The Solid Waste Management Program within the Department of Ecology is looking to fill a Legislative and Planning Assistant (Environmental Planner 1) 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.

Play a key role in tracking bills and providing support during the legislative session in this new position with the Solid Waste Management (SWM) program! As the Legislative and Planning Assistant, you will coordinate, analyze, and assess legislative initiatives that impact the SWM program. You will also organize and facilitate input and share information on the program’s work. You will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience while contributing to a team addressing unique solid waste issues, including recycling, organics, extended producer responsibility, sustainability, and more.

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

Program Mission: The mission of the Solid Waste Management program is to reduce wastes through prevention and reuse, keep toxics out of the environment, and safely manage what remains. 

Telework options for this position: This position will have flexibility of a hybrid schedule, empowering work from home and office, providing less time in traffic and shrinking your carbon footprint. You may telework part of the time, with some required in-person meetings, and other activities based on business needs. Applicants with questions about position location options, telework, 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.

Application Timeline: This position will remain open until filled, we will review applications on November 5, 2024. In order to be considered, please submit an application on or before November 4, 2024. If your application isn’t received by this date, it may not be considered. The agency reserves the right to make a Hire any time after the initial screening date.

Please Note: We will review all applications received before the date above. Additional reviews after this date typically only occur if we have a small applicant pool, or if a successful Hire was not made.

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?

You will address a variety of solid waste topics at the policy and planning level, often needing to meet tight deadlines and collaborate closely with multiple staff. The work is fast-paced and requires close attention to detail. 

What you will do:

• Support the Senior Legislative Planner and track, review, and edit bill analyses in our shared document space and the agency’s legislative tracking platform.
• Schedule and prepare materials for meetings, hearings, and work sessions.
• Draft, review, and edit written communications.
• Take notes on work group meetings, hearings, and work sessions. 
• Assist with developing, tracking, and submitting legislative reports. 
• Conduct legislative research, analyze and summarize legislation.
• Assist with a variety of program planning duties, including tracking, designing, and facilitating input processes, and preparing documents for the program and the agency.

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.

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

• Experience in land use, urban, regional, environmental, or natural resource planning, and/or program development, landscape architecture, geography, land use or environmental law, public administration with an environmental emphasis, or closely related experience.
• Education: involving a major study in land use, urban, regional, environmental, or natural resource planning, landscape architecture, geography, land use or environmental law, public administration with an environmental emphasis, or closely related field. 

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

Desired Qualifications:

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

• Experience with: 
  • Communications and writing presentations
  • Responding to customer or constituent questions and requests
• Knowledge of: 
  • Proper grammatical construction, sentence, and paragraph development 
  • Providing customer support and writing support documents 
• Ability to: 
  • Interpret and apply agency policy 
  • Comprehend complex directives and regulations 
  • Conduct research and compile meaningful written reports 

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

Ecology does not use the E-Verify system; therefore, we are not eligible to extend STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT). For more information, please visit www.uscis.gov.

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.
• One short writing sample (1-3 pages) demonstrating your ability to write clearly and concisely and summarize large amounts of information in a small space. The writing sample should represent your own abilities and not be drafted with the assistance of AI tools. Please feel free to submit past work – there is no need to create a new piece of writing for this application.

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 Julie Robertson at: Julie.Robertson@ecy.wa.gov  Please do not contact Julie 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.

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