Travis County

Job Summary

Assists the Park Ranger Sergeant in managing the day-to-day operations within Travis County Parks involving visitor and resource protection, law enforcement, emergency medical services, search and rescue, and visitor and employee safety for Travis County parks. Incident Commander in managing emergencies, special events and other incidents. Protects natural and cultural resources in the park and preserve system through the enforcement of rules and regulations and state and federal environmental laws. Functions as an Intermediate Peace Officer Certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) and as an Emergency Medical Technician – Basic (EMT-B). Conducts criminal investigations and participates in the preparation of case reports and case review. Provides information and assistance to the public. Supervises shift in the absence of the Sergeant.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:

This job is within the Non-Travis County Sheriff’s Office (Non-TCSO) Peace Officer Pay Scale (POPS) job family. It is a third level job within the uniformed Park Ranger series. This job is distinguished from the Park Ranger Senior job by the additional experience and testing required to obtain this level and the front-line supervisory responsibilities. This job may perform Sergeant-level duties in their absence.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Responds to inquiries and serves as liaison to other agencies and the public.
• Conducts criminal investigations and participates in the preparation of case reports and case review.
• Serves as acting supervisor in the absence of a Sergeant in law enforcement and medical incidents and other calls for service.
• Participates in and organizes Community Outreach programs.
• Assists in maintaining inventory of uniforms and equipment, and the purchasing of such.
• Assists in the fleet management, such as vehicle inspections, maintenance, upkeep, mileage reports, shuttle vehicles and people as needed.
• Serves on interview panels for interviewing and selecting candidates.
• Responds to or is dispatched to medical incidents and situations within parks and preserves and provides patient care according to established protocols.
• Provides emergency medical services as part of a First Responder Organization. Initiates and/or participates in search and rescue operations. Treats patients in the field and prepares appropriate reports. Packages patients waiting transport and determines category of patient(s).
• Assists or is dispatched to assist other agencies to law enforcement incidents in or near parks.
• Recognizes, responds to, and coordinates response to search and rescue situations.
• Assists or oversees recruiting, hiring, counseling, disciplines, scheduling, and training.
• Prepares and presents park protection and safety training on a system-wide basis.
• Assists in the compiling of racial profiling data and statistics.
• Manages and transports evidence.
• Trains and evaluates officers and employees, trains new rangers and schedules employees for necessary training.
• Interfaces and coordinates with other agencies including, but not limited, to Constable Pct 5 (CN5), Travis County Sheriff’s Department (TCSO), Travis County Emergency Services, Austin and Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS), the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).
• Interfaces and coordinates with special interest groups such as Adopt-a-Park Programs.

Minimum Requirements

Education and Experience:

By state statute, requires a High School diploma or equivalency certificate with no felony convictions.

Must be at least 21 years of age or at least 18 years of age with 60 or more hours of accredited college credits or 2 years of military service with an honorable discharge or 3 years of park ranger experience. Must have a “meets standard” or greater performance review within the past year; AND must have no disciplinary action or pending Internal Affairs Investigations.

Licenses, Registrations, Certifications, or Special Requirements:

Valid Texas Driver License.

Requires intermediate certification as a peace officer by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).

TDHS Emergency Medical Technician – Basic certification.

Preferred:

Advanced certification or higher as a law enforcement officer by TCOLE.

TCOLE Instructor

Certified Range Master

EMT Instructor

Experience in criminal investigations

Bilingual in English/Spanish

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Knowledge of:

• Texas Penal Code, the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and of the Incident Command System (ICS).
• Criminal law statutes, crime prevention, investigation techniques and patrol operating procedures.
• Criminal investigation, and crime prevention methods.
• Park administration and management, departmental rules and polices.
• Specialized training including search and rescue techniques, technical water rescue, high angle rescue, swift water rescue, dive rescue certified, boating operations, hazardous material handling and control, technical self-defense, defensive weapons, and advanced life support techniques.
• Appropriate response to emergency medical situations and principles and practices of emergency medical services.
• Federal, State, Travis County and City of Austin applicable laws, rules, policies, regulations, and guidelines.
• Computer equipment to include word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and variety of software packages.
• Local ecology and resource management issues and strategies.
• Business letter writing, grammar and punctuation, and report preparation.
• County budgetary and fiscal policies and processes, including, but not limited to, budget programming and budget tracking.

