Position Posting: Miami ARTCC Training Administrator
Submission Deadline: Open Until Filled

Miami is a busy international gateway. There is a lot of trans-continental traffic, trans-atlantic traffic, as well as a lot of Carribean island flying. Miami ARTCC has 2 class B facilities, and numerous class C and D facilities, as well as Oceanic sectors. Miami airport is a tier 1 facility, and Fort Lauderdale and Tampa are tier 2 facilities.

Key Responsibilities:
- Reports to the Air Traffic Manager and VATUSA3
- Oversees a comprehensive ARTCC Training Department and academy
- Develops and maintains a training policy, simulation files, and training materials
- Manages and mentors a team of Instructors and Mentors
- Supports the Miami ARTCC's mission of creating quality controllers, while creating and maintaining open, friendly, and accepting community
- Lead and effectively manage a team of mentors and instructors, including facilitating a structure for applications and onboarding new training staff members
- Serves as a leader to coach and motivate controllers while upholding a culture that builds exceptional internal and external pilot experiences
- Perform multiple functions, including project management, instructional design, and instructional writing
- Assess learning needs accurately and propose creative and effective learning solutions
- Initiate and manage throughout the lifecycle of project, including: initiating projects, creating project plans, executing all milestones and tasks, monitoring risk, and evaluating success
- Leverage a diverse set of skills and delivery approaches, including: instructor led, blended, experiential, media based, performance support, and other emerging technologies
- Organization design for Miami Training, inclusive of consulting to understand needs, building project roadmaps, and guiding/managing the org design process in partnership with ARTCC and VATCAR Partners to support ZMA goals
- Supports and participates in initiatives that give back to the VATSIM community
- Supports the recruitment, retention and development of a diverse range of talented people to fill the roles of Instructors and Mentors
- Holds self and others accountable to high performance standards while providing pilots with memorable experiences
- Ability to listen to feedback and take constructive action
- Maintains, updates and manages training program, lessons, sweatbox scenarios, exam rubrics
- Attends periodic meetings to report on ARTCC activities
- Ensures that Miami is following all VATSIM and VATUSA training directives

Requirements:
- Prior I1 experience
- Ability to oversee the quality of the training program
- Be able to meet all activity requirements as outlined in the Miami D1 Training and Administrative Policy and all sections thereof (as appropriate)
- No history of significant or recent behavioral issues

Preferred Skills:
- Teaching/Education experience (on or off VATSIM)
- Leadership, managerial, or supervisory experience (real world or VATSIM applicable)
- Familiarity with the Miami policies and procedures
- Demonstrates the qualities of understanding, patience, restraint, and professionalism

How to Apply:
Please note that this position requires a significant time commitment. Interested applicants shall email their application package with the subject title "ZMA TA Application" to ATM@ZMAARTCC.NET with the following:

- Full name, CID, and email address
- Resume, including any applicable real world/virtual experience
- Letter of intent explaining "Why Miami and why this position is for you"
- Your goals for your first six months as Training Administrator

Qualified candidates will be contacted for an in-depth interview.

It is my sincere pleasure to announce that Gerardo Rodriguez has been picked to be the next dATM at ZMA. Gerardo started his VATSIM career with Miami and has stuck through the highs and lows with unwavering support, with history as staff and as an instructor. His amazing knowledge of ZMA and new ideas will help propel ZMA back to the top as a premier facility.

Congratulation Pan!!!  Gary has made an excellent choice.

DL

Thank you for that, and welcome to the network!
I'll get it fixed as soon as I regain access, which is intermittent.

Yes

Also sections of the s3 are incorrect.

Any idea when the corrections might be made?

Anthony,

May help if you read the topic in full.  Your answer is above.

DL

Happy Birthday Gary! Enjoy it!

Tom is spot on - It is a valid question to see where his management is, in the real world, we wouldn't want employees working for someone that they didn't see, know, or hear from once in awhile.

What are your needs or is it just a general question as to being visible?

@Dan - Not sure how your posting is helping the question by posting something like "This is what VATUSA management does"  How does that help?

Jeff, I am simply trying to help a member find an answer to his question. Whether his question is valid or not, is a completely different thing. I am simply telling what I have observed in my 2 years on VATSIM. Not necessarily whether I'm right or wrong with these views, whether they're "valid" observations or not, is up to each individual. Just putting in what I've seen over the past 2 years of VATSIM. Additionally, I've only been at 1 ARTCC, and have seen 3 DD's. So my view may be narrow, and not apply to everyone, but from what I've observed and experienced is what I use when I write.

