Per Governor Inslee’s Directive 22-13.1, state employees must be fully vaccinated effective November 4, 2022. Providing proof of being fully vaccinated is a condition of employment and your vaccine status will be verified prior to starting work. Being fully vaccinated means two weeks after you have received the second dose in a two-dose series of a COVID-19 vaccine or a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use, licensed or otherwise authorized or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or listed for emergency use or otherwise approved by the World Health Organization. If you have questions, please contact Careers@ecy.wa.gov with “COVID-19 vaccination” in the subject line.  

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. 
• A wellness program that offers education, fitness classes, and an agency-wide fondness for outdoor meetings.
• 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.

• Prepare fact sheets and draft permits for peer, permittee, and public review.
• Provides technical assistance to permittees and other affected entities and individuals to achieve compliance.
• Mentoring and assisting junior staff of permitting activities.
• Perform statistical analyses on data from wastewater monitoring and receiving waters.
• Travel within Ecology’s Central Regional Office (CRO) geographic area to perform site inspections, conduct fieldwork, and occasional water quality sampling.
• Attend trainings that will help develop skill sets.

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

• Education: Involving major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning or other allied science field.
• Experience: In environmental analysis or control or environmental planning. One (1) year of the total required experience Must include municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

• Performing field surveys or studies.
• Responding to complaints involving scientific or technical content
• Preparing public meetings and hearings.
• Assistance with routine inspections or investigations requiring specialized knowledge of industry processes, pollutant sources or natural processes.
• Responding to routine inquiries or request for technical assistance involving scientific content.
• Conducting routing sampling and testing analyses, interprets data, writing reports.
• Providing routine environmental technical and administrative assistance to grant/contract/loan recipients of environmental protection projects.
• Investigating and or resolving complaints involving science or technology content.
• Performing inspections.
• Drafting technical evaluations and reports.
• Develops plans for researching information used for technical projects, regulatory or policy development.
• Plan and facilitate public meetings and hearings.
• Project work requiring specialized knowledge of industry processes, pollutant sources or natural processes.
• Providing technical assistance for complex scientific content and/ or support for implementing scientific content programs.
• Conducting tests, analyzing and evaluating data
• Using environmental databases to support technical projects
• Developing scientific studies and resource management plans
• Providing environmental technical and administrative assistance to grant/ contact/ loan recipients of environmental protection projects.

• A Bachelor’s degree involving major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning or other allied field.
• Five (5) years of professional-level experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning, which may include experience as described in option 1. One (1) year of the total required experience Must include municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

• A Master’s degree involving major study 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 may include experience as described in option 1. One (1) year of the total required experience Must include municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

• A PhD degree involving major study in environmental, physical, or one of the natural sciences, environmental planning or other allied field.
• Two (2) years of professional-level experience in environmental analysis or control, or environmental planning, which may include experience as described in option 1. One (1) year of the total required experience Must include municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

• Two (2) years of experience as an Environmental Specialist 3 at the Department of Ecology. Experience Must include one (1) year in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. 

• Must possess and maintain a valid State’s driver’s license. 

• Experience drafting fact sheet and permit documents
• Experience working with environmental legislation and regulations at the deferral, state, and local level.
• Experience reviewing and understanding complex technical documents and prepare enforcement documents.
• Experience applying negotiation skills.
• Experience appropriately maintaining data or inspection records.

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.   

• 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.
• Three professional references.

• 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. 

If you have specific questions about the position, please email Erik Van Doren at: Erik.VanDoren@ecy.wa.gov. Please do not contact Erik 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.

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 *See the Benefits tab in this announcement for more information 

Student debt: how working for Ecology can help
The Department of Ecology is a qualifying employer for the Public Service Forgiveness Program (PSLF). See https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service for more details.

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.

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.