Environmental Protection Officer - Entry Level

Role Responsibilities

Are you seeking a career opportunity to apply your education and experience in environmental and regulatory inspections to protect Alberta's environment and public health?

The Environmental Protection Officer role is responsible for the delivery of an assortment of services to industry, municipalities, varying levels of government, and to the Alberta public, and requires balancing the technical components with the desired outcomes of the compliance program delivery. These services are largely associated with the administration of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), Water Act, and the Climate Change and Emissions Management Act.

Reporting to the Compliance Assurance Lead, this position is a full working level position that, in addition to their regular duties, will also assist and/or coach junior staff in performing their duties and will act as a technical resource for colleagues, associates and outside agencies.

Working as part of the Compliance Team, you will:

• Apply the principles of Education, Prevention and Enforcement as identified in the Government of Alberta’s compliance assurance management framework to achieve legislative compliance.
• Conduct proactive and reactive inspections to assess regulatory compliance in regulated sectors such as contaminated sites, and industrial facilities.
• Respond to environmental incidents, including public complaints, collect evidence to determine if a contravention has occurred and report findings to the Compliance Assurance Lead.

Drawing on legislative authority, departmental policies, and knowledge of approval conditions and environmental impacts, this role conducts thorough investigations and gathers evidence of contraventions for non‑compliance cases identified through the Integrated Compliance Process.

The Job Description is provided for further details on this position.

Competencies are behaviours that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in‑depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

• Drive For Results: You will use your drive for results to engage stakeholders proactively using educational and prevention tools to ensure the rules were understood and followed. As a representative of the Ministry, you will conduct yourself in a professional and respectful manner when conducting compliance inspections and investigations and when responding to environmental incidents.
• Creative Problem Solving: You will use your ability to understand and apply the regulatory tools in the compliance assurance framework effectively in a variety of different regulated sectors and situations.
• Systems Thinking: By using a systems thinking approach, you take a broad view of regulating the environment to ensure that the actions you take to address compliance issues are impactful and result in long‑term benefits to the environment.
• Develop Networks: You will use your excellent interpersonal skills to build trust and credibility with a wide variety of stakeholders to ensure complex and potentially contentious situations reach compliant outcomes.
• Develop Self and Others: You take your personal and professional development seriously and implement continuous improvement strategies. You share your passion and dedication to excellence to improve the team outcomes.

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification.

• A two‑year technical diploma in a related field, such as Environmental Science, Agriculture Studies, or Environmental Enforcement.
• A minimum of four years of direct compliance, regulatory and/or enforcement experience.

OR

• A bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as Environmental Science, Agriculture Studies, or Environmental Enforcement.
• A minimum of 2 years of direct compliance, regulatory and/or enforcement experience.

Equivalencies will be considered based on:
One year of directly related experience for one year of completed education, OR one year of completed…