DL

Here's the problem I see happening with the network.
1st, you have this attitude of "I'm too lazy, i want someone to do all the work for me." That's been discussed already, so I'll leave it at that.
2nd: This thought has probably come up, but I don't think I've seen it said in this thread.  In order for someone to control any position on the network, they at the very least have to take a VATUSA exam, and go through some sort of training. The pilots on the other hand, have their free email account that they can register with, and done, they're on the network. What if we required the pilots to take a VATSIM exam, built around flying, with some ATC components in it, so they know what they're getting into, and maybe some sort of training program, ie: a moodle, atutor, etc... Sure it will take some work to get set up, but it would be for the good of the network. We're already half-way there with the pilot ratings, now lets go all the way and have these exams and training site. It could bring back the integrity of the network. Like I said, it's probably been brought up somewhere, but with all the new issues coming to light, maybe it's time for another look at the idea.

DL

If you want to gaze into a crystal ball of VATSIM's future headed in this direction look no farther than Chicago. A once proud flagship ARTCC in VATUSA. Now it lies in shambles. In its heyday the controllers were very knowledgeable and could vector airplanes like there's no tomorrow. The unique nature of ORD pretty much required this. When I started, I chose ZAU not because I knew it had traffic, i didn't, but because I lived in the airspace. After graduating from the VATUSA Academy ,which was a phenomenal experience by the way, I saw my classmates at other facilities moving up though the ranks. I however was receiving the best training in VATUSA on radar and because of that I had no problems working the (at that time) complex airspace around ORD.

A founder once told me "There is nothing more exciting on VATSIM then to see another airplane parallel to you on approach for another runway." During my tenure at ZAU, I received multiple compliments, and pilots guaranteeing me they would come back because I had set them up with another aircraft on a converging approach. To see the other aircraft coming towards them was exciting and fun!

Then an ATM who would "Let the facility burn to the ground to prove his points about GRP," took over. He stripped any shred of realism from the facility, fired staff members and all instructors who wanted to teach realistic procedures. His thinking, was in line with what I'm now seeing from the higher ups.

When the last straw was pulled for me in Chicago, I moved to the "Eagle that Perches Over ZAU" (ZMP). Our radar ranges go out far enough to see aircraft going into the Chicago area, and traffic has dramatically decreased since I was there. I have had multiple pilots in my airspace that when I ship them off to Chicago, they disconnect. The amount of times I see this can't be a coincidence. It has to be because Chicago controllers no longer meet their expectations. These pilots, are the well versed ones    that are every controllers dream. So if we remove all the standards from VATSIM as a whole, not only will you see mass resignations from controllers, myself included, but also those prized jewels, the pilots, will leave the remaining controllers with a lot of blank screen to look at.

Matt,

Before you go opening your mouth about ZAU, how about we do a little fact checking.

1. Before you go around slinging accusations that the facility is in shambles. I recommend you take a look at how the facility currently runs. You're talking as if the last ATM is still running the show. He's not, we've righted ship, and are making progress. You can't expect changes to happen overnight. In the 10 months or so that I've been the dATM, we've instituted new policies and LOA's that get us back to the middle ground of simulation vs. arcade. I agree with you that when you were here, the pendulum was shifted all the way to the arcade side, but that is not so anymore. Drop by some time and you may be surprised.

2. You say the previous ATM fired all staff and INS that wanted to teach realistic procedures. If you really simplify it down, you can get away with that half-ass excuse. Realistically though, he fired staff and INS because they wouldn't comply with his directives. His directives were to halt teaching realistic procedures, so the staff was fired for insubordination, and let's not forget, you were one of these staff members. Remember as a staff member of an ARTCC, including Instructors, you serve at the whim of the ATM, if you don't like how it's being run, you always have the option of leaving. If you don't follow the ATM's rules he always has the option to fire you. The reason that these directives were put in place is because ZAU was an FAA training grounds before he came in. It would take months for students to get any sort of training, and if their phraseology wasn't spot on to a T they wouldn't be passed. If they gave a pilot the wrong taxi routing they wouldn't be passed, hell, even if the controller stammered through 1 clearance the whole day they wouldn't be passed. Is any of that in the spirit of GRP? ABSOLUTELY NOT. We all may not agree with the content of GRP, why it was put in place, or just the general concept of it, but our superiors decided it was needed, so therefore we MUST follow it. I'm willing to bet if the powers that be took a "tour" of your training facility, they'd find another FAA proving ground. I mean really. Who in Gods name needs a 33 page ARTCCAM, a 136 page operations manual, a 113 page M98 specific SOP, and a 59 page specialist manual. And all of this is required reading for new controllers to ZMP??? I don't quite think that is in the "spirit of GRP".

Before you go calling out another facility, make sure you do your homework, and better yet, make sure your facility is in good operational order and in compliance with all policies and directives, and not about to crumble to bits and pieces.

DL