Communications Officer – 911 Dispatcher
Salary $25.83 – $33.95 Hourly
An Equal Opportunity Employer
Position Summary
As part of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office, the Communications Officer is involved in all aspects of public safety in Walworth County. Our mission is to serve and protect all citizens and visitors of Walworth County with dedicated public safety services with our community.If your passionate about helping people and would like to make a difference in the community, we are looking for you to join the incredible team of Communications Officers at the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center. We offer a competitive salary, as well as health, dental, and vision insurance. As an employee of the Sheriff’s Office you will also have access to an on-site fitness room, a tuition reimbursement program, as well as additional career advancement opportunities.
Communications Officers, also known as 911 Dispatchers, are the FIRST first responders. As a Communications Officer you will be the first point of contact for a citizen needing police, fire, or EMS assistance in Walworth County. You will work in a fast-paced team environment to provide mission support for first responder units in the field. The work of the Communications Officer is often interesting and exciting, but can be interspaced with periods of inactivity.
INTERACTIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Communications Officers must develop and maintain excellent customer service skills. In your role, you will encounter citizens in a range of emotionally difficult states. You must be able to develop skills to maintain your composure as well as exercise good judgement in stressful situations in order to gather critical information to provide our customers with the help that they need. You must be able to remain professional at all times.
You will work in an environment where you must develop excellent hand eye coordination sufficient to operate and view multiple monitors, keyboards, and complex communications equipment in rapid succession or even simultaneously. You must develop a “radio ear” monitoring multiple radio channels while obtaining information from a telephone caller.
You will need to develop the ability to quickly and accurately recognize letters, numbers, addresses, names, and license numbers received by telephone, radio, or on a computer monitor. Data is often given to you rapidly and from multiple sources.
THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
As a Communications Officer you will be presented with challenging situations that will require you to think quickly. You must be able to analyze information and be able to use sound judgement to efficiently determine how to handle a variety of situations. Established policy and procedure will enable you to gather information and make critical decisions affecting the outcome of complaints. You must be able to complete complex work with minimal supervision.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
You must be able to concentrate on your work for extended periods of time while other Communications Officers are taking and dispatching calls. Communications Officers are assigned to one of three shifts on a rotating schedule in order to provide 24 hour per day, 7 day per week service to the community and the field units we serve. You will typically work an 8 hour shift but may be assigned overtime on an as needed basis. Weekends and holidays are worked on a rotating basis. Communications Officers receive extra compensation when working holidays and will receive a shift differential for working 2nd and 3rd shift. Shift selections are assigned based on seniority status. Due to the 24 hour per day, 7 day per week demands of the Communications Center operations, work schedules may occasionally change on short notice. You may be expected to report to work early or stay late during emergency conditions.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Answer emergency and non-emergency requests for assistance by telephone and radio and assign the appropriate resource for assistance.
Provide lifesaving medical assistance to emergency callers by giving pre-arrival instructions through our Emergency Medical Dispatching program.
Operate the Computer Aided Dispatching System, tracking field units and providing information to first responders.
Provide essential information and support to field units in emergency and non-emergency situations.
Gather and process critical information through state and national databases via teletype, internet, and other databases.
Provide life saving notifications to the public via weather alerting systems such as the county outdoor warning siren system.
Attend training to develop critical job skills.
Work with others in a team environment, supporting each other to accomplish the mission.
Qualifications
You must have a high school diploma or equivalent; or will have obtained this by the date of hire. Prior experience in public safety or customer service will be very helpful but not a necessity. You must have reading, writing, and basic math skills since you will need to interpret and document information from multiple sources in a fast-paced environment. Your work will involve using computers and technology so the ability to type and complete basic computer tasks accurately is essential.
TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONS
We will provide you with the training required for you to become a successful Communications Officer. Training is included but not limited to your initial on the job training, Wisconsin TIME System Certification, Emergency Medical Dispatcher Certification, and Public Safety Telecommunicator 1. You must successfully pass these training requirements to maintain employment as a Communications Officer with Walworth County, but we will support you in achieving these. Other training may be provided as required.
You must not have any convictions for felony offenses and you must be of good moral and ethical character.
Selection Process
Complete Walworth County Electronic Application – tell us about yourself, why you would be a good fit as a Communications Officer.
Education and Employment History Review
Computerized Multi Task Simulator Test (CritiCall) – As a Communications Officer you work in a fast-paced environment. This test measures your ability to process information in a rapidly changing environment.
Oral Department Interview – You will meet with the Walworth County Human Resources representative, Communications Division Commander, and Communications Center Operations Manager. This is your opportunity to tell us about yourself and why you are ready for this responsibility.
Background Investigation
Post Offer Psychological Evaluation, Physical Examination, and Drug Screen
Other job related tests may be required.
Although there are many steps to the selection process, they are essential in ensuring that you will be successful in your employment with us.
To learn more about this position, please contact:
Communications Operations Manager, Bonnie Douglas at (262) 741-4622 or via email at bdouglas@co.walworth.wi.us
-or-
Human Resources Generalist, Lisa Pohl at (262) 741-7949 or via email at pohl@co.walworth.wi.us
