Public Safety Communications at City of Mesa

Longwood University; Mesa (AZ); On-site; USD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Mesa is seeking a Public Safety Communications Manager to lead the Communication Services Division (CSD) within the MPSS Department. This executive role oversees 24/7 operations handling emergency and non-emergency contacts, supervises communications staff, and partners with police and fire departments to ensure consistent practices across agencies.

Responsibilities include strategic planning, data analysis, budgeting, staffing plans, and policy development.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field.
• 5+ years of progressively responsible managerial and supervisory experience in public safety communications.
• At least 2 years of supervisory experience in a public safety communications center.

Responsibilities

• Manage and direct the work within the Communication Services Division (CSD) of the MPSS Department.
• Supervise Public Safety Communications Administrators and a training supervisor.
• Develop strategic and operational plans for the division and coordinate with partner agencies.

Skills

Management

Supervision

Budgeting

Public safety

Education

Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field

Tools

CAD systems

CTI systems

800 MHz radios

Job description

This classification has been designated as a non-classified, non-merit system, at-will position.

The Public Safety Communications Manager is responsible for managing and directing the work within the Communication Services Division (CSD) of the Mesa Public Safety Support (MPSS) Department, which is a twenty-four hour, seven-days-per-week operation that handles contacts (example: calls, texts) from the public for public safety emergency and non emergency services, information, and support. The CSD processes emergency calls and text exchanges for police, fire, and medical services as well as needs for non-emergency public safety information/services through dedicated non-emergency and administrative lines. This position supervises Public Safety Communications Administrators who are responsible for overseeing the day-to day operations for call center services and a training supervisor responsible for developing and delivering a curriculum to train newly hired employees and provide in-service/continuing training to current employees. Specific duties of the Manager include: developing strategic and operational plans for the division; collaborating with the Mesa Police Department and Mesa Fire and Medical Department to promote consistent and complementary practices across the three departments; analyzing data on performance and workloads; ensuring technical support on Police response is provided to Public Safety Shift Supervisors and Telecommunicators; coordinating budgeting and financial management activities with MPSS fiscal staff, to include preparing budget estimates, monitoring expenditures, and communicating status of funds; developing staffing strategies and shift schedules that ensure adequate coverage of the work, and managing use of overtime to close gaps; identifying opportunities to improve performance outcomes while ensuring efficiency of call center operations; performing notifications to appropriate internal and external parties on the status of major incidents; handling media inquiries; collaborating with other city Departments on the delivery of services to the residents, businesses, and visitors to Mesa; coordinating policy development and implementation to promote standardized approaches to responding to emergency and non-emergency public contacts; monitoring results of quality assurance reviews to identify patterns and trends in performance and implications for changes to hiring, training, policy, or practice; and participating in regional collaboration such as PSAP manager meetings at the state and local agency levels and regional cooperation group meetings. This class performs related duties as required. This class is distinguished from the Public Safety Communications Administrator class by the administrative duties performed and additional responsibility in the areas of supervisory, fiscal, and decision-making capacity. This class is supervised by the MPSS Deputy Director who evaluates work through observation, reports, meetings, and results achieved. This class is FLSA exempt executive.

Qualifications & Requirements:

Employee Values: All employees of the City of Mesa are expected to uphold and exhibit the City’s shared employee values of Knowledge, Respect, and Integrity.

Minimum Qualifications Required.

Any combination of training, education, and experience equivalent to graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field. Extensive (5+ years) progressively responsible managerial, supervisory, and administrative experience including at least two (2) years of supervisory experience in a public safety communications center.

Special Requirements.

Because of the confidential, sensitive nature of information handled, successful completion of a background investigation and psychological examination will be required.

Substance Abuse Testing.

Due to the safety and/or security sensitive nature of this classification, individuals shall be subject to pre-employment/pre-placement alcohol, drug and/or controlled substance testing as outlined in City policy and procedures.

Preferred/Desirable Qualifications.

Experience managing a unified call-taking model (example: telecommunicators handling the full range of public safety calls [example: law enforcement, fire and rescue, and emergency medical services]) is preferred. Experience with Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) systems, and 800 Mhz radio systems is also preferred.