MANAGER - ENGINEERING

Full Job Description

Water.

Every day, Long Beach Utilities treats 32 million gallons of drinking water at the Long Beach Groundwater Treatment Plant (GWTP) and distributes this water after blending with imported water, to 90,000 households and businesses throughout the City of Long Beach.

The GWTP also hosts a California Environmental Laboratory Accreditation as a Certified Water Quality Laboratory, which performs 60,000 to 70,000 water quality testing to ensure the high quality of the drinking water.

Gas. As a municipal utility, Long Beach Utilities’ natural gas rates and policies are established by the Board of Utilities Commission, consisting of five residents of Long Beach.

The City Charter requires Long Beach rates to be comparable to the rates charged by surrounding gas utilities for similar types of service.

In the region, the Southern California Gas Company is the only other natural gas utility providing similar service and serves as the market benchmark.

The City of Long Beach natural gas service territory includes the cities of Long Beach and Signal Hill, and sections of surrounding communities including Lakewood, Bellflower, Compton, Seal Beach, Paramount, and Los Alamitos.

Sewer. Long Beach Utilities owns, operates and maintains over 700 miles of sanitary sewer lines, safely collecting and delivering over 40 million gallons of wastewater per day to the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County for treatment.

Under the direction of the Director of Water/Sewer Engineering, the Manager of Engineering in the Water/Sewer Pipeline Infrastructure Division performs and administers highly complex professional engineering work for the Long Beach Utilities Department including complex engineering projects, engineering analyses, research, planning, and design for a variety of water and wastewater capital construction programs, and/or maintenance and improvement programs.

Requirements

• Provides day-to-day leadership and works with staff to ensure a high-performance, customer service-oriented work environment; supports and leads in achieving the Engineering Bureau’s and the Department’s mission, strategic plan, objectives, and values.
• Participates in the development and implementation of goals, objectives, policies, and priorities for engineering programs, plans, and services; identifies resource needs; recommends and implements policies and procedures; ensures alignment with the Department's strategic and operational plans.
• Leads the development and implementation of a 5-to-10-year Water and Sewer Pipeline Capital Improvement Program, including project identification, prioritization, sequencing, and funding strategies; establishes appropriate project delivery methods and procurement approaches
• Lead and/or assist in developing a multi-year budget projections to ensure alignment between capital planning, annual budget adoption, and rate-funded financial plans; and monitors in-depth or program-level performance metrics such as schedule adherence, change order, contractor performance, productivity, and implementation of corrective actions as necessary.
• Administers the design and preparation of major capital projects utilizing consulting engineering firms or in-house staff; prepares cost estimates; establishes the scope, schedule, and budget for design projects; negotiates and manages consultant contracts; reviews drawings and specifications for compliance with Department standards; interprets specifications and Department policies and initiate and review change orders; prepares periodic project status reports; approves and implements final plans.
• Monitors, coordinates, evaluates, and provides quality assurance to the development review process for development projects within service areas; reviews and approves developer plans, hydraulic calculations and analyses, and current planning for complex development projects involving natural gas, water, sewer, and reclaimed water plans-of-service consistent with Department systems and master plan; meets with developers and their engineers to explain and clarify Department criteria.
• Proficient in asset management principles including condition assessment, lifecycle costing, and risk-based capital planning.
• Prepares correspondence on technical issues; coordinates engineering and planning activities with other Departments and outside agencies; makes authoritative interpretations of applicable laws, regulations, policies, and design standards; approves construction documents.
• Tracks, evaluates, and reports on design project progress to Department management.
• Develops, prepares, and presents reports; advises and makes recommendations to the Director of Engineering related to operational issues.
• Makes recommendations for the department’s capital improvement and engineering budget; manages budget implementation after adoption; reviews and approves expenditures; approves budgetary adjustments as appropriate.
• Selects, trains, motivates, and evaluates assigned personnel; provides and/or coordinates staff training; confers with employees to correct deficiencies; implements disciplinary procedures.
• Represents the Department with other agencies, organizations, elected officials, and external agencies.
• Attends a variety of board and committee meetings; prepares, reviews, and presents staff reports and other necessary correspondence.
• Coordinates, collaborates, and interacts regularly with Engineering teams, internal Utilities Divisions, and outside agencies during the investigation, planning, design, and construction of projects and programs.
• Provides prompt responses to inquiries from consultants, in-house engineering teams, internal divisions and bureaus.
• Communicates and/or corresponds with internal Utilities employees, outside agencies, and external consultants via email, phone, or live meetings.
• Directs and participates in the preparation of capital improvement program and budget; monitors and reviews expenditures through budgets and other guidelines; identifies and resolves unexpected expenditures.?
• Keeps the Director of Water/Sewer Engineering and other staff informed regularly on the status of open issues.
• Coordinates and follows up with Engineers, Inspectors, and Compliance Officer as required to maintain the flow of accurate information.
• Interacts with consultants, and other agencies as needed to fulfill the needs of a project or program.
• Maintains positive relationships with consultants, City staff other governmental agencies, and the public as needed.
• Other relevant duties as assigned.

• Principles and practices of engineering design and construction relating to water and sewer systems.
• Principles of management and supervision, including goals and objectives, project development, work planning, and organization.
• Budget preparation and control.
• Theories, principles, and methods of equipment used in water and/or wastewater construction, maintenance, distribution, production, and transmission.
• Public utility rules, regulations, and requirements.
• Current developments in the field of engineering.
• State and local legislation relating to safety compliance, engineering, and the environment.
• Funding sources and application procedures and field surveying.

• Plan, organize, direct, supervise, review, and evaluate the work of professional and para-professional engineering personnel.
• Prepare and/or direct the preparation of complex plans, specifications, and legal contracts.
• Perform advanced research, analyze complex engineering problems, evaluate alternatives, and recommend effective action.
• Use computerized engineering programs.
• Select, train, and motivate staff; establish and maintain effective relations with other City Departments, outside agencies, and the public.
• Represent the Department effectively in meetings, including making presentations.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Manage contracts, projects and evaluate performance.
• Interpersonal skills using tact, patience, and courtesy.
• Ability to connect with and train employees on new processes and procedures. Must have strong leadership skills and be capable of motivating and energizing staff.
• Ability to effectively manage, supervise, and evaluate the performance of staff working in both in-person and telecommuting (hybrid) environments, ensuring accountability, productivity, and consistent service delivery.
• Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
• Excellent writing including grammar and document formatting.

Qualifications

Graduation from an accredited university or college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or a closely related field. Coursework in public administration is desirable.

Proof required at time of application. Applicants who possess degrees from colleges or universities from outside the United States must attach proof of educational equivalency.

Additional Information

The City of Long Beach will consider qualified applicants with a criminal history pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act.

You are not required to disclose your criminal history or participate in a background check until you receive a conditional job offer.

If the City of Long Beach has concerns about a conviction that is directly related to the job after making a conditional job offer and conducting a background check, you will have the opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide evidence to mitigate concerns, or challenge the accuracy of the background report.

Find out more about the Fair Chance Act by visiting https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/fair-chance-act

The City of Long Beach intends to provide reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If a special accommodation is desired, or if you would like to request this information in an alternative format, please call (562) 570-2410.