Communications Officer​/Dispatcher; Entry Level​/Lateral

We are hiring entry-level and lateral Communications Officers for 911. This is an incredibly demanding and highly rewarding career that allows you to help others every single day. If you are adept with technology, a good multi-tasker, and can demonstrate strong judgement and decision making, this could be the career for you. The ideal candidate will be hungry to learn, reliable and dependable, and have the grit and tenacity to succeed in our rigorous training program, and perform consistently in the job with a high level of mental and emotional stability.

If this sounds like you, we’d love to have you apply.

FLSA non-exempt position that provides a critical link in the delivery of public safety service, being the first and most important contact with the citizen needing help.

The Communications Officer must develop a timely, rapid and accurate sense of call interpretation and decision-making/problem solving skills during stressful situations. This position must remain calm, showing empathy, conveying reassurance and instilling confidence in the caller that the proper response to their needs will result.

• Answers emergency and non-emergency calls for service, simultaneously entering this information into the computer using a CAD system and continuing to enter updates in a timely manner.
• Accurately completes a variety of reports in a timely manner.
• Calms, negotiates, advises and otherwise communicates with callers to obtain accurate and essential information necessary to establish priority and initiate a timely response to emergency calls.
• Remains calm, shows empathy, conveys reassurance and instills confidence in callers through a demeanor that will result in proper responses to their needs.
• Determines the appropriate agency or agencies that should be notified.
• Processes more than one call at a time.
• Assists other employees as necessary when not occupied with primary call answering duties.
• Attends mandatory trainings and/or meetings as directed.
• Performs additional duties as directed.
• Is reliable, dependable and reports for work on a consistent and predictable basis.
• Consistently thinks clearly and responds quickly in a wide variety of emergency situations.
• Gathers, organizes, translates and processes information from various emergency callers in an accurate and timely manner.
• Accurately types 35 net words per minute while listening and conversing simultaneously.
• Works a shift encompassing a 24‑hour day, seven‑day week, inclusive of odd hours, days, evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.
• Operates a TDD/TTY for hearing/speech impaired callers.
• Responds to text‑to‑911 applications and operates other computer programs as necessary.
• Meets ACCESS/FBI/CJIS requirements, including maintaining a record free of felony convictions.
• Obtains Telecommunicator I Certification within six (6) months of completion of new hire training or as soon as available and receives recertification every two (2) years.
• Obtains Telecommunicator II Certification within eighteen (18) months of completion of new hire training or as soon as available, and receives recertification every two (2) years.
• Obtains and relays accurate and essential information necessary to establish priority and initiate a timely response to emergency calls, determining the appropriate response to an incident.
• Relays updated information as received and accurately records it in a timely manner.

Contacts are made both inside and outside the organization. Internal contacts frequently include the Communications Officers, supervisory staff and administrative personnel. External contacts may include Center customers, outside vendors, governmental personnel, applicants and citizens. This position is representative of the Center and therefore it is critical that all interactions are respectful and professional. Interactions focus on information exchange and the receiving and giving of procedural changes.

A majority of external interactions are via telephone or electronic exchange.

• Spokane regional service area, including streets and landmarks.
• Map reading, including…