Agency Mission: The mission of the Department of Ecology is to protect, preserve and enhance Washington’s environment, for current and future generations.

Program Mission: The mission of the Water Quality Program is to protect and restore Washington’s waters to support healthy watersheds and communities. Our work ensures state waters can support beneficial uses including recreational and business activities, supplies for clean drinking water, and the protection of fish, shellfish, wildlife, and public health.

What will you do?

• Permit Management and Writing:  develop and implement State Waste Discharge Permits, applying knowledge of land treatment and agronomic rates of nutrient uptake to permits and regulations.
• Technical Review for Land Treatment Facilities: approve technical and regulatory documents for land treatment.
• Inspection of Land Treatment Facilities: conduct on-site facility inspections and technical assistance visits.
• Evaluation of Land Treatment Facility Performance: review and evaluate permittee performance and provide recommendations for improvements.
• Internal Ecology Statewide Resource: provide technical assistance to statewide staff when addressing wastewater discharges to land.
• Testify in front of courts and boards, as needed.

Why join the team?

The Eastern Regional Office leads the state in land treatment expertise and permitting. In this position, you will be able to provide statewide leadership to permit facilities treating wastewater utilizing plants and soils. This will include:

• Collaborating with internal and external parties to negotiate a path forward for permitting of large facilities providing land treatment of wastewaters.
• Quantifying soil and crop uptake of wastewater byproducts for plant nutrient uptake and soil absorption to ensure protection of state waters.
• Calculating permit limits and requirements and writing land treatment permits to ensure protection of state waters.

Our team is passionate about protecting state waters, while providing excellent customer service to wastewater treatment facilities.

Please note: During Stay Home, Stay Healthy, staff are working a combination of in-office and/or telework based on position and business need.

Ecology is maintaining less than maximum building occupancy, and requiring masks, health screening questions before entry, and social distancing.

This position will remain open until filled, with an initial screening date of May 23, 2021.  In order to be considered for initial screening, please submit an application on or before May 24, 2021. The agency reserves the right to make an appointment any time after the initial screening date.

Required Qualifications:

There are multiple ways to qualify for this position. See options below:

Option 1:

Ten (10) years of combined education and experience:

• Education: Involving major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning or other allied field

• Experience: Professional-level experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning, which includes two years equal to an Environmental Specialist 3 or above.

• Responding to highly complex inquiries for technical assistance requiring an advanced scientific knowledge in one or more of the following areas:  resource management, environmental permitting, soil management, or crop science.
• Developing partnerships with communities, businesses, and interest groups in order to identify and respond to issues affecting the common interest.
• Developing, writing, or being involved in writing of environmental permits, farming plans, irrigation and crop management plans, or other related technical documents for planning and implementation.
• Managing or implementing technical plans for environmental protection, wastewater treatment, and/ or agricultural benefit.
• Leading technical discussions and/ or work teams to accomplish goals and deliverables.
• Reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating technical agricultural data, determining options, and presenting recommendations for balancing nutrients in soils and promoting crop growth.

Option 2:

• A Bachelor’s degree involving major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning or other allied field.

• Six (6) years of professional-level experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning, which includes two years equal to an Environmental Specialist 3 or above.

Experience may include:

• Responding to highly complex inquiries for technical assistance requiring an advanced scientific knowledge in one or more of the following areas:  resource management, environmental permitting, soil management, or crop science.
• Developing partnerships with communities, businesses, and interest groups in order to identify and respond to issues affecting the common interest.
• Developing, writing, or being involved in writing of environmental permits, farming plans, irrigation and crop management plans, or other related technical documents for planning and implementation.
• Managing or implementing technical plans for environmental protection, wastewater treatment, and/ or agricultural benefit.
• Leading technical discussions and/ or work teams to accomplish goals and deliverables.
• Reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating technical agricultural data, determining options, and presenting recommendations for balancing nutrients in soils and promoting crop growth.

Option 3: 

• A Master’s degree involving major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning or other allied field.

• Four (4) years of professional-level experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning, which includes two years equal to an Environmental Specialist 3 or above.

• Responding to highly complex inquiries for technical assistance requiring an advanced scientific knowledge in one or more of the following areas:  resource management, environmental permitting, soil management, or crop science.
• Developing partnerships with communities, businesses, and interest groups in order to identify and respond to issues affecting the common interest.
• Developing, writing, or being involved in writing of environmental permits, farming plans, irrigation and crop management plans, or other related technical documents for planning and implementation.
• Managing or implementing technical plans for environmental protection, wastewater treatment, and/ or agricultural benefit.
• Leading technical discussions and/ or work teams to accomplish goals and deliverables.
• Reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating technical agricultural data, determining options, and presenting recommendations for balancing nutrients in soils and promoting crop growth.

