Associate Engineer

Public Works - Permitting, Utilities and Capital Projects

Discover Your Career with the City of Grover Beach

Working for the City of Grover Beach means serving a vibrant, close-knit coastal community of over 13,000 residents. Located along California's beautiful Central Coast, our organization is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for our community through innovation, integrity, and teamwork.

Why Choose Grover Beach?

• Coastal Lifestyle: Enjoy a Mediterranean climate with beach access right in your backyard.
• Impacts: Every position directly improves local neighborhoods, parks, and infrastructure.
• Collaborative Culture: We work as one team across all city departments.
• Professional Growth: We invest in employee training and career development.

What We Offer

• Compensation: Market-aligned salaries with regular performance-based increases.
• Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family.
• Retirement: CalPERS pension enrollment and optional deferred compensation plans.
• Work-Life Balance: Generous paid vacation, holiday schedules, and flexible work opportunities.

Definition: Under direction of a Public Works Director/City Engineer, performs field and office civil engineering work related to the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of City projects and programs in the areas of streets, capital improvement, traffic operations and safety, and building services, including conducting plan checks, preparing project schedules, plans, specifications, and cost estimates; advertises for construction, coordinates engineering activities with contractors and other agencies and monitors contracts; and performs related work as required.

Distinguishing Characteristics: The Associate Engineer is the journey-level in the professional engineering classification and incumbents may perform the full range of the engineering functions, but with primary emphasis on street rehabilitation, infrastructure development and traffic issues in a developing City. This class is distinguished from the higher level of Public Works Director/City Engineer in that the Public Works Director/City Engineer handles complex projects and has full supervisory authority over lower-level Engineers. It is distinguished from the lower-level of Engineering Technician in that the Associate Engineer has project management responsibilities in addition to performing the full range of professional engineering duties on routine projects and performs more complex plan checks.

Supervision Received/Exercised: Receives general direction from the Public Works Director/City Engineer. Exercises direct and indirect supervision over Engineering Technician.

Essential Functions:

• Serves as plan check engineer or project manager on projects, including defining project scope and selecting consultants; negotiates contracts, change orders and amendments; prepares and monitors project schedules; monitors, reviews and coordinates project design and construction; evaluates contractor requests for extra work; monitors contractor's work and enforces terms of the contract; and processes payments and change orders; coordinates projects with businesses, utilities and other City departments.
• Conducts field and construction site inspections; ensures contractor compliance with contract documents and time and budget estimates; recommends field changes.
• Prepares and reviews traffic signal timing plans and updates as needed; constructs traffic signal computer models used to prepare timing plans and prepares traffic signal designs and specifications.
• Prepares designs, specifications, plans, estimates and reports for assigned Capital Improvement projects and the development and modification of City infrastructure.
• Conducts civil and traffic engineering and related studies, evaluates alternatives, makes recommendations and presents reports to superiors and others; conducts studies and confers with the public regarding transportation and traffic issues.
• Prepares a variety of written materials, including staff and engineering reports and grant applications for engineering and transportation projects.
• Prepares Requests for Proposals and administers consultant selection process for the design of assigned capital projects; administers construction contracts during the construction phase.
• Coordinates projects with activities of businesses, utilities, special districts and other City departments. Serves as the City representative at meetings and promotes department and/or City objectives.
• Responds to complaints and assists in solving problems related to construction or City plans; interprets plans and policies; confers with and provides information to property owners, contractors, engineers, consultants and the general public on conformance to standards, plans, specifications and codes.
• Maintains accurate records and files.
• Performs other duties of a similar nature as assigned.

Qualifications: The following are minimal qualifications necessary for entry into the classification.

Education and/or Experience: Equivalent to graduation from a four-year college or university with major coursework in an engineering curriculum or a field related to the area of assignment and three years of professional engineering experience.

License/Certificate/Special Requirements: At the option of the appointing authority or the City, persons hired into this class may be required to either possess at entry or obtain within specified time limits designated licenses, professional registration, certification or specialized education and training relevant to the area of assignment. Must possess and maintain a valid California class C driver's license and a satisfactory driving record.

Knowledge/Abilities/Skills: Knowledge of engineering theories and principles related to the area of assignment; construction theories and principles; principles of project management; computer applications related to the work including basic GIS and AutoCad concepts and applications; principles of capital improvement cost estimation and contract administration; basic supervisory principles and practices; practices of researching engineering and design issues, evaluating alternatives, making sound recommendations and preparing and presenting effective staff reports; and techniques for effectively representing the City in contacts with government agencies, community groups, various businesses, professional and regulatory organizations and the public.

Ability to: Prepare plans and drawings neatly and accurately. Prepare engineering design computations and check, design, and prepare engineering plans and studies. Learn and understand City engineering policies and procedures. Administer contracts and coordinate and review the work of outside consultants. Learn applicable laws and regulatory codes. Prepare quantity and cost estimates. Use and care for engineering and drafting instruments and equipment. Prepare reports encompassing raw technical data; prepare effective cost estimates and recommendations. Operate office equipment including computers and supporting word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications. Communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

Skill to: Preparing engineering designs and plans; preparing, negotiating and managing contracts and monitoring the work of contractors and consultants; writing technical reports and preparing cost estimates; reading blueprints, plans and technical specifications; coordinating and managing multiple projects, often with competing deadlines; and communicating effectively with officials, co-workers, contractors, consultants, representatives of organizations and others sufficient to convey information, both directly and over the telephone