Introduction
Charlotte’s local government, with more than 7,000 employees and a $2.39 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 300,000 customer accounts and over 1000 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 23 budget is $535M and a five-year capital program of $2.5 billion. We enjoy the highest credit ratings from all three major credit rating agencies 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.
Overview
The City of Charlotte is the largest municipality in North Carolina and the 15th largest city in the United States, with a total population of more than 897,000 citizens. A major commerce center, Charlotte hosts several of the nation’s largest banks and technology companies.
Also known as the Queen City, Charlotte is home to the Carolina Panthers, the Charlotte Hornets and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We work hard to ensure that the community will be a winning city for everyone – a truly remarkable place to live, work, learn and play. Join us in helping to keep our City thriving, ensuring upward mobility and advancement in the workplace.
Summary
Under general direction of the Customer Service Supervisor, responsible for ensuring accurate monthly meter readings for 320k+ water meter meters. Processes daily meter reading uploads/downloads, running and analyzing meter reading exception reports, customer account water consumption analysis, field service order reviews, field work closing code exceptions, resolving pre-billing discrepancies, and related back-office functions. Assist with overseeing the complete functions of the Customer Service Operations Center to include scheduling service work distribution, route management, internal and external customer contacts, and emergency response. Designated as the system and knowledge specialist who can attend to and resolve complex matters as well as provide essential information to the leadership management team. Listen and monitor customer calls for quality assurance, coaching, training, and continuous improvement opportunities. Required to have a flexible work schedule and availability to work overtime, weekends, and holidays. Work schedule may change as a result of the meter reading and billing requirements, circumstances outside the control of the department such as weather, system failures, epidemics and so forth.
Major Duties and Responsibilities
• Reviews and applies appropriate action to resolve exceptions in meter readings and field orders.
• Performs pre-bill consumption adjustments and refers any monetary post-billing adjustments to appropriate departments.
• Performs detailed review and analysis of commercial and industrial water services that include multiple meters, private deduction meters, fire line services and irrigation.
• Generates work orders for the field customer service personnel to investigate water services and metering equipment for performance and operational compliance.
• Run and process reports for meter reading check reads, validations, and other service type requests prior to billing.
• Identifies abnormal readings and consumption patterns to determine if field work orders need to be issued or if other changes need to be made to ensure proper billing.
• Collects and reports errors on a daily basis and submits findings in daily reports.
• Identifies root causes to exceptions and communicates improvement opportunities to section supervisor.
• Works and analyzes the causes of zero consumption by seasonal variances, conformance of metering equipment, inactive accounts, residency vacancies, whereby the read instruction are reflective of the service addresses features to wells, occupancy, stop meters, meter location, damage equipment, etc.
• Closely follows established processes in all job tasks, monitoring and resolution requirements.
• Forecasts workload base on future orders vs staffing to regulate possible delays in SLA and/or OT needed.
• Communicate with divisional designees for emergencies, service orders past the SLA, employee incidents, vehicle accidents and inclement weather events.
• Update current zone maps as needed including special map requests.
• Ensuring work is assigned and distributed accordingly based on factors such as priority, geographic location, and technician’s skill set.
• Supporting supervisors’ special requests regarding technicians.
• Support and assist with Emerald key words in instances where stablished processes have been modified/updated or new instructions have been added. Emerald Key words should be altered to reflect changes.
• Reports technician performance issues or concerns to appropriate management for resolution.
• Enter monthly data for water services and meter management on Customer Service Dashboard report. To include but not limited total number of completed service orders, meter reading stats, bulk water program revenue, equipment changeouts and other required data.
• Provide monthly notifications to Operations Supervisor and Operations Manager regarding service order SLA’s that are not met and possible reasons as to why.
• Anticipate and track special events such as weather patterns to ensure proper staffing for possible emergency incidents due to inclement weather.
• Primary point of contact for reporting operational updates during special events.
• Listen and evaluate calls for quality and training purposes to successfully provide coaching for continues improvement when needed.
• Support CSOC staff schedule to ensure coverage for Holidays, Weekends, and overall gaps during staffing shortages or call outs.
• Train and develop employees, apply corrective action, and perform annual evaluations.
• Acts in a pre-emptive manor in all aspects of work.
• Performs other duties as required by the section supervisor.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships; to understand and follow directives and instructions; to work independently and to work in a face pace environment.
• Skill in professional communications such as emails, in-person, phone calls, and general interactions.
• Skill in organizing and time management.
• Skill in training, coaching, and developing team members.
• Skill in operating computers and technology.
• Skill in analysis and problem solving.
• Skill in mathematics and statistics.
• Skill in providing exceptional customer service.
• Ability to follow directives and instructions.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Ability to work in a face pace environment.
• Critical thinking.
• Ability to maintain effective working relationships; to understand and follow directives and instructions.
• Knowledge of call center and dispatching environments.
• Analytical, observant, and close attention to detail.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, GIS, and mapping systems.
• Knowledge of work orders and billing database systems along with mobile and reporting applications.
• Knowledge of the Charlotte City code and other policy documents as those documents relate to customer service, field operations, and engineering functions.
Minimum Qualifications
• Requires a two-year degree and three years of related experience or a high school diploma and five years of comparable experience in a customer service environment.
• Must possess effective communication skills essential to working with people in a positive, respectful, confidential and cooperative manner, Strong analytical and business process skills; experience with quality assurance methodologies; outstanding oral and written communication skills; strong organizational, technological and problem-solving skills.
• Requires a valid North or South Carolina Driver's License with an acceptable driving record.
• Considerable working knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, Utility Billing Systems, GIS, customer verification tools, complaint management systems, and reporting applications is preferred.
Salary
$55,500.00 - $61,666.00 Commensurate with Experience
Conditions of Employment
The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.
Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.
Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.
The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
How To Apply
Apply online.
Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.
You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby where we have workstations available. Our office is located at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.
Anyone seeking an accommodation to apply for a job may call (704) 336-2285 for assistance or you may email questions to CityHrJobPostingsNotify@ci.charlotte.nc.us.
Benefits
The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to all employees.
Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.
The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.
In Conclusion
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