Deputy Director; Deputy​/Chief

Are you interested in applying your leadership skills to protecting and enhancing Oregon’s environment? If so, please consider a career with the State of Oregon at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality strives to build and sustain an inclusive and equitable environment that embraces and values diversity. Employees at all levels of the agency work together to foster fairness, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We strive to be a workplace where we share our authentic identities, while advancing our individual professional goals, and while collaborating to protect, preserve, and enhance the environment for current and future generations.

We celebrate and appreciate diversity, champion equity, and treat each other with respect and dignity.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, age, or physical or mental disability in the administration of our programs and activities. Visit DEQ’s Civil Rights and Environmental Justice page.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has a full-time opportunity available for a Deputy Director (Deputy/Chief
6). This position is based out of DEQ’s Headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is the primary regulatory agency of the government of the U.S. State of Oregon responsible for protecting and enhancing the state's natural resources. At DEQ, employees have the opportunity to work with a dynamic and supportive team of mission-focused individuals tasked with maintaining, restoring, and enhancing the quality of Oregon’s air, land, and water.

This position is located within the Director’s Office. The Director’s Office, with the Agency Leadership Team, provides policy formation and guidance, goal development, problem solving, conflict resolution, leadership, and accountability for the entire agency’s program efforts. The team balances needs, interests, and perspectives across the agency, and provides long‑term strategic thinking and planning to ensure that DEQ’s priorities and core work are consistent with the agency’s mission, shared vision, and organization design principles.

These efforts are grounded in anti‑racist principles and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).

For a visual representation of DEQ’s offices and their locations, view our DEQ Offices and Vehicle Inspection Testing Stations map.

You will lead and direct the administration of implementing and enforcing laws regulating air, water, and land pollution; administer authorities delegated by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) including the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Acts; administer state statutes including air, water, waste, and environmental cleanup; ensure the integration of environmental justice across agency programs; serve on behalf of the Director as an attendee of the Governor’s cabinet;

and assist on behalf of the Director in efforts to coordinate Natural Resource Agencies. In addition, you will support the Director, Environmental Quality Commission (EQC), and overall effectiveness of the Agency by providing leadership and guidance to DEQ employees statewide, fostering organizational health and representing the Agency to constituent groups, interested parties, elected officials, and other partners. As a State supervisory manager, you will be expected to develop proficiency in, as well as model to others, these competencies:
Proactive communication, Innovation, Intentional Engagement, Mentoring & Developing Others, Stewardship, and Business…