Job Description for a Survey Field Technician – Party Chief

Purpose

A Party Chief (Crew Foreman) operates as a Field Technician in the Survey Department to complete a variety of projects in Title Boundary, Engineering Topo, Construction Layout, Exploration, Midstream, and Plant Facility Sectors.

This person is detail oriented to collect accurate and precise survey data, while considering time spent in the field against a project budget.

We generally operate a two-person crew out of the White Oak office (Party Chief, Instrumentman, Vehicle, GNSS, Conventional Equipment, and ATV/Trailer), 45 to 50 hours a week, Monday through Friday, 6:00am to 4:00pm, with possible overtime requirements and temporary overnight travel requirements as necessary.

The Requirements for Eligibility are:

• 21 years of age and eligible to work in Texas
• Pass a pre-employment DOT drug and alcohol screening
• Have a current and valid driver’s license:
  • No license suspension within the past 36 months
  • No DUI conviction within the past 60 months

Limited experience is not necessary but will be considered for starting pay rate evaluation. The reason being is that our firm operates in niche markets with specific workflows. We can develop the technical skills of a Survey Field Technician

Job Responsibilities

• This person is responsible for personnel management while they are on their crew and works closely with project managers to identify scope of work.
• Responsible for the quality of data collected in the field (precision, accuracy, completeness), and for the quality of spatial applications in the field (layout, demarcation).
• Responsible for communicating project conditions and discovery to the survey office staff per assigned job in good faith. You are responsible for your contribution to the JOB at hand and will be expected to answer detailed questions about being onsite.
• Responsible for maintaining their vehicle, equipment, supplies, expenses, and other company assets that could be used on the job; keeping Southern Survey’s resources clean, calibrated, and capable to complete the job at hand.

A company mobile phone, email address, and business card will be provided to you. If you are a reliable Party Chief, the company truck may or may not be available for off hours travel to and from your residence.

Position Expectations

• This position is expected to physically work outside in extreme heat and cold weather to collect survey data and apply measurements to stake positions in the field.
• To be able to walk long distances while carrying survey equipment and be able to use hand tools such as a shovel, hammer, and machete to cut “line of sight” through the woods.
• To have a concept of office software (word processor, spreadsheet, notepad), Google Earth and other interactive web maps, data collector software, instrumentation inputs, and daily interaction with office PC’s and Tablets for time management.
• It is also expected that this position seeks to complete Level I of the NSPS Certified Survey Technician Program as part of their employee evaluation.

Example of Daily Work Tasks

Field Technicians generally meet at the office every morning to schedule daily jobs, pick up your crew, load the equipment, stock supplies in the truck, and discuss project specifics. After that, your daily schedule is at your discretion to complete jobs or be available to mobilize to another job if necessary. Expect a lot of drive time.

Every day is different based on the scope of project, the location of the project, and the environmental challenges unique to that location. We complete these types of projects daily:

• Title Boundary: residential mortgage, rural acreage, boundary aspects to other projects
• Construction Layout: commercial construction, civil construction
• Engineering Topo: dimensional control, topographic surveys, technical diagraming
• Exploration: unit development, well staking, pad and lease road staking
• Midstream: pipeline route development and stakeout, spatial applications for integrity
• Plant/Facility: dimensional control, construction layout, LiDAR data collection

Our service range is based out of White Oak, Texas, however we operate within a 100-mile radius of our office daily with occasional out of town, overnight, projects. It is important that you live within 40 miles of our office to have a successful work/life balance since our call time is generally 5:55am and some days we work until after 5:00pm. It is rare for us to work on the weekends unless it is an option or a special circumstance. Per diem is $50 per day for every overnight job. The pay rate is a 40-hour base pay with time and a half for overtime.

Possible Expansion of Role – Future Goals

This role does expand to include customer service activities while in the field since you will be the face of Southern Survey and Design to our clients and peers. Depending on how our field staff increases, it is possible for your employment to develop into a Field Supervisor, Survey Coordinator, Bid Estimator, or Project Inspector. We generally offer employee evaluations after one year and we are constantly growing. Several of our employees have pursued a licensure tract becoming a future SIT and RPLS, we are a company that values professional development. In addition, several of our employees have pursued other qualifications in spatial technology and software such as UAV’s, LiDAR, GIS, and consulting while others have used their experience here to continue their work at other large companies.

Party Chief Skills Checklist

Manuel Equipment

• General Tools – Machete, Shovel, Hammer
• Specialty Tools – Pick, Chisel, Iron Rods, Shovel, Sledge, File, Pliers, Knife, Allen Wrenches
• Setting Control – 60D and PK Nails, Iron Rods with Caps, Vertical Benchmarks, Concrete Monuments, Chiseled X’s
• Demarcation – Usage of Lathes, Hubs, Writing, Flagging, Paint
• Schonstedt – Location of Corners and Control

Measurement

• Pacing, Plumb
• Tape Measure– 25’ Compact, 200’ Reel
• Compass – Azimuth and Bearing
• Rods and Prisms – Care, Calibration, Bi-Pod, Level Rods
• Level
  • Set Up
  • Reading the Level Rod
  • Recording Level Notes in a Field Book – Calculations
  • Cooperation with the Rod Man – Placement of Turns
  • Understanding Limitations – High Level of Accuracy
• Electronic Distance Measurer – Conventional
  • Set Up
  • General Care, Battery Charge, and Calibration of Zenith
  • Communication with Data Collector
  • Understanding Error – High Level of Accuracy
• GNSS
  • Equipment and Set Up
  • General Care, Battery Charge, Cables, Antennae, Base Station
  • Working Concepts and Terminology
  • Limitations – Sky Access, Radio Range, Error
  • Static Base and Real Time Kinetic Rover
  • Trouble Shooting
• Data Collector
  • Jobs – Creating, Recalling, Download at the Office
  • Control Jobs – Importing Control into Sub-Jobs
  • Transferring Jobs to Other Data Collectors
  • General Care – Screen, Data Pins, Battery Charge, Loss
  • Edit Data – Correct Elevations and Description
  • Adjust Data – Rotate and Translate
  • Advanced Calculations

Expert Surveyor in the Field

• Job Location – Drive Time, Meetings, Access
• Time Management in the Field– Weather, Drive Time, Deadlines, Crew Needs
• Nature of Work – Understanding the Requirements for the Work
  • Engineering – Design Survey, Construction Staking, Control
  • Oil Field – Unit Development, Well Staking, Pipelines, Control
  • Boundary – Find Corners, Appropriate Data Collection, Setting Corners
• Identifying the Work Boundaries for Area of Survey

Setting Good Control – Vertical Benchmarks, Permanent Control Outside the Project. Crew Foreman for Survey Field Work, responsible for Job completion, field productivity, and data quality. Generally the face of the company and the point of contact for the crew and customers on site.

• Safety – Vests, PPE, Signs, Recognizing Dangerous Situations
• Starting a Job – Assuming Coordinates, GPS Start Up, Localizing to Existing Control, PACS and TxDOT
• Plans, Aerial Photos, Maps, Coordinate List, Schematics, Deeds, Plats
• Drawing Field Notes – Diagram to Include Information
• Use a Scale – Plans, Aerial Photos, Maps
• Efficient Use of a Calculator – Understanding of Mathematics in Field Calculations
• Data Collection – Correct Descriptions, Elevations, Line Codes
• Stake Out – Accurate, Well Done, Descriptive, Station and Offset, Hubs and Tacks
• Team Leader – Knowledge, Decisive, Expert with Equipment
• Office Management – Time Sheets, Mileage, Cell Phone, Email

Vehicle Responsibility and Maintenance