Director of Geographic Information Services

Modified: March 6, 2020 3:49pm

COUNTY OF ERIE - DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL
invites applications for the position of:

Director of Geographic Information Services

#60-804 - Open Competitive (open to the public)

Salary: $72,270 - $94,775 Annually
Opening Date: March 6, 2020
Closing Date: April 8, 2020
Application fee: $20.00

Residence Requirements:

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. There is one present vacancy at the Erie County  Department of Environment and Planning.

Examples of Duties:

Director of Geographic Information Services plans, organizes, directs and coordinates the projects, programs, and daily activities of the Erie County Office of Geographic Information Systems (GIS); 

Directs and coordinates Office of Geographic Information Systems staff;

Coordinates the overall administration of the County’s GIS programs, projects, and activities;

Provides technical assistance for project activities, including planning, design, and implementation;

Makes public presentations on the County’s GIS programs;

Prepares proposals for funding for the Office of Geographic Information Systems;

Prepares policies and procedures for various GIS services and programs;

Provides advice and assistance to local municipalities and other agencies regarding GIS and the County’s Office of Geographic Information Systems;

Coordinates the GIS activities of various County agencies and departments to ensure consistency with the programs of the County’s Office of Geographic Information Systems;

Coordinates the County’s GIS activities with the activities of Federal and State governments, towns, cities and villages and regional agencies;

Manages consultant processes, including selection, development of scope of services, contract negotiation, and monitoring of progress;

Assists the Erie County Planning Division through provision of GIS services for urban and regional planning studies and programs, plan implementation, and the monitoring of various planning programs;

Assists with managing various mapping, computer, and database programs and projects in the

Erie County Planning Division.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor’s degree majoring in geographic information systems, urban or regional planning, geography, municipal government, or public administration, and at least five (5) years of experience in developing and utilizing geographic information systems, at least one (1) year of which included management/supervisory* responsibilities over lower-level GIS personnel.

Notes:

1.  Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Master’s degree in GIS, urban or regional planning, or geography may be substituted for one (1) year of required experience above.

2. **Supervision – Responsible direction and control of subordinate employees.  This involves the assignment of work, approval of work, training, evaluation and discipline of employees.  The supervisory aspects must be an integral part of the job, not incidental or occasional.     

3. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements.

4. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates:  Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.  

All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

Examination date:

May 16, 2020

Applications Must Be Postmarked or Hand Delivered By:

April 8, 2020

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information in the publication 'General Guide to Written Tests' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

Subjects of Examination:

Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Preparing written material
These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

Collection, analysis, and presentation of data, including basic statistics
These questions test for knowledge of the proper procedures and methods used to gather, evaluate, organize, and present various types of technical data and information, and the fundamental concepts, terminology, and computations involved in statistical analysis for cartographic and land use planning studies.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), including data conversion, plotting, database construction, interactive editing, and labeling
These questions test for knowledge of GIS design features, global positioning systems, and the concepts, terminology, and proper procedures to use when creating, producing, and revising various types of maps and site plans usingGIS and computerized mapping software.

Administrative supervision
These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices involved in directing the activities of a large subordinate staff, including subordinate supervisors. Questions relate to the personal interactions between an upper level supervisor and his/her subordinate supervisors in the accomplishment of objectives. These questions cover such areas as assigning work to and coordinating the activities of several units, establishing and guiding staff development programs, evaluating the performance of subordinate supervisors, and maintaining relationships with other organizational sections.

Administrative techniques and practices
These questions test for a knowledge of management techniques and practices used in directing or assisting in directing a program component or an organizational segment. Questions cover such areas as interpreting policies, making decisions based on the context of the position in the organization, coordinating programs or projects, communicating with employees or the public, planning employee training, and researching and evaluating areas of concern.

Principles of data bases for PC's
These questions test for a basic background in the design and use of data bases on microcomputers. They cover such topics as data base terminology and concepts, analyzing a data base project, planning the data base, organizing the data, designing data entry forms, accessing and manipulating the data, generating reports, and performing backups.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.