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Permit Technician Aide

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Permit Technician Aide

Salary

$20.40 - $21.54 Hourly

Location

Houston, TX 77002

Job Type

Full Time

Job Number

37409

Department

Houston Public Works

Opening Date

10/27/2025

Closing Date

11/2/2025 11:59 PM Central

+ Description

+ Benefits

+ Questions

POSITION OVERVIEW

Accepting Applications from: All Persons Interested

Service Line/Section: Houston Permitting Center/Building Code Enforcement/Permit

Reporting Location : 1002 Washington Avenue

Workdays & Hours : Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

*Subject to change*

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES/ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

The Houston Permitting Center (HPC) is looking for a Permit Technician Aide to join our team in an office based role supporting our customers. This individual is an important team member that guides customers through their permitting challenges and solves problems each day. As a Permit Technician Aide, you serve as the face of the HPC and as a link between other City staff in plan review, engineering, inspections, and IT. At the Houston Permitting Center, our work moves fast, and our goal is to deliver exceptional service to our customers in person, online, and over the phone. A day in the life of a Permit Technician Aide is highly variable based on customer needs and volume. Some days you will be on the frontline, serving customers in person, and other days you will be in the back office serving customers via email, phone, and live chat.

In this position, you will be responsible for:

+ Processing permit applications – Assist customers with applying for a variety of permits, including building, demolition, and piers. Ensures all permit applications and related documents are complete, accurate and in compliance with applicable codes, ordinances and regulations.

+ Set up permit fees – Set up the permit fees within the permitting system and issue sales order for payment in person or online.

+ License and bond registration – processing first time license registrations and renewals for fire alarm, fire sprinkler, and earth hauling contractors, and verifying sidewalk and driveway bonds

+ Provide guidance and customer support – respond to inquiries for general information on permitting processes and procedures through the email, live chat, and over the phone. Assist with the release of holds and other project issues.

+ Technical support – Liaise between IT staff and customers to resolve technical issues with the permitting systems and/or facilitate remedies.

+ Performs other duties as assigned

Your effectiveness in this position will depend on your ability to:

+ Communicate clearly and professionally – Our customer base is diverse, not just in languages spoken, but also in construction and permitting experience. A Permit Technician Aide must communicate with respect, courtesy, and clarity in a variety of service channels, and know how to adapt their communication style to meet customer needs.

+ Think critically and problem solve – Resolving permitting issues on behalf of customers can be complex and requires a Permit Technician Aide to build strong working relationships internally and across city departments. They must be able to take ownership and use good judgement to resolve problems.

+ Understand general construction principles and practices - Understands the functions of all sections requiring permits, such as Water, Planning, Flood, Storm HAS, Traffic, Fire, Sprinklers, HazMat, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, Health-Food and Health-Pool.

+ Adapt to change – The Houston Permitting Center is undergoing rapid change, moving away from legacy permitting system to a modern, workflow-driven permitting system. The selected candidate must be willing to embrace new technology and processes.

We’re committed to your success, but we expect our team members to be equally invested. We’re looking for someone who’s not afraid of a challenge and eager to grow with us.

Who are we

When you join the Houston Permitting Center, you’ll be part of a dedicated team that provide services for safe community development through the permitting, plan review, and inspection of public and private construction. Our team members issue over 400,000 permits, review 77,000 projects, and conduct 800,000 inspections

every year.

The Houston Permitting Center is committed to our department’s Five to Thrive values as principles that guide our work with customers and team members – Respect, Ownership, Communication, Integrity, and Teamwork.

We intend to “roc” it every day!

WORKING CONDITIONS

The position is physically comfortable most of the time with occasional periods of stooping, bending and/or light lifting of materials up to 10 pounds. Requires the ability to make coordinated gross motor movements in response to changing external stimuli within moderately demanding tolerances. There are no major sources of discomfort, i.e., essentially normal office environment with acceptable lighting, temperature and air conditions. The individual has discretion about walking, standing, etc.

This is a Houston Public Works Emergency Management position at the Tier III Level.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Requires a high school diploma or a GED.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

Six months of customer service or general clerical/administrative experience are required.

LICENSE REQUIREMENTS

None

PREFERENCES

The ideal candidate should have some of the following skills or experience:

+ Bilingual in English and Spanish

+ Strong communication skills, including written and verbal skills

+ Proficient in using technology

+ Experience using ILMS/iPermits, ProjectDox, Infor, or similar electronic permitting and plan review systems

+ Experience using live chat software, such as Oracle Service Cloud or Microsoft Dynamics

+ Experience using call/contact center software, such as Cisco Finesse

Preference shall be given to eligible veteran applicants provided such persons possess the qualifications necessary for competent discharge of the duties involved in the position applied for, such persons are among the most qualified candidates for the position, and all other factors in accordance with Executive Order 1-6.

