Assistant Director Water Utility

Overview

Dallas Water Utilities is a regional provider of water, wastewater, and stormwater services and the ninth largest provider in the country of these services. The Assistant Director-Water Utility plans, directs, and provides executive management for one of the following functional areas: business operations, customer operations, capital project delivery, stormwater operations, wastewater operations, water delivery, or water production. The Assistant Director assigns and reviews performance of subordinate managers and supervisors, oversees financial and budgetary management, performs extensive operations review, delivers administrative direction, and ensures quality control of all operations, programs, and service delivery activities.

Essential Functions

1. Directs and provides executive review of all long-term and short-term planning, budgeting, operations and maintenance activities, personnel development and management, equipment management, new technologies research, and all resource and asset management.
2. Manages and evaluates all subordinate managers and superintendents to increase productivity and maintain and increase the employee morale; provides professional growth opportunities; creates a culture of safety and teamwork; and ensures staff provides excellent customer service on a 24/7 basis.
3. Coordinates program and resource allocations with other executives and management; develops and implements work policies, procedures, and compliance measures.
4. Directs managerial staff which includes hiring, training, performance evaluations and other personnel actions to ensure productivity and quality standards are maintained.
5. Provides water, wastewater and stormwater services while maintaining compliance with all regulatory requirements.
6. Oversees and participates in the general administration of the department’s operating budget and reviews significant variances to resolve budgetary problems and provides critical feedback for resource allocation to affect fiscally responsible changes.
7. Identifies areas of quality management to enhance productivity through improved work procedures, practices, communication and accountability.
8. Responsible for emergency preparedness and management related to the Dallas Water Utilities water, wastewater, stormwater, and flooding events in coordination with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
9. Represents the City and department at local, state and national organizations, at professional activities, and with the media to maintain the image of the City. Provides accurate information concerning departmental programs to educate the City Council and the public on topics related to water, wastewater, stormwater drainage and flood control.
10. Directs activities to ensure overall program and financial management, organization, and regulatory compliance with agencies such as Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT), Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other regulatory agencies.
11. Responds to all special research requests and coordinates responses with the department’s Deputy Directors and Director as well as City Manager’s office or the City Council to provide accurate and timely results.
12. Directs communications with residents and businesses, regulatory agencies, city management, other city departments, consultants, contractors, and vendors.

Knowledge and Skills

1. Knowledge of departmental, city, state, and federal standards that affect financial, water, stormwater or wastewater activities.
2. Knowledge of contracting regulations for municipal governments and ability to negotiate contracts.
3. Thorough knowledge of business principles, practices and techniques used in department management.
4. Ability to apply codes, regulations and advanced engineering principles to design and review engineering plans and specifications for the construction of all water, stormwater and wastewater systems.
5. Knowledge of budget forecasting, development, and financial administration.
6. Knowledge of strategic planning and implementation in a dynamic and fast paced environment, maintaining policies and procedures to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulation.
7. Ability to effectively communicate both orally and in writing and negotiate with technical staff, consultants, contractors, governmental agencies, city management, and citizens.
8. Ability to write highly technical and non-technical reports.
9. Knowledge of presentation and public speaking skills with the ability to tailor the message to the audience.
10. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships.

Operational Areas:

• Business and Customer Operations – Provides accounting, financial, and budget support to the Water Utilities Department including rate setting and debt issuance. Also provides customer relations, billings, credit and collections activities, customer information, and all meter-associated services to over 320,000 water, wastewater, and stormwater utility customers. In addition, this program provides for the management of wholesale water and wastewater services to other governmental entities within the utility's service area.

• Capital Project Delivery – Responsible for over $370M annually for planning, design, construction, and inspection of capital projects based on a 10-year plan. These projects are needed to provide customers with water and wastewater facilities to meet the growth of the community, to extend water and wastewater mains, to modify facilities to meet changes in State and Federal regulatory requirements, and to rehabilitate and replace deteriorated or obsolete facilities. In addition, this program provides engineering services to support capital planning modeling, capital development, projects with outside agencies and coordinates SCADA architecture, planning and governance.

• Stormwater Operations – Provides services for stormwater and drainage management, floodplain regulations and permitting, as well as city wide coordination of floodway management areas. The service area includes approximately 39,000 acres of public and private floodplain, 1,963 miles of storm sewers and 30 miles of levees and 12 associated pump stations. This includes maintenance and operation of the Dallas Floodway Project, the Flooded Roadway Warning System (FRWS) and regional stormwater coordination efforts.

• Wastewater Operations – Responsible for collecting, transporting, and controlling the discharge and treatment of domestic and industrial wastes; and maintaining two (2) wastewater treatment plants (280 million gallons/day) and pipelines in the wastewater system. This includes services for over 320,000 retail customers, 4100 miles of wastewater mains and 15 wastewater pump stations.

• Water Delivery – Responsible for operating and maintaining the water distribution system (Over 5,000 miles of pipe and associated components) to pump and deliver potable water to the residents and businesses of the City Dallas and Customer Cities with the best quality and reliability possible. Our services are available on a 24 hour per day, seven days a week basis. Further, the division provides friendly, courteous and timely response to customer’s emergency water problems.

• Water Production – Responsible for the continuous and reliable operation, maintenance, and management of Dallas’s three (3) surface water treatment plants and the city-owned reservoir, Lake Ray Hubbard. These duties include raw water impoundment and transmission, treatment of drinking water, laboratory analysis, regulatory compliance, and lake-related activities.

Experience

Seven (7) years of broad progressive management experience in Water Operations, Wastewater Operations, Stormwater Operations, Business and Customer Operations, Debt Service, Capital Improvement & Engineering Services, Process Improvements and/or Long-Range Planning.

Licenses and Certifications

State of Texas TBPE License may be required for some positions.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Science, Engineering, Environmental Science, Finance, Public Administration, Public Policy, Construction Management, or Business.

Equivalency

1. A High school diploma or GED plus eleven (11) years of required relevant experience will meet the education and experience requirements.
2. Master’s degree or higher in Science, Engineering, Environmental Science, Finance, Public Administration, Public Policy, Construction Management, or Business plus five (5) years of the experience will meet the education and experience requirements.