Supervisor, Operations and Safety Section, Public Utilities Commission
California State Personnel Board Specification
Definition
Under administrative direction, to plan, organize, and direct the work of the Operations and Safety Section, Transportation Division, in developing, recommending, and negotiating the adoption of operating and maintenance practices, including adequate facilities for the health and comfort of passengers and operating and nonoperating employees, and enforcing safety regulations of railroads, street railways, and water carriers; and to do other related work.
Typical Tasks
Plans, organizes, and directs the work of the staff engaged in conducting railroad equipment and facility surveys, analyzing carrier operations, conducting informal negotiations with carrier management for the adoption of operating procedures and the selection, training, supervision of carrier employees to prevent accidents and increase operating efficiency; reviews and analyzes reports and recommendations made to carriers and to the Commission; directs studies or tests of difficult operating methods and all types of brakes, signals, and other operating equipment; participates in formal boards of inquiry into the causes of unusual carrier accidents; questions witnesses, analyzes transcripts, prepares reports, makes recommendations, and negotiates preventive practices; reviews the preparation of exhibits involving technical, mechanical, and operating matters and participates in formal proceedings before the Commission; directs or conducts negotiations with the general management of carriers and mediates controversial issues on carrier operating standards and policies which arise between the management and carrier employees; confers with the head of the Division and other Department personnel on Department policies and objectives and coordinates the work of this section with other sections; as required, represents the Department or the Division in conference with officials of private and public agencies; testifies as an expert witness in Commission and court proceedings; prepares correspondence and reports.
Minimum Qualifications
Experience:
Either I
Two years of experience with a transportation regulatory agency in the performance of administrative work comparable to that of a Senior Transportation Operations Supervisor, Public Utilities Commission.
Or II
Five years of experience in a supervisory operating position equivalent to that of trainmaster, road supervisor of engines, or chief dispatcher with a Class I railroad operating under The Standard Code of Operating Rules or a combination of four years of such experience and one year in a supervisory position as an assistant mechanical superintendent of assistant division engineer. (College education with major work in transportation or engineering may be substituted for not more than two years of the required experience on the basis of two years of college work being equivalent to one year of experience.) and
Education: Equivalent to completion of the twelfth grade. (Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education on a year-for-year basis.)
Knowledge and Abilities
Knowledge of: Sections of the Public Utilities Code and of the Commission's general orders relating to carrier operations; procedures used in the conduct of hearings by the Commission and other transportation regulatory bodies; Federal and State laws relating to carrier operations and equipment maintenance methods; facilities and equipment used by carriers and their relationship to operating or safety standards; carrier operating and mechanical terminology; Commission's Affirmative Action Program objectives; a manager's role in the Affirmative Action Program and the processes available to meet affirmative action objectives.
Ability to: Plan, conduct, or direct negotiations to improve operating methods and increase the safety of carrier operations and mediate controversial issues between carrier management and representatives of transportation employees; formulate and recommend new or revised operating and safety practices; act as an expert witness in matters pertaining to carrier operations; direct and supervise the work of the staff of the section; write clear and concise reports; analyze situations accurately and take effective action; effectively contribute to the Commission's affirmative action objectives.
