Careers
SURVEY PARTY CHIEF
Job Description
Location: Based in Eagle River, Alaska but may travel all over Alaska
Status: 40+ Hour Week, non-exempt, Full Time
Direct Supervisor: Survey Manager, Project Manager, or Lead Party Chief
Supervise Others: Survey Technicians, occasionally leads multiple crews
Work Hours: Variable but often daily 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday (less 1 hour lunch) = 40 hours per week + overtime as required. Overtime can be frequent and can be 7 days per week 12+ hours per day for field trips. Willing and able to work out of town for extended periods is a requirement.
Pay & Benefits: Pay to be determined depending upon experience – generally $28 – $40 per hour. Overtime for hours over 8 per day or over 40 per week. If qualify for Staff Employee Benefits, they include health insurance, simple retirement plan, holiday pay, and paid vacation time, and will begin accruing after 90 day probationary period. Some projects generate Davis-Bacon wage rates.
Responsibilities:
- Lead survey crew to complete field survey projects under general direction of Survey Manager or Survey Project Manager. Frequent travel required
- Perform field survey measurements utilizing total stations, GPS, levels, tapes, and other instruments in support of Land Surveying and Construction Surveying projects. Ensure that Survey Technicians maintain professional standards during execution of work.
- Recover and set property corners under general supervision of PLS.
- Knowledge of Land Surveying principles, including reestablishment of missing corners and other boundary principles.
- Ability and willingness to utilize company procedures & data collection methods to minimize office work.
- Physical labor including packing gear over rough ground, setting monuments in hard or frozen ground, cutting brush and small trees with chainsaw, ax, or machete.
- Prepare & reduce field notes and check reductions and calculations made by others.
- Perform typical coordinate geometry calculations such as intersections, curves, inverses, area. calculations, etc. using Data Collectors and Calculators.
- Take care of survey equipment and vehicles. Help keep inventory of supplies.
- May involve working as 1 person crew.
- May involve doing some survey data processing and CAD if capable.
- Ensure accurate time and expenses for assigned projects are provided to admin staff.
- Mentor and train Survey Technicians.
- Coordinate out of town logistics with Survey Manager & administrative staff.
- Mobilize & Demobilize for trips and different projects. May need to drive.
- If capable, Party Chief may be assigned some CAD tasks to work on.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications & Experience Requirements:
- Passing the Fundamentals of Land Surveying Exam required unless considerable experience history is allowed in lieu of the FLS exam.
- Driver’s License and reasonable driving record.
- Reasonable understanding of land surveying principles.
- Technical competence utilizing GPS and conventional survey instruments
- Ability to lift 50+ lbs and work long hours for extended periods.
- Leadership Skills will be needed.
- Experience with logistics traveling to and working in Alaska Native communities.
Additional Beneficial Qualifications & Experience:
- Alaska Registered Professional Land Surveyor.
- Associates or BS College Degree in Surveying, Geomatics, Geography, or similar with emphasis in Survey, Mapping, or GIS
- Certification as Federal Surveyor (CFedS).
- Ability to use AutoCAD for survey drafting, or experience in GIS.
- Experience with drones, and control for aerial photography and LiDAR.
- Extensive travel to Alaska villages.
- Understanding of GPS post-processing.





