College Aide (Design)

Nyc-Department-of-Design-and-Construction; New York (NY); On-site; USD 21,000 - 30,000; Part time

Job summary

The City of New York seeks a College Aide to support the Design Unit – Consultant Design – Group 1 within the DDC Division of Infrastructure. This part-time role provides hands-on exposure to capital projects, including sewer upgrades, water main improvements, and interagency coordination, while you gain practical design coordination experience.

You will assist engineers with task tracking, document governance, and communication, develop trackers, and help maintain audit-ready project records in

Qualifications

• Matriculation at an accredited college or graduate school.
• Employment conditioned on continued student status.
• IT track requires coursework in information technology, CS, MIS, data processing, or related field, including 9 credits.

Responsibilities

• Capital Design Coordination: assist engineers with coordinating in-house design phases, tracking deliverables and milestones.
• Interagency & Unit Collaboration: support communication with internal units and external agencies for design approvals.
• Engineering Records & Document Governance: organize and audit project records and memos.
• Desktop Research & Utility Investigations: compile utility maps and historical records; use NYC GIS portals to identify subsurface conflicts.
• Design Team Administrative Support: prepare progress trackers and coordination emails; support day-to-day project controls.

Skills

Academic pathways

Technical literacy

Project organization

Communication

Detail-oriented

Eagerness to learn

Education

Matriculation at accredited college or graduate school

Tools

AutoCAD

Civil 3D

Job description

Hours: Part-Time - 35 Hours

Work Location: 30-30 Thomson Avenue, LIC, NY 11101

College Aides are permitted to work up to 17 hours per week during the school year, and full time (35 hours) during the summer. Please note you must be a student enrolled in an accredited college or graduate school to be eligible for the position.

The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC), Division of Infrastructure, is seeking a motivated, detail-oriented College Aide to join Design Unit – Section 5- Consultant Design – Group 1.

Working under the mentorship of an Engineer-in-Charge, you will directly support HED586, an active in-house capital design program focused on vital water main and sewer replacements and drainage improvements across the city. This position bridges technical design coordination and project governance, giving you a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes view of how in-house municipal engineering designs move from initial concept through interagency sign-offs to construction readiness.

What You Will Do:

• Capital Design Coordination: Assist project engineers with coordinating in-house design phases for sewer upgrades, tracking task order deliverables, design milestones, and production schedules for the HED586 portfolio.
• Interagency & Unit Collaboration: Support communication and data exchange between Section 5 and critical internal units (such as Geotechnical, Survey, and Utility Coordination) as well as external partner agencies (including NYC DEP and DOT) to advance design approvals.
• Engineering Records & Document Governance: Organize and maintain digital project records, design calculations, utility clearance letters, and technical memos to ensure complete and audit-ready project files.
• Desktop Research & Utility Investigations: Assist with compiling utility record maps, historical sewer records, and desktop visual assessments using tools like Cyclomedia StreetSmart and NYC GIS portals to identify potential subsurface conflicts early.
• Design Team Administrative Support: Prepare concise progress trackers, draft coordination emails and meeting summaries, and assist the design engineering team with day-to-day project controls and administrative workflows.

Additionally, educational credentials must be from a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accredited institution. Credentials from foreign institutions require independent equivalency verification from an approved evaluation service. A list of providers (fees apply) is available at: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/employment/nyc-dcas-foreign-education-evaluation-guide.pdf.

COLLEGE AIDE (ALL CITY DEPTS) - 10209

Minimum Qualifications

For Assignment Level I: Matriculation at an accredited college or graduate school. Employment is conditioned upon continuance as a student in a college or graduate school.

For Assignment Level II (Information Technology): Matriculation at an accredited college or graduate school. Employment is conditioned upon continuance as a student in a college or graduate school with a specific course of study in information technology, computer science, management information systems, data processing, or closely related field, including or supplemented by 9 semester credits in an acceptable course of study.

For Assignment Level III (Information Technology Fellow): Matriculation at an accredited college or graduate school. Employment is conditioned upon continuance as a student in a college or graduate school with a specific course of study in information technology, computer science, management information systems, data processing, or other area relevant to the information technology project(s) assigned, including or supplemented by 9 semester credits in an acceptable course of study. Appointments to this Assignment Level will be made by the Technology Steering Committee through the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.

SPECIAL NOTE: Maximum tenure for all Assignment Levels in the title of College Aide is 6 years. No student shall be employed more than half-time in any week in which classes in which the student is enrolled are in session. Students may be employed full-time during their vacation periods.

Preferred Skills

• 1. Academic Pathways: Currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering major.
• 2. Technical Literacy: Basic familiarity with municipal water and sewer concepts, utility networks, or civil engineering plans coursework or exposure to AutoCAD / Civil 3D is considered an advantage.
• 3. Project Organization & Tracking: Strong proficiency in Microsoft 365, particularly Excel (managing spreadsheets, formulas, milestone tracking) and Word comfort organizing digital document repositories on SharePoint or shared network drives.
• 4. Communication & Professional Poise: Outstanding verbal and written communication skills in English, with the ability to draft clear technical coordination notes, follow up on pending reviews, and communicate effectively with engineers and agency liaisons.
• 5. Detail-Oriented Mindset: High organizational standards with an aptitude for tracking multiple concurrent tasks, reviewing documents for completeness, and spotting discrepancies in project records.
• 6. Eagerness to Learn: A strong interest in NYC municipal infrastructure, subsurface utility design, and public capital project delivery.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/.

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.