Skill in:

• Effective oral and written communication, including presentations.
• Effective management of emergencies.
• Customer service and conflict resolution.
• Maintaining effective public relations.
• Explaining complicated technical problems in simple non-technical language.
• Use of personal computers and a variety of software including word processing and spreadsheets.
• Safe operation of motorized watercraft.
• Problem solving and decision-making.
• Using handguns and other firearms.

Ability to:

• Deploy personnel effectively.
• Respond to emergency situations in a reasonable and professional manner.
• Supervise in the absence of sergeant.
• Safely operate a police vehicle and other motor vehicles.
• Advise on technical problems of investigation and arrest.
• Maintain accurate logs and provide clearly written incident reports.
• Work independently with little direct supervision and as a team member within a diverse organization.
• Articulate and communicate information to the public regarding parks and preserves.
• Analyze and solve problems.
• Provide informal interpretation of area resources.
• Detect and correct safety problems and hazards.
• Read and understand basic legal documents and technical publications.
• Understand and follow oral instructions.
• Reason and make judgments and decisions.
• Manage time well, perform multiple tasks, and organize diverse activities.
• Work calmly, effectively, decisively, rapidly, and knowledgeably in emergency situations.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with County employees and officials, representatives of outside agencies, and the general public.

Work Environment & Other Information

Physical requirements include the ability to lift/carry up to 10-60 pounds occasionally, visual acuity, mental effort, speech and hearing, hand and eye coordination and manual dexterity, necessary to operate a computer, and viewing screens for long periods including meeting physical ability/strength standards. Subject to talking, standing, sitting, walking, climbing stairs, bending, squatting, stooping, crouching, kneeling, pushing, pulling, reaching, twisting, balancing, handling, gripping, grasping, driving, repetitive motion, and client/customer contact to perform the essential functions. May work outdoors under extreme heat, cold, dampness for extended periods of time. May be exposed to high-risk situations involved in law enforcement, medical emergencies, natural disasters, search and rescue. Subject to contact with communicable diseases, radiation, hazardous waste, human fecal matter and foul odors. Subject to stressful environment and client and customer contact for extended periods of time. Ability to take physical control of another person as required and exposure to volatile or stressful situations. Job may involve danger due to contact with criminals and suspects. Emergency operations require working under difficult conditions including but not limited to being subjected to hazards and potential physical danger inherent in public safety and law enforcement work. Emergency operations require working under difficult conditions, including but not limited to being subjected to hazards and potential physical danger inherent in public safety and law enforcement work.

Travis County employees play an important role in business continuity, especially during emergency or weather-related situations as declared by Travis County. As such, employees may be required to perform other duties as assigned outside of normal job functions to assist with business continuity efforts. This may include schedule changes to include possible overtime in emergency or weather-related work conditions.

This job description is intended to be generic in nature. It is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The essential duties, functions and responsibilities and overtime eligibility may vary based on the specific tasks assigned to the position.

Work Hours: Hours and days vary

Works some holidays, nights and weekends

Department: Transportation and Natural Resources

Location: 700 Lavaca St Austin, TX 78701

TCOLE, Physical Exam, Drug Test, Alcohol Test, Psychological Exam

Criminal, Credit, Driving, Education, Employment Background Check Required

Benefits

Employment at Travis County comes with a full array of benefits. We offer comprehensive health insurance, a no-cost, on-site Health and Wellness clinic, longevity pay, paid vacations, sick time and personal holidays, not to mention an industry competitive salary structure and a friendly, stable work environment.

