Emergency Communications Center (ECC) Recruitment

• Accrued Vacation, Sick and Compensatory Leave
• Health, Dental and Life Insurance
• 401 and 457 Retirement Plan
• On-the-Job Training by Professional Staff
• Job Security
• Health Care and Dependent Care Flex Spending Plans
• Opportunity for Advancement and Growth
• State-of-the-Art Work Facility
• Diverse Work Environment
• Educational Opportunities
• Training Opportunities within and outside Arlington County
• Opportunities to Make a Difference in the Community

The Emergency Communications Center provides critical information and support to Public Safety departments within Arlington County. In addition to ECC’s responsibilities for Arlington County, the ECC also serves as the “Enhanced 9-1-1” Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for the City of Falls Church and is responsible for all Fire/EMS radio dispatches in and to Falls Church.  As an Emergency Communications Technician, you will face diverse challenges, and make a direct impact on the community. Every call is an opportunity to provide essential service to citizens, other county agencies, other Public Safety agencies, and department personnel.  This is a great opportunity to provide crucial support to fire fighters, police officers, and EMS personnel in the field.

• Receive and dispatch emergency and non-emergency calls.
• Determine priority of incoming calls and accurately relay information to the dispatcher.
• Provide information, support and guidance to callers in stressful situations.
• Serve as a liaison between caller and Police, Fire and EMS personnel.
• Send, receive, and disseminate confidential information.
• Enter and update information into statewide and national databases.
• Obtain required certifications and update job knowledge through classroom, on-the-job, self-initiated, and online training.

This position involves a 12-hour shift with rotating days off and built-in overtime.  There are four shifts which include, two-day shifts working 6:45am-7:00pm and two midnight shifts working 6:45pm-7:00am.  Employees are assigned to shift based on the needs of the department and are required to work weekends and holidays in alignment with the assigned shift rotation.  Shift schedules are subject to change depending on the needs of the department.

Steps in the Hiring Process:

• Apply online at https://www.arlingtonva.us
• Online Written Examination (Criticall Testing information is here)
• Virtual Interview
• Background Investigation (Right click and save as a PDF before returning)
• Polygraph Examination
• Virtual Informational Presentation (optional)

View the Minimum Qualifications

The ECC training program is extensive and designed to assist you in becoming a proficient call taker, teletype operator, and dispatcher.  It is intended to provide you with instruction, direction, supervision, guidance, and experience that will assist you in applying critical skills in a variety of situations.  It will help you to learn how to quickly and effectively provide excellent service to the people we serve.  The on-the-job training is broken down into five stages and you must complete each stage successfully before moving onto the next.  We believe in continued education and we offer numerous career development training programs that are aimed to help employees further develop their careers.  Some of these career development stages offer financial incentives.  We will provide you the training to develop the skills needed to be successful.

If the job and its challenges sound like they’re for you, visit the County’s careers website.

For questions regarding hiring, email Cathy Dawkins.