Salary : $1,770.83 - $1,941.93 Biweekly
Location : Houston, TX
Job Type: Full Time
Job Number: 34223
Department: Houston Public Works
Opening Date: 05/28/2024
Closing Date: 6/3/2024 11:59 PM Central
POSITION OVERVIEW
Applications accepted from: ALL PERSON INTERESED
Section: Houston Permitting Center-Office of the city Engineer
Reporting Location: 1002 Washington Ave
Workdays & Hours: Mon- Fri, 8am - 5pm*
* Subject to change

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES/ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Within the Houston Pubic Works Department, the Houston Permitting Center Service Line (HPC) administers & enforces over 400 permit types for the City of Houston and its jurisdictions, annually reviews over 65 thousand commercial & residential plans, and manages over $80M in revenue and expenditures, respectively, related to permitting & regulatory operations. All 600 members of the Houston Permitting Center are service providers committed to safe community development through the permitting and regulation of public and private construction and is home to three branches of service: Building Code Enforcement, Office of the City Engineer, and Business Support Services.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES/ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The purpose of the Customer Service Representative III will be a team member of the Right-of-Way Permits Group within the Office of the City Engineer.
The Customer Service Representative III duties will include but are not limited to:

• Provides accurate customer service responses to customer inquiries that are complex in nature by various forms of communication i.e. phone, email, mail, or in person including referrals to other government agencies.
• Monitors customer accounts and researches data to resolve problems. Prepares documentation to adjust customer accounts while maintaining security and confidentiality.
• Maintains and monitors various records and reports. Prepares written records of proceedings, as well as original correspondence to customers.
• May distribute information to the public on City programs and/or initiatives.
• May act as liaison to the Mayor and Council Offices. Maintains successful partnerships with the community and other agencies.
• May request field investigations through work orders; updates work orders and customers on findings or resolution.
• May function in a lead capacity or serve as a shift leader of Customer Service Representatives or volunteers. Acts as liaison and trainer to volunteer staff. Coordinates staff activities including work schedules, case information, and other actions as needed.
• Understands the functions of all sections requiring permits, such as Storm, Paving, Encroachments, Street Cut/Excavations and other sections within the Office of the City Engineer.
• Processes storm permit application and paving permit application, establishes fees, and generates sales orders.
• Processes encroachment, monitoring wells, pipeline, and subdivision maker permits. Creates the project into the ILMS (database system), establishes fees and generates sales orders.
• Generates the annual fee for monitoring wells and pipeline and mails them out to customers.
• Collects outstanding permits fees.
• Reviews Street Cut/Excavation permits, as required.
• Schedules driveway/sidewalk inspections.
• Assist customers via Q-Flow.
• Performs other related duties as requested.

WORKING CONDITIONS
This position is physically comfortable; the individual has discretion about walking and standing. May require walking on rough surfaces during inspections and investigations.
This is a Department of Houston Public Works Emergency Management Position at the Tier III Level
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Requires a High School Diploma or GED.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
Three years of administrative or customer service-related experience are required.
Associate's degree may be substituted for up to two years of experience.
Bachelor's degree may be substituted for the years of experience.

LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
None
PREFERENCES

Preference will be given to applicants with proven experience to organize a daily workload by priorities. Must be able to meet deadlines in a fast-paced, quickly changing environment and a proactive approach to problem-solving with strong decision-making skills and a professional level verbal and written communications skills.

Preference will be given to applications with permit processing experience, knowledgeable of construction permits and advanced expertise in Microsoft 365 software.
***Preference shall be given to eligible veteran applicants provided such persons possess the qualifications necessary for competent discharge of the duties involved in the position applied for, such persons are among the most qualified candidates for the position, and all other factors in accordance with Executive Order 1-6. **
GENERAL INFORMATION
SELECTION/SKILLS TESTS REQUIRED: None
However, the department may administer a skills assessment test.
SAFETY IMPACT POSITION: No
If yes, this position is subject to random drug testing and if a promotional position, candidate must pass an assignment drug test.
SALARY INFORMATION
Factors used in determining the salary offered include the candidate's qualifications as well as the pay rates of other employees in this classification.
PAY GRADE 16
APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Only online applications will be accepted for this City of Houston job and must be received by the Human Resources Department during active posting period. Applications must be submitted online at: www.houstontx.gov

To view your detailed application status, please log-in to your online profile by visiting: or call 832-393-6002.

If you need special services or accommodations 832-393-6002(TTY 7-1-1)

If you need login assistance or technical support call 855-524-5627.

Due to the high volume of applications received, the Hiring Department will contact you directly, should you be selected to advance in our recruitment process.

All new and rehires must pass a pre-employment drug test and are subject to a physical examination and verification of information provided.

