.
Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.
Employees will be provided with a County-issued laptop and must maintain a home workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours.
The selected candidate must be able to provide proof of Basic Life Support (BLS) / CPR.
Employees are required to protect the privacy and security of protected health information as defined in State and Federal Law.
Public Health relies on office automation (Microsoft Office) and web-based enabled tools, therefore candidates must be proficient and comfortable with computer use to perform functions associated with on-going work.
Employees are required to adhere to OSHA/WISHA guidelines including but not limited to completing their mandatory trainings on time and obtaining required immunizations.
Regular and reliable attendance, effective communication skills, and development of effective working relationships are requirements of all Public Health positions.
When Public Health responds to an emergency, and in accordance with relevant CLA language and/or KC policy and procedures, we may assign duties outside your regular job description. This may involve responding at any time, including nights and weekends, with possible deployment to locations other than the department.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated experience providing customer service.
Demonstrated experience with complex reconciliations.
Bilingual skills.

Responsibilities

Process permits renewals, and provide application in-take for permits, re-inspection, plan review and other billings.
Scanning a high volume of permits using a barcode scanner or manual data entry into database.
Answer incoming calls, that may include intaking of complaints, permit adjustments, payment intake and triaging calls.
Incoming mail processing.
Read and interpret maps and legal descriptions.
Assure permits are issued to the correct parcel number & address.
Process letters and public disclosures requests.
Set up and monitor status of applications, coordinated with program staff to avoid backlogs and ensure applications are processed and follow up in a timely manner.
Monitor accounts for payment and coordinates collection process for unpaid accounts.
Compile data that may require information searches through files, including spreadsheets and/or customized database applications including financial research questions.
Perform other duties as assigned.