Entry Level Dispatcher

Closing Date: January 30, 2026, 5:00 p.m.

This position will close if 100 applications are received before the advertised closing date.

Oral Interview Date: TBD

The City of Santa Maria is a full-service City with a City Council/City Manager form of government with over 700 employees, an annual budget of approximately $291.4 million and serves approximately 112,208 constituents. The City of Santa Maria is located on the beautiful central coast of California and covers over 23 square miles. The City has a harmonious balance of maintaining coastal and agricultural lands while promoting business.

Santa Maria has been recognized nationally as an All-America City by the National Civic League and offers reasonably priced housing, community festivals, quality schools, and is in close proximity to beaches, cultural arts, a local airport, wineries, and higher education institutions.

The Santa Maria Police Department strives to protect and serve all those who live, work, and/or visit Santa Maria. This is accomplished by working in cooperation with the community, promoting safety and enforcing the law.

The Dispatcher position is an Individual Contributor role that provides customer service to community members and clerical support to the department. Their role enables the Santa Maria Police Department to achieve its main goal of keeping the community safe by providing high quality services offered by the Santa Maria Police Department.

• Under general direction of assigned supervisor, transmits and receives radio, telephone, teletype messages, and other electronic communications equipment.
• Willingness and ability to respond to after-normal workday or irregular and on-call emergency requests on nights, weekends, and holidays.
• Classification may be flexibly staffed at the discretion of the Department Director.
• Supervision is not normally a responsibility of this classification but may act as lead worker for temporarily assigned employees, or special projects.

• Transmits and receives radio, telephone, teletype messages, and other electronic communications equipment.
• Receives and processes routine and emergency calls for service.
• Determines nature and priority of call and dispatches appropriate equipment and personnel.
• Secures and records information of the transmission.
• Provides routine information and assistance to the public over the telephone.
• Operates a CLETS teletype and computer terminal (or related equipment).
• Monitors various multi-channel radio frequencies.
• Performs routine clerical and/or record keeping work.
• May act as lead supervisor in his/her absence.
• Scope of assigned area will depend on departmental structure and is at the discretion of the department director.
• Upholds the values of the organization and has strong customer service orientation.
• Performs other related projects and duties as assigned.
• Demonstrates regular, reliable and punctual attendance.

Incumbents should have a solid foundation of the following core competencies identified by the organization to be essential and listed in order of importance.

• Team Player - Effective performers are team oriented, share resources, respond to requests, and support a spirit of cooperative effort.
• Customer Orientation - Effective performers are in touch with community needs and review the organization through the eyes of Santa Maria residents. They go out of their way to anticipate needs.
• Integrity - Effective performers think and act ethically and honestly, take responsibility for their actions and foster a work environment where integrity is rewarded.
• Communicativeness - Effective performers recognize the essential value of continuous information exchange and the competitive advantage it brings. They actively seek information from a variety of sources and disseminate it in a variety of ways. They use modern technologies to access and circulate information, even across great distances. They take responsibility for ensuring that their people have the current and accurate information needed for success.
• Initiative - Effective performers are proactive and take action without being prompted. They do not wait to be told what to do or when to do it. They see a need, take responsibility, and act on it. They make things happen.
• Composure - Effective performers maintain emotional control, even under ambiguous or stressful circumstances, and demonstrate emotions appropriate to the situation.
• Functional/Technical Expertise - Effective performers are knowledgeable and skilled in a functional specialty and remain current in their area of expertise.
• Problem Solving & Decision Making - Effective performers identify problems, solve them, act…