City Engineer chez City of Lake Stevens, WA

About the Department

The City Engineer is a key leadership position within the Public Works Department responsible for managing staff, overseeing capital improvement projects, and providing expert civil engineering guidance to ensure the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of city infrastructure meets all regulatory, safety, and operational standards. Working under the managerial direction of the Public Works Director, the City Engineer supervises personnel; prepares and administers budgets and grants; provides technical engineering guidance on development projects; manages contracts and field inspections; and leads the development and implementation of long-range infrastructure plans and engineering standards. The position also represents the City in public meetings, ensures regulatory compliance, and continuously evaluates opportunities to improve infrastructure performance, safety, and sustainability.

Lake Stevens is generally a residential community with access to numerous commercial, retail and recreational opportunities. Of course, the crown jewel of the community is the lake itself, which boasts some of the greatest water recreational opportunities in the county. Lake Stevens is also uniquely situated, being close to the lake, ocean, and Cascade mountains, to take advantage of many outdoor activities. The Lake Stevens Schools are excellent and coupled with a city priority of parks and increased walkability, makes Lake Stevens an ideal place to raise a family.

• Work-Life Balance - We are committed to ensure that our staff experience the reward of public service, while also sustaining a routine that suits each individual's lifestyle. 
• Work Where you Live!
• The City of Lake Stevens offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Retirement- through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems.
• Deferred Compensation- with city match.
• Excellent healthcare options-including medical, dental, vision insurance, city-paid life insurance and long-term disability, health savings accounts (HSA), and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA/VEBA).
• Paid leave- including paid sick leave, paid vacation, flexible holidays, paid holidays, and bereavement leave.
• See our benefits page for a complete list of all the benefits available to the City of Lake Stevens employees.

Why work for the Public Works Department?

The Public Works Department leadership team have established core values along with mission and vision statements for all employees. It is vital as we continuously improve and raise our standard of work that all employees understand and abide by a set of guidelines which provide a framework for a professionally engaged organization. It is important that candidates seeking employment within Public Works understand and are committed to these guidelines as you perform your duties.

Our Mission

We serve the Lake Stevens community by providing consistent maintenance and operations of City infrastructure through professional public works services, organizational excellence, and community interaction.

Our Vision

The Lake Stevens Public Works Department is a trusted, safety-minded, and qualified group of dedicated public works professionals. As a team, we work tirelessly to set the standard for public works operations and maintenance.

Position Duties

Essential duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Manages and supervises assigned staff, including assigning work, coordinating schedules and projects, and setting priorities. 
• Oversees hiring, training, and performance management of assigned staff including, but not limited to, addressing personnel issues and ensuring effective team performance through coaching, corrective action, discipline, and workload management.
• Prepares and manages assigned budgets, including capital improvement project budgets and grants; monitors expenditures, reviews and approves purchases, and provides forecasts and recommendations for staffing, equipment, and resource needs.
• Communicates effectively and provides expertise, creative solutions and administrative guidance to meet the department's goals, objectives and policies.
• Oversees design and construction contracts for capital improvement projects; reviews and approves plans, specifications, and bid documents; manages procurement and contract awards; and oversees negotiations of change orders and payment approvals. 
• Attends Council meetings, regional meetings, committee meetings and public hearings as needed; makes presentations and responds to questions or issues.
• Provides engineering guidance on development applications to ensure compliance with relevant engineering standards and regulations; oversees civil plan review and inspections of civil improvements and utilities, as assigned.
• Creates, revises and implements engineering standards including city’s Engineering Design and Development Standards. 
• Prepares, maintains and supports a variety of long-term plans or programs for public infrastructure including, but not limited to, the Traffic Safety Plan, ADA Transition Plan, Pavement Preservation Plan, Traffic Calming Program, Capital Improvement Plan and the Capital Facilities Plan in coordination with other affected departments and agencies. 
• Oversees responses to public and internal service related to civil engineering with professionalism, ensuring timely, accurate, and courteous service to internal and external stakeholders.
• Oversees or prepares applications for and administers federal and state grants for capital improvement programs; assists department heads in the preparation of funding requests.
• Creates and adopts programs and operational standards to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and policies; interprets policies and procedures and assures the consistent application of rules and regulations.
• Maintains regular, reliable, and predictable attendance.

