Keeping Washington Clean and Evergreen

The Water Quality Program within the Department of Ecology is looking to fill an Industrial Facility Management Engineer (Environmental Engineer 5) position. This new position is located in our Central Region Office (CRO) in Union Gap, WA. Upon hire, you must live within a commutable distance from the duty station.

As the Industrial Facility Management Engineer for the Central Regional Office (CRO) Water Quality Industrial Unit, you will be in the forefront of emerging engineering technical issues and trends associated with industrial wastewater treatment, reclaimed water, and permitting. You will assist in fulfilling the Water Quality Program’s mission by providing engineering and regulatory oversight of industrial and municipal wastewater discharges to protect and preserve water quality in Washington state. You will use your expertise to represent the section statewide on current and emerging industrial stormwater and wastewater trends and issues. Your expertise in professional engineering will support a rapidly growing Water Quality program and industrial sector in the Central Region. 

You will work closely with Central Region Office Water Quality Industrial and Municipal Unit staff, regulated entities, and the public to provide regulatory oversight of industrial wastewater discharges. Permits issued by the Industrial and Municipal Units are critical to protecting and maintaining water quality, supporting growth in our state, and keeping our communities healthy and thriving. You will be a key partner in our collective efforts to protect public health, the waterways, and the environment in Washington state. 

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 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.

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. For the first month, the position will be required to work full time in the office, but after successful completion of onboarding and training, the position will be eligible for up to a 90% telework schedule with 10% of the time spent in-office. 

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.

Application Timeline: This position will remain open until filled; we will review applications on December 2, 2024. To be considered, please submit an application on or before December 1, 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.

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 *Click here for more information 
For this position, personal protective equipment will be provided by the program along with reimbursement for required footwear.

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.

Duties

What makes this role unique? 

This newly created position is crucial for regulatory oversight of industrial and municipal wastewater discharges within the Water Quality Central Region Office Industrial Unit. You will have the unique opportunity to work with Industrial Unit staff, in a new senior engineering position, on complex stormwater and wastewater environmental engineering issues and permitting for the rapidly growing Water Quality program. Strong communication and coordination skills will be essential to your success as you build collaborative professional working relationships and maintain currency in reclaimed water and emerging environmental engineering wastewater technologies.

What you will do: 

• As a registered professional engineer, negotiate and prepare wastewater discharge permits (State Waste Discharge & National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) for industrial and municipal facilities.
• As a registered professional engineer, apply conventional engineering techniques and principles to the section’s most complex projects or largest projects with complex features, including major permits with mining activities and other industries with increased oversight from the public and third-party advocate groups, clean energy, and hydropower permitting. 
• Derive permit conditions based on legal and technical requirements for discharges into state waters, utilizing mathematical models for mixing zones and consideration of the complex biological, chemical, and physical properties of the discharge and receiving environment.
• Represent the agency in technical negotiations with private parties and their engineering consultants to resolve complex environmental engineering issues involving regulatory interpretation and compliance; treatment technologies and the feasibility of their applications, permit limits, conditions, and applicability; and water quality investigations, pollutant sampling, documentation, data interpretation, and quality assurance.
• Collaborate with other Ecology engineers to interpret and, when necessary, revise internal and external engineering guidance materials.
• Conduct permit compliance inspections, prepare inspection reports, and communicate findings to facilities.
• Provide technical assistance to legal counsel with the Attorney General’s Office on appeals of permits or enforcement actions and develop expert testimony and serve as an expert witness in court cases or issues under consideration of administrative hearings boards.

Note: Personal protective equipment will be provided by the program along with reimbursement for required footwear. 

Learn more about what it is like to be an Engineer at the Department of Ecology.

Qualifications

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.

• Registration as a Professional Engineer in the state of Washington or another state based on registration requirements equivalent to those in Washington, AND
• Five (5) years of experience in environmental engineering.

NOTE: Requirements for professional registration as an engineer in the state of Washington are eight years of professional experience (which may include up to four years of college-level engineering education) and successful completion of sixteen hours of professional licensing exams. Applicants qualifying through the licensing equivalency option must achieve professional registration as an engineer in the state of Washington within six months of appointment to this class.

Individuals who are interested in applying to this position, and believe they meet licensing requirements for the State of Washington based on reciprocity, are responsible for ensuring they meet licensing requirements for the State of Washington prior to submitting their application materials. These requirements can be found at the following website: WA State: Board of Registration for Professional Engineers: How to get your license: Professional engineer by comity. 

Special Requirements/Conditions of Employment: 

• Registration as a Professional Engineer in the state of Washington or another state based on registration requirements equivalent to those in Washington, in good standing. 
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver’s license. 

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

• Experience or training in developing and/or implementing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination permits.
• Experience or training in wastewater and/or stormwater treatment, including reviewing or preparing engineering documents, and operation and maintenance manuals.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills (especially technical writing skills). 

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.

Supplemental Information

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 Andrea Jedel at: Andrea.Jedel@ecy.wa.gov Please do not contact Andrea 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.