GENERAL INFORMATION

SELECTION/SKILLS TESTS REQUIRED: None

However, the department may administer a skills assessment evaluation.

SAFETY IMPACT POSITION: No

If yes, this position is subject to random drug testing and if a promotional position, candidate must pass an assignment drug test.

SALARY INFORMATION

Factors used in determining the salary offered include the candidate's qualifications as well as the pay rates of other employees in this classification.

Pay Grade 13

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Only online applications will be accepted for this City of Houston job and must be received by the Human Resources Department during active posting period. Applications must be submitted online at: www.houstontx.gov.

To view your detailed application status, please log-in to your online profile by visiting:

http://agency.governmentjobs.com/houston/default.cfm or call 832-393-6120.

If you need special services or accommodations, call 832-393-6120 . (TTY 7-1-1)

If you need login assistance or technical support call 855-524-5627.

Due to the high volume of applications received, the Hiring Department will contact you directly, should you be selected to advance in our recruitment process.

All new and rehires must pass a pre-employment drug test and are subject to a physical examination and verification of information provided.

Must be able to pass a criminal background check, obtain and maintain federally mandated security clearances where required.

EOE Equal Opportunity Employer

The City of Houston is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

The city offers a competitive benefits program, including competitively priced health coverage and a defined contribution pension plan. Benefits include:

+ Medical

+ Dental

+ Vision

+ Wellness

+ Supplemental Insurance

+ Life insurance

+ Long-term disability

+ Retirement pension

+ 457 deferred compensation plan

+ Employee Assistance Program

+ 10 days of vacation each year

+ 11 city holidays, plus one floating holiday

+ Compensable Sick Leave

+ Personal Leave

+ Flexible schedules

+ Hybrid-Telework for eligible positions

+ Professional development opportunities

+ Transportation/parking plan

+ Section 125 pretax deductions

+ Dependent Care Reimbursement Plan

+ Paid Prenatal, Parental and Infant Wellness Leaves

+ Healthcare Flexible Spending Account

For plan details, visit http://www.houstontx.gov/hr/benefits.html

01

Please select your highest level of education.

+ Less than a High School diploma/GED

+ High School diploma/GED

+ Associate degree or higher

02

Which best describes your VERIFIABLE customer service or general clerical/administrative related experience?

+ No experience

+ Less than 6 months

+ More than 6 months but less than 1 year

+ 1 year, but less than 2 years

+ 2 years, but less than 3 years

+ 3 years, but less than 4 years

+ 4 years or more

03

Are you an International Code Council (ICC) certified Permit Technician?

+ No – I have never been certified

+ No – my certification has lapsed or expired

+ Yes – my certification is active and valid

04

Describe in detail what three things make a great customer service experience.

05

How many years of experience do you have working with the Integrated Land Management System (ILMS) or Infor Public Sector software applications?

+ No experience

+ Less than 1 year

+ 1 to 2 years

+ 2 to 3 years

+ 3 to 4 years

+ 4 years

06

How many years of experience do you have working in a contact center or similar high-volume environment?

+ No experience

+ Less than 1 year

+ 1 to 2 years

+ 2 to 3 years

+ 3 to 4 years

+ 4 years or more

07

. How many years of experience do you have using a live chat system?

+ No experience

+ Less than 1 year

+ 1 to 2 years

+ 2 to 3 years

+ 3 to 4 years

+ 4 or more years

08

Please rate your experience using Microsoft Word.

+ None

+ Basic Microsoft Word: open, create, save and modify documents, format the documents for printing, using the printer menu to preview documents before they are printed and print the pages, change the font, the margins, insert or delete pages and use the built-in spellchecker and grammar check.

+ Intermediate Microsoft Word: using Mail Merge in Word to personalize business letters for an entire mailing list or creating posters and other graphics-heavy documents in Publisher, create mailing labels, insert footnote and end note, create bookmark, insert a cross reference to a bookmark, insert a link into a document, design and create a simple form, save form as template, enable revision tracking in a document, accept or reject revision, protect a revision from modification by others, compare two documents side by side, combine two documents into one, insert and delete a comment into a document.

+ Advance Microsoft Word: use mail merge to create documents, recipient lists, insert fields, prepare and existing list for use in mail merge, delete items that you have performed (copy chart and title and paste), replace check box with symbol, print out checklist and check the appropriate boxes, import subdocument, split document into two documents, create a table.

09

Besides English which other languages do you speak, read and write fluently? (Check all that apply)

+ Spanish

+ Vietnamese

+ Mandarin or other Chinese dialect

+ Arabic

+ French

+ Other

10

Are you a veteran who served on active duty in the Armed Forces (United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard) for more than 90 consecutive days and received either an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions?

+ Yes

+ No

Required Question