Utility Administrative Supervisor

Hiring Range: $55,803 - $61,383
The Utility Administrative Supervisor performs complex, advanced, technical, and professional clerical work, leading, planning, organizing, and managing the Towns front-facing staff administrative operations under the direction of the Public Utilities Director/Assistant Town Manager. These duties and responsibilities are not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the town's ongoing needs.

• Work includes the supervision and coordination of the day-to-day activities for the utility departments administrative division, including customer service, compliance, collections, metering, water, and sewer capital project accounting
• Provide effective leadership to manage customer relations, billing, and collection business operations for the Town of Surf City to achieve optimal performance and continuity of service levels, ensure excellent customer service and interdepartmental cooperation, and maximize technological advances in a rapidly changing business environment
• Serve as a division leader, providing oversight and assigning tasks to junior employees within the administrative division.
• Manage business processes with accuracy in customer information system applications, interfacing applications, and upgrades, which require detailed analysis, critical thinking skills, planning, and coordination.
• Ensure the workforce is adequately trained on software applications and business processes for maximum performance and continuity of service levels
• Work with the Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, and Director of Public Utilities to manage the phone tree messaging system and ensure professional and streamlined communications with citizens and Town Staff.
• Prepare and analyze detailed financial reports and utility metrics
• Communicate with the Department Head to assist staff with compliance of policies, internal controls, and other regulatory requirements
• Manage and assist staff with the Lead Service Line Inventory (LSLI)
• Ensure privacy rules and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance
• Maintain stormwater records to include evolving bill codes and assignment of fees based on calculated impervious area
• Oversee and update customer service policies, procedures, and manuals
• Troubleshoot, research, and resolve complex business processing issues within the utilities department
• Serve as leadership liaison to multiple departments to facilitate interdepartmental cooperation for quality control and workflow resolution
• Work with the Planning Department to review building permits, to assign fees, collect utility applications, and requests for deposits.
• Serve as leadership liaison to the Public Utilities Director, Facilities and Grounds Director, and IT departments for practical use, integration, evaluation, and testing of customer information system/e-commerce/communication/technology enhancement, and software upgrades
• Serve as leadership liaison with the Director of Public Utilities and Facilities and Grounds Director and their respective staff, preparing for and during emergency operations, including communications, outage management, and coordinating services
• Serves as the utility departments communication correspondent to include keeping the Utility page of the Town website up to date with current projects and programs, educational mailers, and mass communication as it relates to scheduled maintenance, outages, advisories, and other such compliance and enforcement notices
• Research and maintain current knowledge of general statutes, policies, and best practices to adjust operating procedures to maintain compliance
• Respond to inquiries and complex issues from Town officials and the general public, exhibiting extraordinary professionalism, communication, and customer service techniques
• Assist Director of Public Utilities with enforcement procedures such as the Fats, Oils, Greases program (FOG program), cross-connection program, and disconnection processes
• Assist the department with requests for qualifications, requests for proposals, collection of bids, and award documentation
• Coordinate with the Assistant Town Manager to draft the administrative divisions budget
• Oversee and ensure the monitoring of the AMI system notifications to utility staff and customers
• Manage the departmental functions for Utilities, including billing, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transfers, work order creation, payment entry, billing adjustments, customer information and data, account set-ups and disconnects, set-up of monthly meter read equipment (Aclara), remote deposits, and any necessary reporting or notice distributions
• Oversee the transmission of bank files to the bank for Automated Clearing House (ACH) drafting
• Researches billing issues and prepares written correspondence to customers
• Analyze customers accounts, monitor and recommend extended payment agreements to the Director of Public Utilities, research and correct billing issues, and respond to service requests
• Provide administrative support by answering the phone, screening and referring callers, locating and providing information to citizens, maintaining the department's filing system, typing, printing, faxing, distributing departmental correspondence, distributing mail, and keeping records
• Provide general assistance to citizens by responding to inquiries or directing citizens to the proper department
• Coordinate with GIS and IT to facilitate the digitalization of archived records to include sample reports and as-builts
• Perform other duties of a similar nature or level.

Qualifications
Education and Experience
Bachelors degree or higher and one (1) year of utility finance, billing, management, or similar experience; or an Associates degree and three (3) years of utility finance, billing, or similar experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed above.

• Preferred degree in Finance, Communication, or Business Administration
• Preferred certification through the North Carolina Water Treatment Facility Operators Certification Board (NCWTFOCB)

This position would be expected to complete the following within two (2) years.

• Obtain an entry-level certification in a Town-recommended discipline from NCWTFOCB
• Certification from the University of North Carolina School of Government in Utility Billings and Collections Administration
• Certification from the University of North Carolina School of Government in Water & Wastewater Finance Strategies

Licenses and Professional Certifications

• NC Driver License

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Thorough knowledge of customer relationship management in the public utility industry; accepting utility payments, credit, and collections in an e-commerce environment; meter readings, billing, and adjustment procedures; and customer communications including utility notifications, phone tree messaging, website, and social media.
• Ability to organize workflow and coordinate activities; knowledge of effective supervisory and motivational practices.
• Ability to attend work regularly with a strong work ethic; exhibit exceptional initiative, dependability, and the resolve to lead and manage operations in a fast-paced and rapidly changing work environment.
• Ability to collaborate, independently solve problems, initiate decisions within the scope of responsibilities, communicate, direct, and implement effectively.
• Comprehensive technological skills and knowledge of electronic correspondence, word processing, spreadsheets, and highly technical department-specific software applications.
• Thorough knowledge of federal and state laws, Town ordinances, and procedures governing billing and collection of Town revenues.
• Thorough knowledge of privacy rules, including, but not limited to, Red Flag rules and Payment Card Industry Standards (PCI compliance).
• Thorough knowledge of utility outage system tracking and reporting.
• Ability to test software interfaces, upgrades, and verify data for accuracy in advanced meter infrastructure (AMI), online payments (WIPP), and financial software utility billing and collections modules (MCSJ), and all associated highly technical managerial and interfacing software applications in the daily business operations.
• Excellent proactive verbal and written communication skills, including professional digital and written communication; ability to communicate technical ideas effectively, both orally and in writing, across various audiences.
• Strong ability to comprehend and deal with complex records and transactions expediently and accurately.
• Critical thinking ability to perform detailed and accurate financial and data analyses; prepare and maintain multiple complex customer information systems and reporting to include calculating impervious areas and assigning equivalent residential units.
• Ability to create and maintain the integrity of confidential files and electronic transactions.
• Ability to effectively plan, coordinate, and leverage financial, personnel, and technological resources in business operations and project management.
• Ability to adjust to a rapidly changing business environment and technologies requires continual education and adaptation.
• Analytical ability and inductive reasoning to adapt policies, procedures, and methods to fit unusual and complex situations.
• General knowledge of governmental accounting procedures and fiscal management.
• Ability to establish and maintain extraordinary team-oriented working relationships with Town officials, supervisors, and associates.
• Ability to meet and deal courteously with the public, exhibiting extraordinary professionalism and customer service skills.

Working Conditions
Employee is subject to inside environmental conditions, including the lighting, temperature, and noise of an open-floor-plan office environment.

Physical Requirements
Work is performed within an office environment, primarily behind a desk, and frequently includes computer operations. The employee must read, write, and interact with others in person, over the phone, and via other devices. The employee may move within the facility to access file cabinets, documents, office machinery, and other equipment. This position typically requires fingering, grasping, feeling, talking, hearing, seeing, and repetitive motions. Work is predominantly sedentary, exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body.