FY2025 Travis County Benefit Guide

In this valuable Travis County Benefits Guide you will find benefit summaries, eligibility requirements, costs, contact numbers and addresses as well as other general information on the benefits available to Travis County Employees and Retirees.

Credit Union

Employees may join the Travis County Credit Union which offers low-interest loans, savings plans through payroll deduction, safe deposit boxes and other benefits.

Deferred Compensation

Employees may enroll in a tax- free sheltered investment plan through payroll deduction.

Direct Deposit

Employees may sign up for direct bank deposit.

Employee Assistance Program

Travis County provides a confidential counseling and referral service free of charge to county employees and their family.

Employee Organizations

Membership in the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Union is available through payroll deduction.

Employee Health & Wellness Clinic

Employees may access the clinic for a variety of wellness program and health care services with no co-pay, no deductible and no co-insurance costs.

Holidays

An average of eleven paid holidays are designated by the Travis County Commissioners Court at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Insurance

Employees may select from four plans: an Exclusive Physician Organization (EPO), Choice Plus Preferred Physician Organization (PPO), Consumer Choice or a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a Health Savings Account (HSA). All four options include a Pharmacy Plan. Travis County’s current policy is to pay 100% of the employee’s health insurance premium for the Consumer Choice and HDHP. Employees will pay a premium for both the EPO and PPO. Other insurance benefits include $50,000 Basic Life and AD&D paid by the County.

The following benefits are employee paid:

• Dental
• Vision
• Supplemental Life, AD&D
• Dependent Life
• Short Term Disability
• Long Term Disability
• Long Term Care

New employees are covered on the first day of the month following 28 calendar days of employment.

Longevity

Longevity pay is paid for each year completed after three years of continuous service. Peace Officers in a law enforcement activity, whose job requires state peace officer certification, receive pay after one year of certification.

On the regular payday on or after the employee's fourth and subsequent adjusted service dates, he or she receives a single payment for the previous year.

Parking

A limited number of assigned parking spaces are available to employees in the Courthouse Complex.

Personal Holidays

Regular, full-time employees are eligible for up to three paid personal holidays each calendar year. Part-time employees shall be granted personal holidays on a prorated basis. New employees earn personal holidays for the calendar year in which he/she begins employment, based on the month in which employment begins:

January – March

3 personal holidays

April - June

2 personal holidays

July - September

1 personal holiday

October - December

None

New employees are eligible to take personal holidays after 90 days of employment.

Retirement

Travis County is a member of the Texas County & District Retirement System with mandatory participation by certain classes of employees. Seven percent (7%) of the gross salary is deducted each pay period. An employee is fully vested after eight years of service. Benefits are prorated for part-time employees.

Sick Leave

Regular employees earn sick leave at a rate of eight hours per month with unlimited accrual during employment. Part-time employees earn sick leave on a pro-rated basis.

Parental Leave

Each Full-time Paid Parental Leave Eligible (PPL) Employee is entitled to a total of 320 hours of Paid Parental Leave in a 12 month period. Paid Parental Leave for Part-time PPL Eligible Employees is prorated based on the number of hours that they are regularly scheduled to work.

Tuition Refund

Certain classes of full-time employees may receive reimbursement for fees associated with pre-approved, job related course work completed satisfactorily.

Vacation

Based on years of county service, regular, full-time employees earn vacation time at the following rates:

0 to 5 years

4.0 hours per pay period

6 to 10 years

4.5 hours per pay period

11 to 15 years

5.0 hours per pay period

16 to 20 years

5.5 hours per pay period

21 plus years

6.0 hours per pay period

Part-time employees earn vacation leave on a pro-rated basis.

Workers' Compensation

The county provides all employees workers' compensation coverage with benefits in accordance with state statute, if the employee sustains an injury out of, or in the course of work.

Read Full Description