Sr Analyst/GIS Staff

Southwest Gas Corporation•Las Vegas, NV

About The Position

The Senior Analyst/Geographic Information Systems Staff is responsible for supporting Engineering applications relating to Geographic Information System (GIS) such as: ArcGIS, FieldSmart View, AutoCAD, PaperVision Enterprise and Capture document management software, GPS, and Global Mapper. The position’s responsibilities include identifying business needs; developing standards and overseeing their implementation; identifying and evaluating GIS solutions and tools to improve operational efficiency and integration with other Company applications utilizing location-based information; providing technical support, guidance, and leadership to the GIS Operations; and, acting as a liaison between division GIS Operations and IS. This position does not have accountability for people or budget. In this position, the incumbent must provide innovative thinking and creativity and be able to interact with functional organizations throughout the Divisions.

Requirements

Degree in GIS or a related field from an accredited university and a minimum of four years of relevant work experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential job responsibilities.
Knowledge and abilities must include computer and network concepts and strategies, cognizance of information technology business practices to support Company policies and initiatives.
Good oral and written communications skills are required.
The incumbent must be able to work extended days and weekends as required to implement changes to production, accommodate project and business needs, and to test updates deployed to production.

Nice To Haves

Possess working knowledge of Oracle RDBMS environments
Maintain knowledge of AutoCAD
Maintain knowledge of GPS software and hardware
Maintain knowledge of PaperVision document management system
Maintain knowledge of FieldSmart View

Responsibilities

Provide technical support to the operational GIS groups
Provide technical and business support to Company projects
Support users and systems consuming GIS data
Perform in-depth analysis, develop recommendations, and provide consulting services on an as-needed basis to address complex customer and/or Company problems/issues which cross organizational boundaries and require thorough technical knowledge to resolve
Recognize and identify potential areas where existing GIS system policies and procedures require change or where new ones need to be developed
Ensure integrity of GIS data and processes across the Company
Develop GIS training materials and conduct ongoing user training for various division and corporate departments including onsite and offsite contractors
Advise and assist the division GIS Analysts and Supervisors with problem resolution and workflow implementation
Update and document the GIS systems configurations based upon Division, regulatory and project requirements
Initiate and manage smaller-scoped GIS related projects
Perform problem determination (i.e., identifying, troubleshooting, and understanding the source of technical problems, assessing their impact, recording diagnostic data, and either resolving or initiating action with others to resolve them)
Act as the point of contact with vendors for system enhancements and implementations
Participate in establishment of policies and procedures governing GIS/Engineering applications
Initiate change control for GIS requests (i.e., a complete request description, define business requirements, identify benefits, schedule testing and approval) originating in and/or impacting their area of responsibility
Initiate and coordinate software upgrades for GIS/Engineering application
Perform and/or facilitate User Acceptance Testing of software updates, new software or scripts, and software enhancements.
Set up and manage accounts, controls, and privileges for end users; perform user audits
Communicate change management with other departments, Divisions, and the Help Desk
Act as the company Subject Matter Expert (SME) for ArcGIS Desktop, ArcFM, ArcGIS Portal, MAOP Uptime
Compile data collection and management reporting of system performance
Design, model, implement and maintain geospatial databases (i.e., update or create tables, define table relationships, and add and remove fields)
Administer the ArcSDE environment (i.e., ensure versioning integrity, review and update table indexes, calculate statistics, and define database roles and table permissions)
Establish the GeoDatabase Maintenance routines, review daily output, and advise GIS Operations on maintenance activities
Update and maintain ArcFM software configurations for business requests and project requirements
Assist in system configuration, upgrades, system performance, system recovery, tuning and usage reporting
Ensure the integrity of MAOP Uptime processes and data within the ArcGIS environment
Maximize system reliability and availability
Develop tools and procedures for daily operational support of GIS users
Configure GIS web server/portal environments
Publish and maintain web map services
Facilitate the integration of the GIS system with other company applications
Develop, create, and execute both standard and custom spatial data queries and analysis using Python scripting, advanced SQL queries, and/or PL-SQL
Coordinate and run tools that provide large-scale data updates in ArcGIS to enhance the data for integration with other applications and/or facilitate better reporting
Create analytical and cartographic map products utilizing various data types and sources
Maintain the integrity of the GIS processing environment and ensure continuity with the current processing applications
Provide training and coaching to stakeholders to familiarize geodatabase design, functionality, and usage including for Synergi model builder, MAOP Uptime, Service Object tool, and other applications/tools
Integrate internal and external data sets into ArcGIS
Act as the Company SME for AutoCAD
Maintain knowledge of AutoCAD
Provide AutoCAD expertise and user support to Engineering groups
Maintain, develop and publish company design standards
Act as the Company SME for GPS data collection and processing
Maintain knowledge of GPS software and hardware
Provide GPS expertise and user support to GPS users and groups
Develop new and update existing GPS data dictionaries for project and business requirements
Act as the Company SME for PaperVision Enterprise and Capture document management system
Maintain knowledge of PaperVision document management system
Provide PaperVision expertise and user support to Engineering and Right-of-Way users and groups
Act as the company SME for FieldSmart View map viewing application
Maintain knowledge of FieldSmart View
Administer the data, attribute and symbology configurations for FieldSmart View
Validate the daily data extract, translate and load processes from GIS to FieldSmart View
Recognize business needs for FieldSmart View and initiate changes based on those needs
Maintain and direct the standardization of several compliance-driven operating procedures (Posting Standards Procedure, Design Drawing Procedure, and As-built Drawing Procedure)
Ensure that Regulatory Reports scripts (NPMS, Annual DOT Distribution, and Annual DOT Transmission Reports) are kept up-to-date with the latest regulatory requirements
Develop workflows to meet Compliance reporting requirements for new regulations
Perform related duties and responsibilities as assigned
Regular and predictable attendance is a condition of employment and is an essential function of the job