Please Note: This recruitment is open to current Department of Ecology employees and Ecology’s Washington Conservation Corps members only. This includes employees working on temporary and project assignments at the Department of Ecology.

 Keeping Washington Clean and Evergreen

The Water Quality Program within the Department of Ecology is looking to fill a Permit Fee Analyst (Environmental Specialist 3) (In-Training) (Internal Only) position. This position is located in our Headquarters Office in Lacey, WA. Upon hire, you must live within a commutable distance from the duty station.

In this role, you will support our work to protect and restore Washington’s waters by assisting with the collection of about $50 million per biennium in permit revenue from more than 6,800 water quality permit holders. Permit fee revenue is important to sustaining operations in the Water Quality Program and other agency programs. You will play a key role in responding to permittees questions about their fees; processing new permit coverages, permit transfers, terminations, and other permit adjustments that impact fee setting; assisting with annual permit fee invoicing; processing delinquent accounts; and making recommendations to the Permit Fee Administrator on account issues. Additionally, you will assist with the management of permit and permit fee records for all permit types, but especially the construction and industrial stormwater permits.   

Note: This position offers a career path and on-the-job training. This position allows you to progress through the Environmental Specialist field and achieve the goal class of an Environmental Specialist 3. Candidates will be considered at the Environmental Specialist 1, Environmental Specialist 2, and Environmental Specialist 3 levels, depending on their qualifications. For salary levels for each, please see the qualifications section. 

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

Program Mission: The mission of the Water Quality Program is to ensure that all aquatic life and communities in the watershed experience cool, clean water to refresh and sustain us in a changing climate.
 
Tele-work options for this position: This position will be eligible for up to an 80% tele-work schedule with the expectation of working in the office a minimum of one day per week, occasionally up to three days per week as workload requires. Applicants with questions about position location options, tele-work, and flexible or compressed schedules are encouraged to reach out to the contact person listed below in “other information.” Schedules are dependent upon position needs and are subject to change.

About the Department of Ecology

• A healthy life/work balance by offering flexible schedules and telework options for most positions.
• An Infants at Work Program that is based on the long-term health values of infant-parent bonding and breastfeeding newborns.
• Continuous growth and development opportunities. 
• Opportunities to serve your community and make an impact through meaningful work.

Our commitment to DEIR
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect (DEIR) are core values central to Ecology’s work. We strive to be a workplace where we are esteemed for sharing our authentic identities, while advancing our individual professional goals and collaborating to protect, preserve, and enhance the environment for current and future generations.

What makes this role unique? 

This position is located in our Water Quality Permit Fee Unit in the Program Manager’s Office and reports to the Water Quality Program Budget Manager. This position is critical to ensuring permit holders are assessed the appropriate fee for their water quality permit. In this role, you will work directly with the Fee Unit Administrator, Budget Manager, and water quality permit staff to understand the parameters of a permit and make recommendations on the appropriate fee. You will need to understand the basics of a water quality permit and be an expert in comprehending the Water Quality Permit Fee schedule.

What you will do: 

You will help our program assess accurate permit fees, respond to permittees questions, reconcile accounts, and manage permit records. To do this you will:

• Respond to questions and inquiries from water quality permittees, Ecology staff, and the public regarding the Water Quality Permit Fee schedule.
• Interpret and explain laws and procedures pertaining to water quality permit fee.
• Assist with preparing permit fee invoices by working in three different agency databases.
• Process notices of termination for Industrial Stormwater General Permits and Construction Stormwater General Permits and other permit modifications. 
• Recommend permit fee revisions to the Fee Unit Administrator.
• Process new coverages and transfers in the billing database.
• Manage past due invoices and those sent to collections.
• Process data reported to the Fee Unit from permittees and update the billing database with that fee related information.
• Maintain permit records in compliance with agency policy and Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

Required Qualifications:

Years of required experience indicated below are full-time equivalent years. Full-time equivalent experience means that any experience where working hours were less than 40 hours per week will be prorated in order to meet the equivalency of full-time. We would calculate this by looking at the total hours worked per week, divide this by 40, and then multiply by the total number of months worked. Examples of the proration calculations are:
 

• 30 hours worked per week for 20 months: (30/40) x 20 months = 15 months full-time equivalent
• 20 hours worked per week for 12 months: (20/40) x 12 months = 6 months full-time equivalent

Experience for both required and desired qualifications can be gained through various combinations of formal professional employment, education, and volunteer experience. See below for how you may qualify.

