Marine Captain; SDA)

This recruitment is open only to current King County Metro Transit employees within the Marine Division who have successfully completed their probationary period in their current position and who are currently eligible to serve as a Bump-Up Captain within the Division.

The Marine Division with King County Metro Transit is hiring for a Marine Captain for the Water Taxi team.

Our Captains work onboard our Water Taxi vessels, which are based out of the Pier 50 passenger only ferry terminal on the Seattle waterfront. While working under the direction of the Port Captain, the Marine Captain commands the vessel and all crew activities in alignment with applicable regulations and service schedules. The Captain plays a critical role by providing consistent leadership of vessel operations, ensuring open communication between crews and shoreside management, and ensuring the safety and security of the vessel, its passengers, and crew members.

This position directly supports the County's interest in ensuring our commuters have a reliable way to access our downtown core through our Vashon Island and West Seattle service routes.

King County has been operating Water Taxi services since October 2009. In 2019, the Marine Division joined King County Metro to help Metro meet its goals of incorporating multiple modes of transit, including buses, boats, trains, shuttles, accessible services, and rideshare programs.

The Marine Division operates the Water Taxi ferry service on two routes in Puget Sound, both originating at Pier 50 in downtown Seattle: one route to West Seattle and the other to Vashon Island. The Water Taxi provides year-round service 7 days a week, 11 to 17 hours daily. In addition to King County Water taxi service, Kitsap County currently provides passenger-only ferry service to Kingston, Bremerton and Southworth, which all use the King County passenger-only facility in Seattle.

This recruitment is looking to fill (1) Special Duty Assignment (SDA) for a Marine Captain. This recruitment may also be used to generate an eligibility pool for future SDA vacancies that may occur in this classification within the Marine Division. The eligibility pool will be retained for six (6) months from the date it is established.

This recruitment is open only to current King County Metro Transit employees within the Marine Division who have successfully completed their probationary period in their current position and who are currently eligible to serve as a Bump-Up Captain within the Division.

If you have any questions regarding this position or recruitment, please contact Daniel Russell, Talent Advisor at darussell.

Applying our ACTIVE values: being Accountable, Collaborative, Timely, and Impactful; how we Value Employees; staying Accessible; building what’s Trusted; and acting Equitably, is a daily responsibility and a foundational expectation for all King County employees. As a Marine Captain
, you will also:

• Prepare the vessel for service and for turnover or shutdown.
• Be responsible for vessel navigation and maneuvering demonstrating knowledge of the rules of the road, determine course and speed of vessel using knowledge of weather, tides, and currents.
• Supervise crew on duty to ensure safe, efficient ferry operations.
• Serve as the person-in-charge aboard the vessel, communicate with other vessels, shoreside, law enforcement, emergency services, and division management as needed.
• Ensure vessel is operated in strict compliance with U. S. Coast Guard and other applicable regulations; render aid to other vessels or individuals in distress in accordance with maritime law.
• Serve as Vessel Security Officer and perform security duties in accordance with regulations; maintain security equipment in good operating condition; conduct safety and security checks.
• Conduct crew training and perform drills as required; under direction of the Port Captain, conduct staff training in passenger safety orientation and other related subjects as required for safe operation.
• Maintain all vessel logs and associated records.
• Ensure the vessel and navigational aids are in good operational condition and well maintained.
• Perform vessel and dock maintenance.
• Adhere to the published service schedule with the goal of maintaining on-time performance.
• Ensure the crew adequately performs housekeeping duties and the vessel is maintained in a sanitary condition.