Water Service Technician

City of Charlotte

3d•$24 - $28

About The Position

Charlotte’s local government, with more than 9,000 employees and a total budget of $3.65 billion budget, works hard to ensure that the community will be a winning city for everyone – a truly remarkable place to live, work, learn and play. Charlotte Water is an enterprise department of the City of Charlotte and one of the largest public water and sewer service providers in the southeast with over 330,000 customer accounts and over 1100 employees. Our service area includes the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the towns of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Mint Hill, Matthews and Pineville. Charlotte Water’s FY 26 budget is $651 million and a five-year capital program of $2.2.28 billion. We enjoy the highest credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P Global as a result of sound financial planning and management and strong support from our City Council. We value competent, skilled candidates with a customer service focus to work in a team environment. Salary: The salary for this position is: $24.00 Hourly Job Summary: Under the general direction of Meter Services Supervisor, responsible for capturing accurate and timely reading and recording of water meters readings, for residential and commercial accounts, maintains mobile reading equipment, executes meter specific service orders, manages all work performed through a handheld service order management system, evaluates field conditions, and takes corrective action when required. Work is performed in a fast paced, production-driven environment on assigned routes in accordance with established standards for number and accuracy of reads. Meter Readers is expected to detect and report atypical conditions, such as identifying damaged, malfunctioning, and tampered meters; and detecting and reporting leaks, exposed wiring, and other safety hazards.

Requirements

Requires a High School diploma or G.E.D with one year work experience; preferably supplemented with the principles of customer service and water utility operations.
Must have a flexible work week schedule and able to report to work in emergency situations or adverse weather conditions.
Must have a valid North Carolina or South Carolina Driver’s License
Must obtain and maintain a City Driver’s Permit
Knowledge of Itron MC-3 Mobile Collector.
Knowledge of City of Charlotte geography relating to city streets.
Knowledge of water utility operations.
Knowledge of water meters.
Knowledge of principles of customer service.
Skilled in communicating effectively both verbally and in writing.
Skilled in using basic hand tools.
Ability to accurately read and record numbers from various types of meter dials, operate a special-purpose computer terminal, learn and memorize a number of codes, and perform basic mathematical calculations.
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely with customers.
Ability to maintain effective working relationships.
Ability to follow directives and instructions.
Ability to interact courteously and professionally with the public.
Ability to work independently in the absence of supervision.

Responsibilities

Accurately read and record meter readings for residential and commercial customers using computerized meter reading system.
Getting in and out of vehicle continuously up to 200 times a day to record accurate meter readings.
Completes assigned meter reading routes within established performance standards.
Operates within high accuracy standards in meeting daily meter reading quotas.
Learns meter reading and usage recording techniques and procedures involving the use of a hand-held computer.
Reading maps, navigating routes, and performing comprehensive field inspections on meters, registers, wiring, and transmitters to ensure accurate readings.
Validating correct readings from transmitters, performing field inspections to identify abnormalities affecting meter readings, and taking corrective actions in the field, including replacements of meters, registers, or transmitters.
Report meter locations that are hazardous or difficult to read or maintain to Supervisor so that condition can be remedied.
Educating customers on the Advanced Meter Reading (AMR) system and ensuring accurate record-keeping using a handheld service order management system.
Inspects meters and connections for defect, damage, and unauthorized connections.
Reports irregularities to Meter Services Supervisor.
Installing, changing, and inspecting water meters, ensuring proper meter box maintenance, and reporting any deficiencies.
Providing exceptional customer service through effective communication and de-escalation strategies when necessary.
Communicating effectively with internal and external customers on the operation of meters and transmitters.
Maintains skills and knowledge in the proper and safe techniques for performing job functions.
Carrying out other required tasks and duties as necessary to ensure the efficient operation of the water distribution system.
Performing preventative maintenance and inspections of vehicles and field equipment, promptly reporting any malfunctions or deficiencies.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Ability to effectively communicate both in writing and verbally; maintain effective working relationships; and ability to understand and follow directives and instructions.
Requires effective verbal communication skills to interact courteously and effectively with the public.