Water Resources Specialist (OPEN & PROMOTIONAL)

Spokane County · Rwrf · $59,134–$82,770 (stated in the posting)

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NOTE: Candidates who apply within 2 weeks of the posting (prior to 10/7/26) will be given priority for first round of interviews. Candidates will be considered on a rolling basis after that until position is filled.

This is a Water Resource Specialist - Education position within the Water Resources Section of the Public Works Department. Spokane County’s Water Resources education team is a leader in water resource education within the County. This position will be an integral team member in providing education and outreach to a broad range of age groups and stakeholders on topics such as wastewater, stormwater, conservation, and natural resources (streams, aquifers, and wetlands). This may include but is not limited to participating in youth education programs at the Water Resource Center in Spokane and the Doris Morrison Learning Center at Saltese Flats Wetland, providing service-learning opportunities to high school and college students, staffing booths at community events, developing outreach materials for businesses, and presenting at various community groups such as homeowners associations, business associations, or special interest groups.

Applicants should have an interest in environmental issues and a desire to engage with the community to drive awareness and inspire positive change. We are looking for someone with the ability to clearly communicate technical information relating to environmental and/or water-related issues to diverse audiences. Applicants should also be professional, reliable, outgoing, and organized. A background in either science, science communication, or environmental education is a plus. Prior formal or informal teaching experience is strongly preferred.

The nature of this position will occasionally require working nights and weekends as needed to participate in education events that occur outside of normal business hours (e.g., science fairs/STEM nights, community events, adult education opportunities), but schedules are flexible to accommodate these events within the 40-hour work week. Applicants should be willing and able to participate in these sorts of events.

Please note that the Water Resource Specialist position can be used to hire both technician/science-focused and education-focused positions. This is an education-focused position, so please keep that in mind when reading the position description and ignore more technical job duties described.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Collects surface and ground water samples for water quality analysis using appropriate field equipment and methods.
• Prepares reports summarizing ground water analytical data.
• Designs and conducts scientific investigations needed to develop technical and scientific information for water resource planning efforts.
• Writes scientific investigation reports for use by other water resource individuals/groups, as well as the general public.
• Provides direction to the staff of other County departments and local and state agencies to assist them in gathering and interpreting information needed for meeting their water resource protection goals. 
• Coordinates water resource protection measures among citizen groups and local, state and federal agencies.
• Writes and/ or edits resource protection plans and reports for state and federal agencies.
• Develops programs, activities, and recommendations necessary to meet water resource protection goals and requirements.
• Writes and manages grants to fund water resource protection activities.
• Manages contracts to assure that the requirements outlined in funding and professional services agreements are met.
• Prepares materials describing the Spokane regional water resource issues for use in schools, public meetings, and general public education programs.
• Conducts public information/education meetings, programs and workshops.
• Supervises data entry work and clerical tasks performed by others.
• Performs other related duties as required/assigned.

Environmental Services - Landfill

• Manages and analyzes groundwater data to report to regulators, ensuring compliance with permits and regulations, managing site projects and monitoring programs, applying for grants for additional funding, and ensuring the protection of the residents and environment surrounding the County's three closed and capped landfills.
• Organizes and creates education/outreach materials regarding solid waste disposal and recycling, manages groups to harmonize messaging/outreach efforts and shares resources for maximum efficiency, updates the Solid Waste Department website, and manages the IT system at the Colbert field office.

ES - Water Quality

• Serves as the water education and outreach specialist promoting public literacy of local water quality, quantity and water stewardship topics.
• Represents the agency to the public, interpreting and effectively communicating complex and technical water resource issues.
• Develops and delivers high-quality curriculum aligning to K-12 public school standards, and serves as liaison to promote water education and stewardship curriculum within local schools and organizations.

Public Works – General

• Provides engineering support that involves the management and analysis of GIS data, managing the stormwater maintenance program, managing the stormwater billing program, providing oversight of the stormwater inspection program, and assisting with grant writing for water quality grants though state agencies.
• Manages Stormwater Structure inventories in GIS.

Utility - Sewer Operations

• Manages a large scale wetland restoration that requires site visits, field monitoring, contractor management, contract budgeting, habitat and water management, planning and implementation of management strategies.

• Educates local youth about water resources in the area, which includes classroom visits, school district "science" days at local parks, and even presentations to local community college students.
• Provides professional and technical level experience to projects led by others in the department.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in science, education, planning or engineering that also includes training in the natural sciences. 
• One (1) year of experience in a position involving public contact work. 
• A Master’s degree may be substituted for one (1) year of the experience.
• Possession of a valid Washington Driver's License at time of hire and for the duration of employment.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Knowledge of the local government process.
• Knowledge of the preparation of local and state environmental documents.
• Knowledge of a specific technical area applicable to biological systems, water chemistry, ground water/surface water hydrology, planning and land use or similar disciplines.
• Knowledge of ground water/surface water resources sciences including modeling, water chemistry, and contaminant transport.
• Knowledge of watershed/water resources planning.
• Knowledge of current trends, literature and developments in the filed of water resources.
• Skilled in communicating effectively both orally and in writing, sufficient to exchange or convey information and to give and receive work direction.
• Skilled in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with Public Works personnel, personnel from other County departments, municipalities, agencies, and other community groups.
• Skilled in public speaking.
• Skilled in the use of personal computers and various software programs, specifically, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Skilled in explaining technical and/or scientific issues to non-technical officials, media, and the general public.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing with the public, regulators, and other municipal agencies.
• Ability to use or learn to use personal computers and various types of menu driven software.
• Ability to maintain effective relations with co-workers, other agency staff, the media and the public.
• Ability to interpret, review and understand complex technical reports and regulatory requirements.
• Ability to become familiar with Washington State Department of Ecology grant reporting and billing procedures.
• Ability to make decisions and use good judgment to solve technical or political problems with minimal supervision or direction.
• Ability to perform multiple simultaneous ongoing tasks or projects and manage these tasks or projects to completion according to established deadlines.

BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS

All County employees are responsible for contributing to a safe and positive work environment, actively demonstrating the County values in their daily work and interactions:

• Respect:   Appreciating and valuing customers, other County employees and County leadership by showing courtesy, friendliness and fairness.  Communicating in a productive and professional manner.   
• Accountability:   Honoring and delivering on commitments by taking responsibility for personal actions and results; being a responsible steward of public resources and the trust County residents have placed in each of us.
• Integrity:   Modelling transparent and ethical behavior and demonstrating it with honest and trustworthy behaviors and actions; leading by example and performing work to the highest standards.
• Innovation:   Striving for excellence by actively pursuing opportunities for new and improved methods, procedures or technologies; fostering an environment of engagement and empowerment and embracing continuous improvement.

WORKING CONDITIONS  

• The work environment is primarily inside, where the noise and temperature levels are moderate.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. As every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may reasonably be considered incidental in the performing of their duties as though they were included in this job description.

Total Compensation:

Total compensation is an estimate based upon base compensation, median retirement fund contributions, and current employer-paid health and related benefit contribution rates (including medical, dental, life insurance, long term disability, and leave). The actual total will vary depending upon each employee's enrollment choices.

Please select the link below to view Spokane County Benefits:

• Benefits | Spokane County, WA

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