Utilities Service Agent II

This is an Internal Job Posting. ONLY CURRENT CITY OF HAMILTON EMPLOYEES WHO ARE AFSCME, LOCAL 3169 MEMBERS ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY. ALL OTHER APPLICANTS WILL BE REJECTED.



The principal function of an employee in this class is to perform responsible clerical and technical accounting work involving the collection of payments, answering citizen inquiries and processing, reviewing, and maintaining customer and financial accounts and records. The work is performed under the direction and supervision of a department head or supervisor, but some leeway is granted for independent judgment. The nature of the work performed requires that an employee in this class establish and maintain close working relationships with supervisors, fellow employees and the general public. Employees in this class have frequent public contact and/or high volume production requirements and the work may be performed under considerable stress.

This class is distinguished from the class of Utilities Service Agent I by serving as the second tier response for difficult to resolve customer situations, providing guidance and training to Utilities Service Agent Is on policies and procedures, serving as "Subject Matter Experts" for problem resolution, providing feedback to management on workflow and process issues and serving as the lead employee for a group of employees performing a given function.

Essential Job Functions

• Processes and/or verifies work orders, purchase orders, checks and other financial documents
• Researches errors and corrects billing, account, voucher, work order or other financial records;
• Performs computerized accounting and account lookup and/or data entry
• Answers utility billing, utility service, construction fee and parking ticket questions from customers and the public both in-person and over the phone;
• Negotiates with customers regarding unpaid utility bills, makes credit arrangements and monitors payment agreements for compliance;
• Researches and prepares reports on customer credit histories and balances accounts as necessary;
• Accepts payments on deposits, fees and debts;
• Assists customer with public and private assistance paperwork and vouchers prepares reports on activity;
• Processes and tracks utility service requests (new service, final reads, credit disconnects, etc.);
• Reconciles payments with customer records and deposits and researches discrepancies;
• Checks documents for accuracy and completeness
• Copies, faxes, files and mails customer and account financial and statistical reports and related information;
• Attends meetings, conferences and workshops as requested and authorized;
• Performs related work as required.

Skills/Knowledges/Abilities

• Thorough knowledge of utility billing policies, practices and procedures;
• Thorough knowledge of business arithmetic, financial record-keeping, and statistics and English composition and spelling;
• Thorough knowledge of modern office terminology, procedures and equipment;
• Substantial knowledge of general accounting theory, principle and practice;
• Ability to make decisions in accordance with established policies and procedures;
• Ability to independently solve problems within assigned area;
• Ability to handle confidential financial information with tact and discretion;
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other City employees, department heads and supervisors;
• Ability to communicate well, both orally and in writing, using both technical and non-technical language;
• Ability to understand and follow oral and/or written policies, procedures and instructions;
• Ability to prepare accurate and reliable accounting reports;
• Ability to operate a mainframe client application and/or personal computer using standard word processing, spreadsheet and database applications and proprietary billing and financial systems;
• Ability to perform a variety of clerical, financial and/or customer service tasks with accuracy and speed under the pressure of time sensitive deadlines;
• Ability to accurately count/handle cash and to receive and record cash and credit card transactions in a database.

Training/Education/Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Graduation from high school or possession of a GED; and
• One to two years experience in bookkeeping, data entry, computerized accounting or general office procedure; or
• Any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the work.

• A minimum of advanced low proficiency in Spanish.