EOE - Equal Opportunity Employer
The City of Houston is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.
The city offers a competitive benefits program, including competitively priced health coverage and a defined contribution pension plan.
Benefits include:
• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Wellness
• Life insurance
• Long-term disability
• Retirement pension
• 457 deferred compensation plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• 10 days of vacation each year
• 11 city holidays, plus one floating holiday
• Flexible schedules
• Professional development opportunities
• Transportation/parking plan
• Section 125 pretax deductions
• Dependent Care Reimbursement Plan
• Healthcare Flexible Spending Account
For plan details, visit

01

Please select the scenario that best describes your highest level of education.

• Less than a High School Diploma/GED
• High School Diploma/GED
• Associate's degree
• Bachelor's degree or higher

02

How many years of professional customer service or administrative experience do you have?

• No experience
• 1- 3 years
• 3 - 5 Years
• 5 years or more

03

Please select the following application(s) that you are proficient in using. (Check all that apply).

• Word
• Excel
• Outlook
• ILIMS Permitting Software
• Q-Flow
• None of the above

04

Select the amount of experience you have working with the software application Integrated Land Management System (ILMS)?

• No experience
• Less than 1 year
• 1 year but less than 3 years
• 3 years but les than 5 years
• 5 years or more

05

What are your top three priorities for a Customer Service Representative and how will you utilize these skills in your customer service role? ("See resume" is not acceptable. If no experience, please insert N/A)

06

What does customer service mean to you? ("See resume" is not acceptable. If no experience, please insert N/A)

07

Are you a veteran who served on active duty in the Armed Forces (United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard) for more than 90 consecutive days and received either an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions?

• Yes
• No

08

Are you a current employee with the city of Houston in Houston Public Works?

• Yes
• No

09

Please rate your experience using Microsoft Excel.

• No experience
• Basic Microsoft Excel: Open files and use page setup, enter, correct, and save data, use the menu commands, format cells, rows, and columns, understand navigation and movement techniques, use simple arithmetic functions in the formulas, access help, modify a database and insert data from another application, print worksheets and workbooks.
• Intermediate Microsoft Excel: Create, modify, and format charts, use graphic objects to enhance worksheets and charts, filter data and manage a filtered list, perform multiple-level sorting, use sorting options, and design considerations, use mathematical, logical, statistical, and financial functions, group and dissociate data and perform interactive analysis, create and modify some Macro commands.
• Advance Microsoft Excel: Customize the work area, use advanced functions (Names, VLOOKUP, IF, IS), work with Pivot Tables, use spreadsheet Web components, manage Macro commands: concepts, planning, operations, execution, modification, interruption, use personalized toolbars, perform some programming in VBA.

10

Please describe your experience using Microsoft Teams and Microsoft SharePoint? ("See resume" is not acceptable. If no experience, please insert N/A)

11

Describe a professional routine you practice retaining pertinent work-related information. ("See resume" is not acceptable. If no experience, please insert N/A)

12

Please rate your experience using Microsoft Word.

• No experience
• Basic Microsoft Word: open, create, save and modify documents, format the documents for printing, using the printer menu to preview documents before they are printed and print the pages, change the font, the margins, insert or delete pages and use the built-in spellchecker and grammar check.
• Intermediate Microsoft Word: using Mail Merge in Word to personalize business letters for an entire mailing list or creating posters and other graphics-heavy documents in Publisher, create mailing labels, insert footnote and end note, create bookmark, insert a cross reference to a bookmark, insert a link into a document, design and create a simple form, save form as template, enable revision tracking in a document, accept or reject revision, protect a revision from modification by others, compare two documents side by side, combine two documents into one, insert and delete a comment into a document.
• Advance Microsoft Word: use mail merge to create documents, recipient lists, insert fields, prepare and existing list for use in mail merge, delete items that you have performed (copy chart and title and paste), replace check box with symbol, print out checklist and check the appropriate boxes, import subdocument, split document into two documents, create a table.

13

Please rate your experience using Outlook.

• No experience
• Basic Microsoft Outlook: organize emails, address multiple recipients, calendars, contacts, tasks, and to-do lists, set appointments, store information from contact list, modify email options, set out of office rules, scheduling a meeting and booking meeting resources, search email folders for message, search calendar, contacts and tasks, creating a personal folder, moving and renaming a subfolder.
• Intermediate Microsoft Outlook: Outlook include knowing how to create address books and set up auto-responders for when you are out of the office or on vacation. create a custom toolbar, customize menu bar, delete custom toolbars and resetting the menu bar, observing customizable options, changing the startup folder, customizing the quick access toolbar, customizing reading pane, changing to-do bar option, creating a group, creating a shortcut, using address book, creating secondary address book, apply and remove message filters, using cached exchange mode.
• Advance Microsoft Outlook: creating and managing data files, using mailbox cleanup, archiving mail messages manually and automatically, restoring archived messages, saving a copy of a sent message, creating and working with notes, creating journal entries automatically and manually, opening and modifying a journal entry, granting and removing folder sharing permissions.

14

Which languages do you speak, read and/or write fluently? (Check all that apply)

• Spanish
• Mandarin
• Arabic
• Chinese
• I only speak English
• Other

Required Question