• Assumes the duties and responsibilities of the Public Works Director in their absence, as assigned.
• Performs the duties of subordinate personnel as needed.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Education, Training and Experience Guidelines:

EDUCATION:            Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering or related field; 

EXPERIENCE:           Six (6) years of progressively responsible civil engineering design and construction experience in municipal, state, or related settings, including at least three (3) years in a supervisory or managerial role;

OR:                             Any combination of education and experience, which provides the applicant with the desired skills, knowledge and ability required to perform the job, may be substituted for these qualifications.  Examples of these skills include:

Knowledge of and/or skilled in:

• Civil engineering techniques and design.
• Modern traffic engineering principles and practices, including familiarity with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Manual.
• Willingness and ability to apply modern engineering principles to improve safety, cost efficiency, and environmental sustainability.
• State and federal funding procedures for Public Works projects.
• Applicable federal, state and local laws, codes, regulations, policies and procedures related to water, wastewater and sanitary sewer systems, streets and other assigned areas.
• Interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy.
• Health and safety standards, rules and regulations.
• Principles and practices of the long-range strategic planning.
• Structure, organization and interrelationships of city departments, agencies and related governmental agencies and offices affecting assigned functions.
• Effective oral and written communication principles and practices to include public relations and public speaking.
• Administrative program/project management techniques and principles.
• Contract negotiation and administration.
• Research methods and report preparation and presentation.
• Modern office procedures, methods, and equipment including computers and computer applications such as: word processing, spreadsheets, and statistical databases.
• English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• Principles of business letter writing.
• Principles and practices of governmental budget preparation and administration.
• Supervisory and training principles, methods, best management practices and techniques.
• ESRI’s ArcGIS and Autodesk AutoCAD.
• Lean Management System or Six Sigma principles.
• How artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies are used to enhance public service delivery, decision-making, and operational efficiency.
• How AI and emerging technologies can be leveraged to improve departmental operations, service delivery, and decision-making.
• Leading teams through technology adoption, including training, change management, and performance monitoring.

Ability to:

• Plan, organize, control, and direct the engineering activities and operations.
• Serve as representative of the city on local and regional engineering issues.
• Supervise construction and design contracts.
• Provide efficient and timely project design reviews.
• Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement through a Lean lens,  the responsible use of AI and automation.
• Adapt to evolving technologies, including AI, and integrate them into routine work practices.
• Develop and administer procurement and consultant contracts as necessary.
• Create and produce effective grant requests.
• Interpret, apply and explain rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Plan and implement long-term strategies, including capital construction project planning and oversight.
• Utilize personal computer software programs and other relevant software affecting assigned work and in compiling and preparing spreadsheets.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, management, vendors, outside agencies, community groups, and the general public.
• Analyze situations accurately and adopting an effective course of action.
• Maintain confidentiality and communicating with tact and diplomacy.
• Apply program/project management techniques and principles.
• Direct the maintenance of a variety of reports and files and preparing, maintaining and reviewing comprehensive narratives and statistical reports.
• Develop and monitor departmental, capital improvement, and program/project operating budgets, costs and schedules.
• Communicate effectively verbally and in writing, including public relations and public speaking.
• Delegate tasks and workload assignments.

License, Certificate and Other Requirements

• Valid driver’s license and a driving record which meets the city’s requirements. Must be able to obtain State of Washington driver’s license within 30 days of hire.
• Current Washington State Professional Engineer (PE) license with Civil endorsement is required.
• APWA Certified Public Works Professional – Management or ability to obtain certification within 12 months of hire.
• Completion of position-relevant background check.

Other Qualifications

How to Apply
Applications for this recruitment will be accepted electronically. Your relevant experience may be evaluated to determine salary. Therefore, it is very important that the “Work Experience” portion of the application be completed in as much detail as possible.

 In order to be considered for this opportunity, please include the following with your online application: 

• An attached resume outlining (in reverse chronological order) your experience to date.
• A cover letter explaining your qualifications and why you believe you are a viable candidate for this position
• Contact details for a minimum three (3) individuals who can attest to your work performance, technical skills, and job-related competencies. This information can be entered in the “References” section of the online application; does not require an additional attachment.