District Technician

Rockingham County is an equal opportunity employer and will comply with federal and state statutes regarding discrimination in employment. 

Performs intermediate skilled technical work administering agricultural and conservation programs, inspecting construction, monitoring contracts and easements, assisting landowners/users in applying and maintaining conservation measures, providing education programs, maintaining records and files, and related work as apparent or assigned.  Work is performed under the limited supervision of the District Watershed Conservationist.

Benefits:

• Paid Medical, Dental, Vision & Life Insurance
• Onsite wellness/medical clinic
• Onsite fitness center
• Retirement
• Flexible Spending
• Paid Vacation, Sick & Holidays
• Bereavement
• Community Service Leave
• Weekends Off (varies by position)
• Flexible Work Schedules & Telework Options (varies by position)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• 401-K & 457 Plans with county match up to 1% of base salary

Examples of Duties

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Advises agricultural and residential clients on water quality, erosion, and natural resource issues and current programs.  Administers State funded cost-share programs and federal programs.  Administers the North Carolina Cost Share programs and related federal programs.

Inventories, evaluates, surveys, and produces designs and technical specifications for conservation practices implemented on agricultural and residential land.

Prepares conservation contracts and GIS Maps. Oversees installations and provides on-site technical assistance to contractors.  Performs final inspections to ensure the work meets United States Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Service standards and specifications.  Provide technical and contract implementation assistance to the Natural Resources and Conservation Service. Performs engineering inspections of work completed for quality control.  Verifies associated paperwork for accuracy.  Inspects water supply points for County fire departments and determines amount and accessibility of water.  

Informs and advises the Soil and Water Conservation District Board on conservation issues and projects and attends monthly meetings.

Assists with preparing grant applications and administers grants; monitors grant expenditures; prepares and submits required reports.  Administers special State disaster relief programs, such as, Drought Response Program.  Presents education programs to inform citizens of natural resources concerns and issues such as fracking, water quality, water quantity, and soil testing.

Assist other agencies such as North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and Farm Service Agency with technical issues.  

Reviews and determines eligibility of applicants for the County Voluntary Agriculture Districts.

SUPERVISION:
Supervision Received:  Position works under the direction of the District Watershed Conservationist.

Supervision Given:  
Position has no supervisory responsibilities.

INTERPERSONAL CONTACT:
•Primarily communicates externally with landowners, land users, associates, government officials, and the General public.   State agencies such as: Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil & Water Conservation District Board, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, and Farm Service Agency.

RECRUITMENT STANDARDS (Core Competencies): 
•Soil & Water conservation and land development management.
•Problem solving skills.
•Effectively communicate orally, written, and/or graphic form.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
•Thorough knowledge of the principles, practices and techniques of soil and water conservation in rural areas.
•General knowledge of the various guidelines, policies, ordinances, and regulations pertaining to soil and water conservation and land development and management.
•Skill in the use of basic engineering surveying equipment; ability to plan, organize and carry out projects effectively.
•Ability to present the results of research and recommendations effectively in oral, written, or graphic form.
•Ability to solve problems within scope of responsibility.
•Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with landowners, land users, state agencies, associates, government officials and the General public.

Physical Activities, Visual Acuity, and Working Conditions for this Position.

Physical Activities of This Position
 Climbing - Ascending or descending ladders, stairs, scaffolding, ramps, poles, and the like using feet and legs and/or hands and arms. Body agility is emphasized. This factor is important if the amount and kind of climbing required exceeds that required for ordinary locomotion
Balancing - Maintaining body equilibrium to prevent falling when walking, standing, or crouching on narrow, slippery, or erratically moving surfaces. This factor is important if the amount and kind of balancing exceeds that needed for ordinary locomotion and maintenance of body equilibrium
Stooping - Bending body downward and forward by bending spine at the waist. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires full use of the lower extremities and back muscles
Kneeling - Bending legs at knee to come to a rest on knee or knees
Crouching - Bending the body downward and forward by bending legs and spine
Crawling - Moving about on hands and knees or hands and feet
Reaching - Extending hand(s) and arm(s) in any direction
Standing - Remaining upright on the feet, particularly for sustained periods of time
Walking - Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one work site to another
Pushing - Using upper extremities to press against something with steady force to thrust forward, downward, or outward
Pulling - Using upper extremities to exert force to draw, drag, haul or tug objects in a sustained motion
Lifting - Raising objects from a lower to a higher position or moving objects horizontally from position-to-position. This factor is important if it occurs to a considerable degree and requires the substantial use of the upper extremities and back muscles
Fingering - Picking, pinching, typing or otherwise working, primarily with fingers rather than with whole hand or arm as in handling
Grasping - Applying pressure to an object with the fingers and palm
Feeling - Perceiving attributes of objects, such as size, shape, temperature, or texture by touching with skin, particularly that of fingertips
Talking - Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word; those activities where detailed or important spoken instructions must be conveyed to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly
Hearing - Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction, and having the ability to receive detailed information through oral communications, and making fine discriminations in sound
Repetitive Motions- Making substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands and/or fingers

Physical Requirements of This Position
Medium Work- Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 pounds of force frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds of force constantly to move objects
 
Visual acuity requirements including color, depth perception and field of vision 
Employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; visual inspection involving small defects, small parts and/or operation of machines (including inspection); using measurement devices and/or assembly or fabrication of parts at distances close to the eyes

The conditions the worker will be subject to in this position 
Employee is subject to outside environmental conditions: No effective protection from weather
Employee is subject to both environmental conditions: Activities occur inside and outside
Employee is subject to extreme cold: Temperatures typically below 32 degrees for periods of more than one hour. Consideration should be given to the effect of other environmental conditions such as wind and humidity
Employee is subject to extreme heat: Temperatures above 100 degrees for periods of more than one hour. Consideration should be given to the effect of other environmental conditions such as wind and humidity
Employee is subject to noise: There is sufficient noise to cause Employee to shout to be heard above the ambient noise level
Employee is subject to vibration: Exposure to oscillating movements of the extremities or whole body
Employee is subject to hazards: Includes a variety of physical conditions, such as proximity to moving mechanical parts, moving vehicles, electrical current, working on scaffolding and high places, exposure to high heat or exposure to chemicals

Minimum Qualifications

Minimum Education and Experience:  Associates/Technical degree with coursework in soil science, agronomy, natural resources, business, forestry, or related field and considerable experience in environmental conservation, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

License or Certification Requirements:
•Valid North Carolina Driver’s License.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs. If you have student loans and you are selected for full-time employment with Rockingham County, you may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on your William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan after you have made 120 qualifying payments on those loans while employed full-time by certain public service employers.  Click on the link below to see whether you might qualify.

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service