At the Environmental Specialist 1 level: Pay Range 38 ($3,220 – $4,282 monthly) (In-Training)

A total of four (4) years of experience and/or education as described below:
 

• Experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning.
• Education: involving a major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning, or other allied field. 

All experience and education combinations that meet the requirements for this position:
 

At the Environmental Specialist 2 level: Pay Range 45 ($3,796 – $5,088 monthly) (In-Training)

A total of five (5) years of experience and/or education as described below:
 

• Experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning.
• Education: involving a major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning, or other allied field.
   

All experience and education combinations that meet the requirements for this position:
 

OR

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

At the Environmental Specialist 3 level: Pay Range 53 ($4,602 – $6,198 monthly) (Goal Class)

A total of six (6) years of experience and/or education as described below:
 

• Experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning.
• Education: involving a major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning, or other allied field.
   

All experience and education combinations that meet the requirements for this position:
 

OR

One (1) year of experience as an Environmental Specialist 2, at the Department of Ecology.

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

• Experience or education with fiscal operations and accounts receivable.
• Experience with customer service and responding to billing questions.
• Experience working in a public agency.

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

Ecology seeks diverse applicants: We view diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect through a broad lens including race, ethnicity, class, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, military background, language, education, life experience, physical disability, neurodiversity, and intersectional identities. Qualified candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Need an Accommodation in the application and/or screening process or this job announcement in an alternative format?
 

• Please call: (360) 407-6186 or email: careers@ecy.wa.gov and we will be happy to assist.
• If you are deaf or hard of hearing you can reach the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.
• 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 on the status of your application. You can view the latest status of your application on your profile’s main page.
• If you are reading this announcement in print format, please enter the following URL to your search engine to apply: https://ecology.wa.gov/About-us/Get-to-know-us/Jobs-at-Ecology.   

Application Instructions:
 
It’s in the applicant’s best interest to submit all of the documents listed below. Applications without these documents may be declined.
 

• A cover letter describing why you are interested in this position.
• A resume outlining your experience and education (if applicable) as it relates to the minimum qualifications of this position.
• A list of three professional references.

Note: References will only be contacted during the final steps of the recruitment process for candidates selected as finalists. References will not be contacted without the candidate’s formal authorization.

Please do NOT include your salary history. Wage/salary depends on qualifications or rules of promotion, if applicable.  
  
For Your Privacy:
When attaching documents to your application (such as 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. 

Additional Application Instructions for Current 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.
 
Application Attestation: 
 
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. 
 
Other Information:

If you have specific questions about the position, please email Ligeia Heagy at: Ligeia.Heagy@ecy.wa.gov. Please do not contact Ligeia to inquire about the status of your application.
  
To request the full position description: email careers@ecy.wa.gov

Why work for Ecology?
 
As an agency, our mission is to protect, preserve and enhance Washington’s environment for current and future generations. We invest in our employees to create and sustain a working environment that encourages creative leadership, effective resource management, teamwork, professionalism, and accountability.
 
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 your health and financial security a priority. We combine one of the most competitive benefits packages in the nation with a strong commitment to life/work balance.
 
To learn more about The Department of Ecology, please visit our website at www.ecology.wa.gov and follow, like or visit us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or our blog.

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

Equal Opportunity Employer: 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.

Note: 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.