Option 4:

• A Ph.D. in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning or other allied field

• Three (3) years of professional-level experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning, which includes two years equal to an Environmental Specialist 3 or above.

• Responding to highly complex inquiries for technical assistance requiring an advanced scientific knowledge in one or more of the following areas:  resource management, environmental permitting, soil management, or crop science.
• Developing partnerships with communities, businesses, and interest groups in order to identify and respond to issues affecting the common interest.
• Developing, writing, or being involved in writing of environmental permits, farming plans, irrigation and crop management plans, or other related technical documents for planning and implementation.
• Managing or implementing technical plans for environmental protection, wastewater treatment, and/ or agricultural benefit.
• Leading technical discussions and/ or work teams to accomplish goals and deliverables.
• Reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating technical agricultural data, determining options, and presenting recommendations for balancing nutrients in soils and promoting crop growth.

Option 5:

• One (1) year of experience as an Environmental Specialist 4 at the Department of Ecology.

More information on types of experience:

Desired Qualifications:

We highly encourage you to apply even if you do not have some (or all) of the desired experience below.

Note: Having some (or all) of this desired experience may make your application more competitive in a highly competitive applicant pool

• Education or experience in soils and agronomy.
• Experience using plants and soil to efficiently use water and nutrients.

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Special Requirements/Conditions of Employment:

• Driver’s License

Why work for Ecology?

Joining Ecology means becoming a part of a team committed to protecting and restoring Washington State’s environment.

A career in public service allows you to help solve some of the most challenging problems facing our state, while keeping the health and financial security of you and your family a priority. We combine one of the most competitive benefits packages in the nation with a strong commitment to work/life balance.

Ecology employees may be eligible for the following:
Medical/Dental/Vision for employee & dependent(s), Public Employees Retirement System (PERS),  Vacation, Sick, and other Leave*, 11 Paid Holidays per year*, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Tuition Waiver,  Long Term Disability & Life Insurance, Deferred Compensation Programs, Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP),  Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA), Employee Assistance Program, Commute Trip Reduction Incentives (Download PDF reader), Combined Fund Drive, SmartHealth

Student debt and how working for Ecology can help
Employees may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, which forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. See https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service for more details.

*See the Benefits tab in this announcement for more information

Application Instructions:

Please complete the short on-line application, supplemental questions and upload:

• Your current chronological resume;
• A cover letter explaining how you fit the requirements of the position;
• Three professional references with current contact information.

Important Note:

When attaching documents to your application (Resume, Cover Letter, Transcripts, DD-214, etc.):

• Please be sure to remove private information such as your social security number, date of birth, etc.
• Do not attach documents that are password protected as these documents may not be reviewed and may cause errors within your application when downloaded.

Please to do NOT include your salary history. Wage/salary depends on qualifications or rules of promotion, if applicable.  

Please complete the applicant profile when applying for this position. Or, you may paste the text of your resume within the profile’s resume text field.

Please read the supplemental questions carefully and answer completely. Incomplete responses, including “please see resume,” may disqualify you from further consideration.

It is in the candidate’s best interest to submit all of the documents requested above. Applications without these documents may be declined.

Department of Ecology employees, please make sure to answer the agency-wide questions regarding permanent status as a classified employee within the Washington General Service or Washington Management Service. Do not forget to select Department of Ecology as a response to question 2, and type your personnel ID number for question 3. If you are not sure of your status or do not know your personnel ID number, please contact Human Resources.

If you are reading this announcement in print format, please visit www.careers.wa.gov to access the online recruitment system. Click on “Look for Jobs” and select Dept. of Ecology under the “Department” search list. Click “Apply Search.”

Other Information:

If you need assistance applying for this job, please e-mail careers@ecy.wa.gov. Please do not send an email to this address to follow-up the status of your application. You can view the latest status of your application on your profile’s main page.

If you have specific questions about the position, please email Art Jenkins at: Art.Jenkins@ecy.wa.gov. Please do not contact Art to inquire about the status of your application.

The act of submitting application materials electronically is considered affirmation that the information is complete and truthful. The state may verify this information and any untruthful or misleading answers are cause for rejection of your application or dismissal if employed.

This is a position covered by a bargaining unit for which the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) is the exclusive representative.

This recruitment may be used to fill other positions of the same job classification across the agency. Once all the position(s) from the recruitment announcement are filled, the recruitment may only be used to fill additional open positions for the next sixty (60) days.

The Washington State Department of Ecology is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, veterans, military spouses or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application/testing process or this job announcement in an alternative format may call (360) 407-6186. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.