Watershed Protection Specialist

The Orange County Planning and Inspections Department has an opening for Watershed Protection Specialist position.

The work is primarily responsible for providing direct assistance to the County Engineer for the daily administration and enforcement of the County’s Stormwater Management program, and limited assistance to the County Engineer for administration and enforcement of the County’s Floodplain Management and Erosion Control programs. An employee in this class is primarily responsible for providing stormwater management permitting services and related compliance inspections for Orange County (hereafter, “the County”).

An employee in this class will perform Stormwater Management Plan (SMP) reviews, issue annual and 5-year inspection report notices to owners of Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs), conduct SCM inspections/certifications, and complete geospatial (GIS) location/tracking of known SCMs subject to County regulation. SMP reviews require close working relationships with County Planning, Building Inspections, Erosion Control, and Environmental Health staff. This position will investigate and resolve violations of relevant County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) regulations.

Work is performed under the direct supervision of the County Engineer and involves supported, informed judgement and clear communication in planning and carrying out the details of the work with considerable leeway considerable leeway to exercise independent judgment within the guidelines of North Carolina General Statutes as well as the framework of applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures in the performance of duties, both in terms of planning and accomplishing work, and in making decisions regarding customer needs and requests and conducting project assignments.

Orange County is a State of North Carolina delegated regulatory entity for stormwater management, floodplain management, surface water identification, erosion and sedimentation control, and manages a County-owned reservoir, Lake Orange. As delegated by the County Engineer, an employee in this class may also perform Floodplain Development Permit (FDP) reviews, conduct Surface Water Identification (SWID) services, perform field investigations and geospatial (GIS) location/tracking of known structures located within the County’s Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), and provide general support to the County Engineer.

Supervision is not a responsibility of this class. Does related work as required.

* A pre-employment drug screen and background check is required.

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a master’s degree or higher in civil or environmental engineering, geology/hydrogeology, earth science, urban and regional planning, environmental planning, or a closely related field AND one (1) year of work experience land in a relevant profession, including demonstrated ability to operate in the field and use the required software (or similar) for this position.
  
  Familiarity with proprietary land development and/or H&H design software (e.g., AutoCAD, Hydraflow, HEC-RAS, Storm
  
  CAD, or similar) is preferred but not required.
• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in civil or environmental engineering, geology/hydrogeology, earth science, urban and regional planning, environmental planning, or a closely related field AND three (3) years of work experience land development, stormwater management and permitting, residential and/or commercial construction, erosion control management and/or demonstrated experience of general stormwater management design and hydrologic & hydraulic (H&H) analyses;
  
  with advanced use of land management central permitting software (i.e. Tyler LMCPS), plans review software (i.e. Bluebeam), remote sensing and geospatial (i.e. ESRI ArcGIS or QGIS) mapping in performing work assignments. Familiarity with proprietary land development and/or H&H design software (e.g., AutoCAD, Hydraflow, HEC-RAS, Storm
  
  CAD, or similar) is preferred but not required.

An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined above. A higher degree does not substitute for work experience.

• Valid driver’s license issued by the State of North Carolina for the type of vehicle or equipment operated.
• Possession of or ability to obtain North Carolina State University SCM Inspection & Maintenance certification within one (1) year of hire.
• Possession of or ability to obtain NCDEQ SWID certification within two (2) years of hire.
• All offers of employment are conditional upon successful clearance of pre-employment drug testing. Employment cannot commence until the employee has been cleared.

Orange County is an Equal Opportunity and Aff…