Human Resource Services
Alameda Skyline

Junior Engineer

Recruitment #18-2010-01

Introduction

THIS IS A NEW ASSEMBLED EXAMINATION.  The eligible list resulting from this examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year, but can be extended.

 

Supplemental Questionnaire: A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application.  Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Failure to submit the Application or Supplemental Questionnaire will result in disqualification.  Applications will only be accepted on-line. 

 

 

DESCRIPTION

 

ABOUT THE COUNTY 
Alameda County, located on the east side of San Francisco Bay, is California’s seventh-largest county. The County employs 9,080 full-time employees and operates on an annual budget of $2.39 billion. Oakland, the County seat, is California’s eighth largest city. One and a half million people call Alameda County home and live in a variety of incorporated cities, unincorporated communities and rural areas. As a major urban county, Alameda provides a full range of services to its citizens. The County is a blend of culturally and ethnically diverse communities, and its mixture of cosmopolitan and suburban areas provides the perfect environment for families and their active lifestyles. The County offers extensive cultural resources, countless recreational opportunities and an array of fine public and private colleges and universities.

THE PUBLIC WORKS AGENCY

The mission of Public Works is to enhance the quality of life for the people of Alameda County by providing a safe, well-maintained, and lasting public works infrastructure through accessible, responsive and effective services.  Public services provided by the Alameda County Public Works Agency include flood and storm water pollution control, transportation planning and design, roadway and flood control maintenance and inspection, and construction and building inspections.

The goals of the Agency are to keep roads safe and well maintained, provide the highest level of flood protection, provide service levels that optimize infrastructure life cycles, minimize deferred maintenance, ensure that development and construction adhere to applicable State and County rules, optimize disaster preparedness, response and recover, ensure that the Agency’s operations and services minimize negative impacts on the environment, and sustain and advance County and Agency programs through a vital business and administrative support system.

For more information about the Alameda County Public Works Agency, please visit their website at www.acgov.org/pwa.

 

THE POSITION

The Alameda County Public Works Agency currently has two entry-level engineering vacancies and is seeking highly motivated individuals to join our team.

 

The first vacancy is within the Flood Control Design Section.  The Flood Control Design Section is responsible for annual capital project delivery to improve flood protection within the different communities in Alameda County.  The Flood Control Design Section offers unique opportunities for junior engineers to complete a project from beginning to end on a training basis.   

 

Flood Control project types includes culvert crossing improvements, channel widening, floodwall construction, levee upgrades, pump station rehabilitation, new pump station construction, creek restoration, fish passage improvements, and major dredging.  

 

The  second vacancy is within the Construction Division. The Construction Division provides construction management services for the construction of transportation and flood control capital projects throughout Alameda county.

 

Under close supervision and on a training basis, this individual will perform inspections of capital projects related to roadway and flood control facilities, chairs pre-construction meetings, ensures compliance with contract plans and specifications and makes modification recommendations to design engineer.

 

After a year or more, this individual expected to be performing professional engineering work of average difficulty and be able to qualify for the higher classification of Assistant Engineer. 

 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Either I

Education:

Must either possess a valid Bachelor's Degree in civil engineering awarded by an accredited college or university, OR obtain such a degree before being eligible for appointment in the Alameda County classified service.

Or II

Possession of a certificate as an Engineer-in-Training issued by the State of California Board of Registration for Civil and Professional Engineers.

Or III

A Bachelor's Degree in engineering from an accredited college or university received prior to the last five years, AND professional engineering experience during the last five years.

License:

Valid California Motor Vehicle Operator's license.

NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

 The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies:

The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the “Examples of Duties” section of this specification.

Knowledge of:

• Fundamentals of physics, chemistry, and mathematics as required by civil engineering.
• Fundamentals of hydraulics, mechanics, and stress analysis.
• Principles and practices of surveying.
• Strength, properties, and uses of engineering construction materials.
• Fundamentals of engineering construction techniques.
• Common methods of describing real property.
• Basic computer software.
• English grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure.

Ability to:

• Learn and acquire skill in the more difficult and technical phases of civil engineering.
• Do computer aided drafting (CAD).
• Operate surveying instruments.
• Make legible and precise engineering computations and notes.
• Analyze field conditions accurately and recommend an effective course of action.
• Prepare technical reports and correspondence.
• Use computer software.
• Make public presentations and communicate effectively.

EXAMINATION COMPONENTS

THE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF the following steps: 1) A review of candidates' applications and supplemental questionnaire  to verify possession of minimum requirements. Those candidates who possess the minimum requirements for the class will move on to the next step in the examination process.  2)  A structured panel interview which will be weighted as 100% of the candidate’s final examination score. The oral interview may contain situational exercises. 

CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION. 

***We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components.

Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit.  Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position.  Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position.  Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work.

To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the “What You Need to Know” section of our website,www.acgov.org/hrs.

Selection Plan

Applicants will be informed via email with reasonable notice in advance of any examination process which will require their attendance. 

Alameda County and the Human Resource Services Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination and/or selection process to accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities and/or medical conditions in accordance/compliance with the State Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Alameda County’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and applicable statutes. To request an accommodation due to a disability/medical condition during this or other phases of the examination/selection process, please contact Debra Robinson at Debra.Robinson@acgov.org before August 20, 2018. Alameda County requires applicants to provide supporting documentation to substantiate a request for reasonable accommodation. In order to qualify for a reasonable accommodation, applicants must have a disability/medical condition pursuant to the ADA, FEHA and applicable statutes. 

For more information regarding our Reasonable Accommodation procedures, please visit our website, www.acgov.org/hrs.

BENEFITS

Alameda County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many different employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall well being.  These benefits include but are not limited to*:

For your Health & Well-Being

  • Medical – HMO & PPO Plans
  • Dental – HMO & PPO Plans
  • Vision or Vision Reimbursement
  • Share the Savings
  • Basic Life Insurance 
  • Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees) 
  • County Allowance Credit
  • Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance
  • Short-Term Disability Insurance
  • Long-Term Disability Insurance
  • Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services
  • Employee Assistance Program

For your Financial Future

  • Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan)
  • Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan)

For your Work/Life Balance

  • 11 paid holidays
  • Floating Holidays
  • Vacation and sick leave accrual
  • Vacation purchase program
  • Catastrophic Sick Leave
  • Employee Mortgage Loan Program
  • Group Auto/Home Insurance
  • Pet Insurance
  • Commuter Benefits Program
  • Guaranteed Ride Home
  • Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts)
  • Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.)
  • Child Care Resources
  • 1st United Services Credit Union 

*Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement.  This provides a brief summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change.

 

Conclusion

All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @acgov.org and alamedacountyHR@acgov.org as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the 'My applications' button on the Current Job Openings page.

 

Please take the steps recommended above to insure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment. 

NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email box alamedacountyHR@acgov.org are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions please go to our website at www.acgov.org/hrs. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the bulletin for the recruitment for which you have applied. 

Debra Robinson, Human Resources Analyst III 
Human Resource Services Division, County of Alameda 
Debra.Robinson@acgov.org