Laboratory Services Supervisor

The Alameda County Water District is seeking a Laboratory Services Supervisor. This position under general direction, supervises Water Quality Laboratory (WQL) operations to include water sample collection, laboratory testing and analyses; water quality investigations; regulatory impact analysis; laboratory research; and performance of related work as required.

This single position class is distinguished by its responsibility for supervising a variety of field and laboratory activities in support of the water quality monitoring and control program.  This class is distinguished from Senior Chemist in that the latter is the advanced working level in the professional chemist series and is supervised by this class. 

This position reports to the Manager of Operations and Maintenance.
 

Examples of Duties

This position may perform any or all of the below listed duties.  These should be interpreted as examples of the work, and are not necessarily all-inclusive .

• Ensures source water, treatment and distribution system water sampling activities are completed; supervises ongoing laboratory testing and analyses; reviews test reports; oversees work of outside laboratories contracted to perform specialized testing; maintains an ongoing quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program; and directs efforts to maintain WQL certification under the Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP).

• Participates in water treatment studies and pilot programs by helping design special sampling or testing methods; oversees research in water analyses and recommends changes in methods based on findings.

• Forecasts future laboratory needs; conducts assessments of current procedures and practices; adjusts monitoring programs to improve labor utilization and cost-effectiveness; plans, justifies and budgets for capital purchases of laboratory test equipment.

• Provides ongoing support and technical assistance to District staff regarding water quality, water sampling, and testing methods; confers with governmental and water industry representatives about water quality matters; participates in federal, state and local committees on drinking water issues; helps determine necessary procedures to protect water quality in an emergency.

• Responds or directs staff to respond to customer inquiries and water quality complaints; updates superiors informed about unusual patterns of complaints and helps determine appropriate corrective action.

• Supervises usage of the Laboratory Information System (LIMS) and related data management systems; determines need for special reports; reviews and analyzes regular and special reports generated by LIMS.

• Compiles and prepares regular and special reports covering the details of WQL operations for senior management such as monthly sampling and testing statistics; prepares and submits required reports to State regulatory agencies.

• Prepares the annual budget request for the work unit; estimates staffing and capital equipment needs based upon recent trends and planned activities; monitors expenditures after budget adoption; approves requisitions for purchase of materials or supplies.

• Participates in the interviewing and hiring of new staff; prioritizes, assigns and reviews work, approves time off for payroll purposes, and prepares employee performance evaluations.  Actively helps ensure a high level of laboratory staff proficiency by providing training and testing in WQL procedures and analytical techniques.

• Performs other related work as required.

Typical Qualifications

Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying.  A typical way to obtain the knowledge, skills, and abilities would be the equivalent of:

Education and Experience :   Possession of a Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in chemistry, microbiology or a related field and five years of full time experience as a professional chemist, at least three of which was in water or wastewater analysis.

Selection Procedure

Application materials, which include a supplemental questionnaire, must be submitted online at www.acwd.org/jobs by the final filing date of  Monday, November 16, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.

Candidates who present the best job-related qualifications will be invited to participate in a qualifications appraisal panel interview.  All applicants will be evaluated against the qualifications and characteristics listed above and included in the job description.

Information

• Location: Alameda, United States

Industry experience

Education: Bachelor

Seniority: Expert, Engineer, Consultant

Years of experience: 5 to 10 years

Taxonomy

• Testing Instruments
• Test Equipment
• Analytical Services & Testing Labs
• Testing Kit