The Department of Ecology’s priority during the Covid-19 health crisis is to keep our staff, candidates, and the public safe.  We are still hiring and encourage you to apply to open positions.  The majority of our staff are currently working from home; we have transitioned to a virtual recruitment process, to include web-based interviews. 

Keeping Washington Clean and Evergreen

Protecting Washington State’s environment for current and future generations is what we do every day at Ecology. We are a culture that is invested in making a difference. If you want to join a team that is highly effective, collaborative, has leadership that embraces the value of people, and believes in the fun factor, Ecology is a good fit.

Our Office of the Columbia River (OCR) is looking to fill an OCR Financial and Project Manager (WMS Band 2) position. This position is located in our Central Regional Office (CRO) in Union Gap, WA.

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

The OCR Financial and Project Manager position manages OCR’s financial grant and water supply development projects and subprojects, including Columbia River main-stem projects, Odessa Groundwater Replacement Project, Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, Icicle Creek Water Resources Strategy, and Walla Walla Water 2050 Strategic planning, in addition to numerous smaller projects that OCR is supporting.

The ideal candidate will have a good background and experience in managing people, multiple projects, multiple schedules and financial budgets to meet the demands of the Office of Columbia River Financial and Project Management Project list. The successful candidate must have strong leadership skills to effectively lead the OCR Project team from start to finish to ensure the efficient completion of a project. The position must be able to motivate your team to perform at their best throughout the project and ensure all team members have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The position should also be able to assess OCR’s Project and Financial team’s strengths and weaknesses and decide how to best utilize them to complete the tasks and project.

The ideal candidate will have strong communication skills both orally and in written form. Effective project and financial management requires clear and competent communication about the expectations, goals and responsibilities to the team working and completing the project. The Financial and Project Manager position must be able to provide constructive feedback to the team as a whole, and to individual project managers to achieve the desired results.

The successful candidate should be able to solve a variety of problems throughout all stages of a project or with financial issues associated with a project. Problems or issues that may need to be solved in a project or related to financial matters will likely involve project managers, grant recipients or stakeholders. The successful candidate must be able to think on your feet and address disputes and problems in an efficient and timely manner.

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.

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.

 Local efforts… Diverse people… Statewide impacts

The Office of Columbia River (OCR) is charged with multiple major water management projects in eastern and central Washington State. Our team is dedicated to solving complex and difficult water resource problems for both instream and out-of-stream uses.

The OCR Financial and Project Manager is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of water supply development projects and programs for OCR. The position supervises the administration of a major component of the department’s management responsibilities for state water resources by assigning, supervising and approving the work of staff involved in grant and contract writing, grant and contract awards, compliance with grant and contract requirements, financial and project management technical assistance, financial data management, outreach, and other activities for OCR. This position is responsible for managing professional water supply project managers, hydrogeologists, environmental engineers, communication and outreach staff, environmental planners and other OCR staff. The position reports to the OCR Director.

In consultation with the OCR Director and in coordination with the OCR Operations Manager, this position is primarily responsible for the effective and efficient fiscal and project management of complex multi-million dollar state grant programs and projects for the development of instream and out-of-stream water supply and implementation of strategic integrated water resource planning efforts such as the 30-year, $3.8 to $4 billion dollar Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, and similar integrated water resource efforts in the Icicle and Walla Walla basins.

The integrated water resource development projects that Ecology’s OCR is leading are amongst the most successful and innovative in the Pacific Northwest and the nation. OCR’s work in the Yakima Basin in particular has received national recognition and awards for innovative and collaborative problem solving in addressing the critical water resource needs for both our environment and human needs.

The successful candidate will join a team of engineers, hydrogeologists, project managers, financial analyst and water resource specialists all working to achieve the mission of the Office of the Columbia River (OCR), which is to aggressively pursue development of water supplies to benefit both instream and out-of-stream water uses and develop and implement integrated water resources strategies and plans to solve today’s and tomorrow’s critical water resource needs in the greater Columbia Basin.

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.

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

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

Option 1: A Bachelor’s degree in engineering, environmental science, public administration, or closely allied field, and at least two years of supervisory experience, and four years of professional level environmental analysis, control, or environmental project management experience.

Please note: Supervisory experience may have been gained at the same time as the other experience listed above. 

Option 2: An advanced degree in one of the disciplines listed above can substitute for two years of the professional level experience in: environmental analysis, control, or environmental project management. It will not substitute for the two years of supervisory experience.

Desired Qualifications:

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

• Advanced degree in engineering, environmental science, public administration or other qualifying discipline.
• Four or more years of experience supervising a work unit.
• Knowledge of state water resources laws and issues.

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

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

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.

 
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 Tom Tebb  at: Gteb461@ecy.wa.gov. Please do not contact Tom 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 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.