Water Quality Compliance Specialist - Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration

This posting will be used to fill a full‑time Water Quality Compliance Specialist position in the Bureau of Watershed Protection and Restoration (BWPR) in the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works. This position coordinates the development and implementation of research methodologies to document the ecological condition(s) of County waterways and watershed health, with a particular focus on assessing ecological responses to the BWPR restoration program.

While the employee will serve a leading role in coordinating and conducting research and monitoring, this position is not supervisory.

This position involves advanced level professional and technical work in water resources. An employee in this class provides technical support for compliance with federal and state water quality related requirements. Work includes developing and implementing hypothesis‑driven research in two major focus areas: watershed‑scale stream health and ecological restoration project efficacy (i.e. functional uplift of biological communities and resource trade‑offs). While this position is not supervisory, the employee will take a leading role in coordinating team monitoring and research activities and is expected to oversee multiple research projects in various stages of implementation, some of which are particularly complex in nature.

The ability to coordinate and track those efforts with program staff, BWPR leadership, consultants, and other stakeholders will be important. The Water Quality Compliance Specialist will also lead efforts to support the infrastructure of the team’s monitoring program, including developing data management frameworks and analyzing historical datasets. Other duties include representing BWPR on relevant work groups such as the Maryland Water Monitoring Council, presenting research results to internal and external audiences, preparing reports and papers for peer‑review publication, and supporting short‑ and long‑term strategic planning efforts.

Work is performed with considerable independence within established policies, procedures, and technical guidelines and is evaluated through satisfactory compliance with the County’s stormwater permit, scientific documentation and publications, conference presentations, and through review of results obtained. This position will work closely with the BWPR Ecological Assessment and Evaluation Unit’s Planning Administrator to establish and implement study program goals.

Provides oversight and guidance to and participates in the implementation of ecological research to assess and document the status and trends of County waterways and watershed health.

Develops and implements rigorous study protocols to verify environmental effects of a subset of implemented restoration projects (e.g., ecological uplift, in‑stream sediment and nutrient processing and load flux).

Coordinates efforts among the research staff within the Ecological Assessment and Evaluation Unit; coordinates deliverables with team members that align with their knowledge, skill sets, and interests; fosters a cohesive and collaborative team that emphasizes productivity, professional development, and safety.

Analyzes data to evaluate research results for use in policy and management decision‑making; develops and submits oral and written reports including technical paper submissions to peer review journals.

Stays current on ecological monitoring science; actively considers and proposes innovative science‑based methodologies that best meet BWPR’s priorities.

Works closely with outside, academic and consultant scientists to advance experimental work in Anne Arundel County, including through programs like the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Pooled Monitoring program.

Participates in environmental outreach activities including but not limited to public meetings, conference and in‑house presentations, and publication of collected data.

Oversees contracts and consultant services associated with study implementation.

Works cooperatively with BWPR staff to provide stormwater permit compliance support and total maximum daily load (TMDL) and watershed assessment support.

Performs related…