39 Howard County Government Utility Jobs Hiring Near You

POSITION SUMMARY/CLASS DESCRIPTION Howard County: Conveniently located in the heart of central Maryland between Baltimore and Washington, Howard County offers the charm of a historic past mixed with the excitement of a cosmopolitan community. Howard County Government: Howard County Government is a leader in innovation, best practices and sustainability. It is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live and work in the country.

In 2025, Howard County Government received a record-breaking 83 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) - the most awards in the state of Maryland, and the fifth highest in the nation, as compared to more than 3000 counties. NACo Achievement Awards are the premier national honor to recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents, improve existing programs, upgrade working conditions, and enhance citizen participation and public policy making. What are we looking for.

We are looking for outstanding individuals to join our team and contribute to excellence in Howard County operations. What you'll like most about working at Howard County Government: We are committed to workplace excellence in every area of County government. We have a highly talented, diverse, and inclusive workplace.

Your input will not only be heard, but it will be encouraged. We offer competitive compensation and great benefits including medical, retirement, and wellness programs. As a member of the Howard County Government team, you'll be helping drive our culture and directly impact what makes us an amazing place to work.

POSITION SUMMARY: This is an outdoor, semi-skilled position that provides both manual labor and equipment operation support to accomplish the organizations objectives of working on a sewer cleaning crew performing program maintenance of sewer lines, working on a construction crew repairing buried water and sewer pipes and appurtenances and walking and driving assigned meter routes. Positions will rotate between the different maintenance and service divisions of the Bureau of Utilities. ***This position is represented under one of the AFSCME Collective Bargaining Agreement to include Local 3085, Local 3888, or Local 1810.

*** CLASS DESCRIPTION: This is semi-skilled manual work performing general laboring operations. Work includes performing assignments involving the use of a variety of tools. This class is differentiated from the Utility I level by the complexity of duties assigned and greater independence of action.

Work is performed with general supervision from a crew leader or supervisor. Assignments are stable in nature and are carried out in accordance with instructions and established routines. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Include the following.

Other related duties may be assigned: Works and cooperates with co-workers and supervisors at all levels. Learns and performs all essential job functions accurately. Pipeline Maintenance: Works as part of a construction crew performing installation/maintenance of water and sewer lines.

Operates a variety of equipment such as cement mixers, forklifts, jackhammers, and compactors in maintenance work, and other laboring activities as required. Performs routine maintenance on power equipment including lubrication, cleaning, and sharpening. Meter Maintenance: Reads residential water meters for billing and maintenance functions using electronic devices or manually.

Assist with reading and repairs of large commercial meters. Utilizes a handheld computer to locate property and record water meter readings. Performs residential water meter repairs in outside meter pits and inside private homes.

Performs meter pit grade adjustments. Hangs turnoff notices on properties for delinquent accounts. Turns water service off/on for delinquent accounts.

May collect payments from customers from delinquent accounts. May be required to deal directly with the public at the work site. May perform duties of Utility Worker I.

This position is responsible for coaching and training Utility Worker I's and newly hired or promoted Utility Worker II's. May on occasion utilize light duty vehicles for plowing snow and material application. Sets up work zone traffic control.

Directs traffic during work activities. This position is considered emergency essential, and as such, the incumbent may be required to report for regular work shift during inclement weather, or when an emergency situation arises. This position will be assigned stand-by status on a rotational basis.

The employee shall work overtime under emergency conditions or as circumstances warrant. This job has no supervisory responsibilities. MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE Any combination of education and experience sufficient to provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform semi-skilled manual work and one year of experience in general laboring or public works maintenance and construction activities which included the use of small hand and power tools.

PREFERRED EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: Knowledge of the methods and techniques of operating and caring for hand and power tools and the ability to learn the operation of such tools. Knowledge of standard practices of operations. Ability to understand and follow oral and written instructions.

Ability of learn safe and correct work procedures. Ability to perform heavy labor for prolonged periods of time, often under adverse weather conditions. Ability to work overtime under emergency conditions or as circumstances warrant.

Ability to maintain effective relationships with the public and coworkers. PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.

The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 95 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to outside weather conditions. The employee is frequently exposed to moving mechanical parts and vibration.

The employee is occasionally exposed to high, precarious places; fumes or airborne particles; toxic or caustic chemicals; and risk of electrical shock. The employee is frequently exposed to traffic hazards, walking hazards, confined space hazards, customer pets, poisonous plants. The noise level in the work environment is usually loud.

LANGUAGE SKILLS, MATHEMATICAL SKILLS AND REASONING ABILITY: Ability to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence, memos, and to read a road map. Ability to write simple correspondence and maintain records. Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one situations.

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions. Ability to deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES AND REGISTRATIONS Class C Maryland Driver's License or equivalent issued by state of residence. Ability to obtain a Class B Commercial Driver's License (CDL) with Tanker Endorsement within six (6) months of employment. Maryland State DOT certified Flagger Certification within six (6) months of employment.

OSHA 10 Certification within six (6) months of employment. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: TO APPLY: You must complete an employment application online to be considered for this recruitment. Resumes cannot be substituted for completion of the job application work history.

No paper applications will be accepted. Selected candidates may be subject to drug screening, background screening, and reference checks. At time of application, please submit a copy of any college degree, coursework, licenses, or certifications that you have referenced on your application.

Applicants who have education obtained outside of the U.S. may need to provide proof of the equivalent U.S. education as determined by a foreign credential evaluation service, such as the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (http://www.naces.org) or World Education Services: International Credential Evaluation (https://www.wes.org/)

Howard County Government is not sponsoring employees in application of the H-1B Visa or providing an extension of an existing H-1B Visa. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Howard County is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, and we are committed to a workplace that values diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The County prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, ancestry, creed, national origin, disability status, genetics, marital status, military service, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Applicants requiring accommodations during the hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources directly at HiringPreference@howardcountymd.gov. Requests for accommodations should not be attached to the application.