What We Offer
General Salary Increases - 4.0% effective December 24, 2023 and 3.5% effective December 22, 2024
Educational Incentive - An educational incentive of 5% for completion of a graduate degree.
Annual Leave Redemption - The ability to "cash in" or redeem up to 100 hours of Annual Leave per year after using 80 hours of annual leave within the previous 12 months.
Annual Leave Accrual - A candidate selected for this position will earn 208 hours per year, increasing to 288 hours after 5 years of service (based on a full-time schedule; hours are pro-rated for part-time schedules).
Deferred Compensation - Eligible to participate in the County's 401(k) Shared Savings Plan and/or the Section 457 Plan. This position is eligible for up to a 3% match on your 401(k) contributions.
Health Plans - You are afforded a flexible credit allowance for purchasing medical, dental, and/or vision insurance from a group of authorized plans.
Flexible Spending Accounts - Pre-tax benefit towards eligible medical, dental, and vision care expenses.
Pension Plan - Participation in the County's defined pension plan. If eligible, you may establish reciprocity with other public retirement systems such as CalPERS.
Holidays - 12 paid days per year which includes a scheduled floating holiday.
The Agency
The General Services Agency (GSA) is responsible for a broad spectrum of services to all the County departments and agencies including Fleet Services, Facilities, Procurement, Special Services, Security and Business Support. The Parks Department is also part of GSA and manages fifteen (15) different parks, three (3) regional golf courses, five (5) community centers and three (3) regional trails. It requires a very diverse workforce to accomplish the GSA mission of contributing to the quality of life in Ventura County by partnering with their customers to provide expertise and cost-effective service delivery, and foster the preservation of natural resources.
The Position
Under general direction, supervises and manages the building systems engineering and maintenance related activities in a division; represents the Agency in matters relating to divisional responsibilities; and performs related work as required.
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate will be a collaborative leader and driven to provide outstanding customer service. They will possess extensive facilities engineering experience, be able to evaluate complex engineering problems, obtain the resources to make the correct decision, and be able to work effectively with employees and management to ensure a safe and efficient work environment. They will have a good understanding of the budget process, experience handling personnel issues and have the ability to develop and implement strategic plan objectives and process improvement initiatives.
Principal Engineer is a Management/Confidential classification and is not eligible for overtime compensation.
Examples Of Duties
Duties may include but are not limited to the following:
Is responsible for all activities of the division while planning, directing, and supervising division resources.
Directs the preparation and administration of annual budgets.
Supervises subordinate staff in the assigned work unit including preparing major disciplinary actions.
Supervises preparation of special written engineering reports.
Directs the review of work performed by private engineering firms under contract.
Coordinates activities with other divisions, departments, State, Federal and local agencies, property owners/land developers, or private engineers.
May represent the Agency before the Board of Supervisors or other governing or advisory bodies.
Reviews and recommends departmental policies on technical standards and specifications.
Supervises and directs the negotiations and preparation of joint powers agreements with other agencies.
Evaluates existing or proposed legislation as to its operational or financial effects on departmental agency activities.
May handle direct negotiations and agreements.
Performs other related work as assigned.
Typical Qualifications
These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on the eligible list.EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCEEducationPossession of a Bachelor's degree in Civil or Mechanical Engineering or related engineering field AND,ExperienceFive (5) years progressively responsible engineering or facilities management experience.
NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENT
Must possess and maintain a California Driver License.
Must possess or obtain within one (1) year of hire the Certified Facility Manager credential.
Must have five (5) years' experience as a second level supervisor, i.e., experience directing work through one layer of subordinate supervisors, as this position is a third level supervisor over field technicians.
Principal Engineers must receive and maintain background clearance from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department in order to access detention facilities.
Excellent written communication skills must be demonstrated in the completion of the employment application and supplemental questionnaire.
DESIRED
Registration as a Civil or Mechanical Engineer in the State of California.
Experience working in Detention Facility Maintenance.
Experience in developing and implementing process improvement initiatives.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Thorough knowledge of: civil or mechanical engineering principles, practices and engineering economics; and State, Federal and local laws or ordinances relevant to divisional functions.
Working ability to: render decisions under controversial conditions and those involving considerable public interest based upon established legal or engineering standards; and make decisions under emergency conditions, such as earthquakes, during storms, and while flood fighting, based on Agency policies.
Comprehensive ability to: effectively plan and direct the work of a professional and technical engineering and/or maintenance division, conduct comprehensive engineering studies, prepare complex reports and make recommendations on major projects; analyze complex engineering problems and use sound engineering judgment in their resolution; confer extensively and effectively with various governmental agencies, private engineers, other firms and the general public; and discharge administrative and management responsibilities.
Recruitment Process
FINAL FILING DATE: This is a continuous recruitment and may close at any time; therefore, apply as soon as possible if you are interested in it. Your application must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date. To apply online, please refer to our website at www.ventura.org/jobs. A paper application can be obtained by calling (805) 654-5129. Our address is County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009. Note to Applicants: Sufficient information must be provided under the Education/Work experience portion of the application and supplemental questionnaire to thoroughly and accurately demonstrate your qualifications to determine eligibility. A resume may be attached to supplement your responses in the above sections; however, it may not be substituted in lieu of the application. Lateral Transfer Option: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here (Download PDF reader) (Download PDF reader) for additional information. SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE – qualifyingAll applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. This questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in removal of the application from further consideration. APPLICATION SCREENING – qualifyingAll applications will be reviewed to determine whether the stated requirements are met. Applicants meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the examination process.TRAINING & EXPERIENCE EVALUATIONA Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by a candidate, including the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the candidate meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining who are the better qualified among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the department. Candidates are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of candidates is exceptionally strong, many qualified candidates may receive a score or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process.NOTE: The selection process will likely consist of an Oral Exam, which may be preceded or replaced with the score from a Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E), contingent upon the size and quality of the candidate pool. In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questions within the application are completed with care and diligence.
ORAL EXAMINATION - 100%: A job-related oral examination will be conducted to evaluate and compare participating examinees' knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to those factors which job analysis has determined to be essential for successful performance of the job. Examinees must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.
NOTE: If there are three (3) or fewer qualified applicants, an examination may not be conducted. Instead, a score of seventy percent (70%) will be assigned to each application, and each applicant will be placed on the eligible list.
Candidates successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year. The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary and Fixed-term), intermittent and Extra Help vacancies for this and similar positions only. There is currently one (1) regular vacancy in the General Services Agency.
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: The selected candidate may be subject to a thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record. Candidates for the position of Principal Engineer will need to participate in a detailed background investigation by the Sheriff's Department in order to access detention facilities.
For further information about this recruitment, please contact Lucy Fernandez by e-mail at lucy.fernandez@ventura.org or by telephone at (805) 654-3943.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.