Industrial Facility Management Engineer (Environmental Engineer 5)

About the role

The Department of Ecology is hiring an Industrial Facility Management Engineer (Environmental Engineer 5) within the Water Quality Program. The position is located in the Central Region Office in Union Gap, WA. Upon hire, you must live within a commutable distance from the duty station. The position will start with a full-time office-based schedule for the first month, after which it will transition to a primarily telework schedule with occasional in-person meetings and activities.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate and prepare wastewater discharge permits (State Waste Discharge & National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) for industrial facilities.
• Apply conventional engineering techniques and principles to the section’s most complex projects or largest projects with complex features, including major permits with metal, milling, and mining activities and other industries with increased oversight from the public and third-party advocate groups, clean energy, data centers, and hydropower permitting.
• Derive permit conditions based on legal and technical requirements for discharges into state waters, utilizing mathematical models for mixing zones and considering 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.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Experience or training in developing and/or implementing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 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).

Benefits

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

Pay

Details on pay will be provided in the job offer.

Schedule

The position will start with a full-time office-based schedule for the first month, after which it will transition to a primarily telework schedule with occasional in-person meetings and activities.