Environmental Permitting Coordinator

Environmental Permitting Coordinator

Join the Office of the Governor of Washington and help improve Washington's environmental permitting process. As the Environmental Permitting Coordinator, you will provide senior-level guidance to customers and partners by helping them navigate environmental permitting requirements, coordinating with local, state, federal, and Tribal agencies, and supporting improvements to regulatory tools and processes.

In this role, you will research and interpret environmental regulations, scope customer projects, facilitate collaboration across multiple jurisdictions, and maintain key public-facing permitting resources, including the Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application (JARPA) and other regulatory information. You will work closely with agency staff, the Governor's policy office, the Legislature, customers, and a broad range of public and private stakeholders to promote efficient, transparent, and customer-focused permitting processes.

If you are a collaborative problem-solver with strong communication skills, sound judgment, and the ability to build productive relationships across diverse groups. If you are passionate about environmental policy, public service, and improving government processes, we encourage you to apply.

What you'll work on:

• Researches, interprets, and explains state environmental permitting requirements for businesses, local governments, industry representatives, citizens, and other customers.
• Identifies applicable permits, regulatory pathways, agency roles, application requirements, decision points, and customer next steps.
• Develops written and verbal guidance, including matrices, summaries, guidance documents, and other plain-language resources, to help customers understand permitting requirements and processes.
• Responds to customer inquiries regarding environmental permitting laws, rules, policies, procedures, and regulatory coordination issues.
• Serves as a technical resource to ORIA customer support staff on environmental permitting and regulatory inquiries.
• Reviews complex or escalated customer inquiries to determine appropriate research, coordination, and response actions.
• Researches and analyzes environmental laws, rules, policies, procedures, and agency guidance to support accurate and timely responses.
• Prepares written and verbal responses and communicates inquiry resolution status and outcomes to customer support staff.
• Monitors changes to environmental permitting requirements and shares relevant updates, guidance, and process information with ORIA staff.
• Serves as ORIA's point of contact for customers and regulatory agencies on projects involving multiple permits, agencies, or jurisdictions.
• Reviews proposed projects to identify likely permits, sequencing considerations, estimated timelines, responsible agencies, and key decision points.
• Coordinates with local, state, federal, and Tribal agencies to clarify permitting requirements and support resolution of process or coordination issues.
• Assists customers in understanding environmental permitting processes, agency expectations, and project next steps.
• Facilitates communication among agencies, project proponents, and stakeholders to support timely and coordinated permit review processes.
• Facilitates and participates in interagency environmental permitting work groups, coordination teams, and process improvement initiatives.
• Identifies recurring customer barriers, process gaps, and coordination challenges affecting environmental permitting processes.
• Researches and analyzes permitting practices, customer feedback, and partner input to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Recommends practical improvements to permitting guidance, coordination practices, customer service tools, and regulatory processes.
• Supports implementation of process improvements and interagency coordination strategies that improve customer understanding and regulatory navigation.
• Coordinates with local, state, and federal agencies to maintain and update the (JARPA).
• Organizes partner agency review processes and tracks proposed revisions and feedback.
• Researches, evaluates, and reconciles agency comments and recommended changes to the JARPA.
• Prepares updated forms, instructions, and supporting materials to maintain accuracy, usability, and consistency with participating agency requirements.
• Coordinates with agency representatives and subject matter experts to resolve issues related to JARPA content and implementation.
• Develops, updates, and maintains public-facing regulatory resources, including the Regulatory Handbook, ORIA website content, guidance documents, and related tools.
• Review regulatory content for accuracy, consistency, accessibility, plain language, and customer usefulness.
• Identify outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate regulatory information and coordinates updates with agency subject matter experts.
• Stays abreast of new or updated environmental state and federal laws and regulations and how they will affect permitting.
• Research environmental…