Permit Specialist

City of Baytown; Baytown (TX); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

City of Baytown is seeking a Permit Specialist to manage permit applications, issue records, coordinate inspections, and provide excellent customer service to the public and internal stakeholders.

The role requires a high school diploma or GED and at least two years of customer service or office experience. Bilingual English/Spanish is preferred, with opportunities to support planning and development services in a busy municipal environment.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED is required.
• Two years of customer service or general office experience, or an equivalent combination.
• Bilingual English/Spanish is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Handle permit applications and data entry for the permit system.
• Coordinate with multiple departments and provide customer service to residents and businesses.
• Prepare reports and maintain accurate records for permits and inspections.
• Assist with payments, inspections scheduling, and Certificates of Occupancy as needed.

Skills

Customer service

Data entry

Office organization

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Job description

Join the City of Baytown as a Permit Specialist and play a key role in keeping our community growing and thriving. In this fast-paced position, you’ll manage permit applications, collaborate across departments, and deliver top-notch service to residents and businesses. If you’re highly organized, detail-driven, and experienced in municipal permitting, we’d love to have you on our team.

The Permit Specialist performs duties to support the department’s overall mission. In this role, you will administer permit issuance and recordkeeping, coordinate inspections, process payments, and provide professional customer service to both internal stakeholders and the public. You will also conduct thorough completeness reviews, prepare reports and correspondence, and exercise sound judgment within your scope of authority to maintain compliance and consistency in all processes.

• Issues and maintains permits. Assists customers with the permit application process and answers a wide variety of questions. Data entry of all permits and process payments. Prepares work orders for inspectors and schedules inspection requests from contractors and homeowners/owners.
• Answer the phone, takes messages and responds to voicemails. Retrieves, opens, and distributes daily mail/email. Releases utility approvals to CenterPoint Energy. Prepares reports for distribution externally/internally.
• Logs plans for building permits and routes to other departments for review. Schedules inspections for Planning, Health, Fire, Engineering, Storm Water and Environmental Departments. Processes Certificates of Occupancy.
• Prepares and balances daily deposit while reviewing the day’s permits and receipts for errors, resolves overages or shortages.

• Maintains all plans in accordance with the records retention and destruction policy.
• Responds to "Public Information Requests" which could involve researching computer programs and hard copies, making copies, re-file records and contacting citizens.
• Assists with customer needs across all plan, permit, registration and licensing programs administered by the Planning & Development Services.
• Performs all other related duties as assigned.

Required:

• High School Diploma or equivalent (GED).
• Two years customer service or general office experience OR equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred:

• Bilingual in English/Spanish.
• Office experience in the building industry.

Ability to multitask, establish priorities, work independently, and maintain organization. Work requires continual attention to detail in entering, composing, typing and proofing data and materials. Knowledge of business machine operations, personal computers and related software, and accounting/billing processes. Must have a high level of interpersonal skills to handle sensitive and confidential situations with both internal and external customers. Position continually requires demonstrated poise, tact, and diplomacy. Ability to get along appropriately with co-workers and the public.

Here at the City of Baytown, in recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you bring. We strive to provide a workplace where differences are honored, with a workforce that reflects the diversity of the people we serve.

Attendance is an essential function of this position. The City reserves the right to require an employee in this position to work overtime. This position provides services or performs duties for the benefit of the general public during emergency situations. These may include services or duties different from those performed in the usual course and scope of your job. In the event of an evacuation, the incumbent in this position may be required to remain to perform needed services.

Overall Position Strength Demands

Light Work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.