Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist

Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist

Salary: $ - $ Annually

Location:

Multiple locations in King County, WA

Job Type: Career Service (Exec)

Job Number:

Department: DNRP-Natural Resources & Parks

Division:
Wastewater Treatment

FLSA:
Exempt

Bargaining Unit: F6 : L117-WTD

Full- or Part-Time:
Full Time

Hours/Week: 40 hours/week

This is a competitive posting, and the position is open to all qualified candidates. The King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) is seeking a high‑performing Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist. This position will join an existing team of engineers, analysts, and laboratory professionals who are focused on optimizing the performance of the division’s municipal wastewater treatment plants. This position will be the first position on the team that will allocate 100% of their time to environmental compliance of elements beyond our municipal wastewater NPDES permits.

These elements include, but are not limited to, Hazardous Waste, Air Emissions, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know (EPCRA), Underground Storage Tanks (USTs), Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC), Industrial Stormwater, and Municipal Stormwater.

As a key member of the Operations and Maintenance section of the Wastewater Treatment Division, you will be a “boots on the ground” leader, helping to evolve, document, and improve our environmental compliance programs at the treatment plants and pump stations located across the greater Seattle region. You will work and communicate directly with mechanics, treatment plant operators and managers, the division’s senior leadership team, environmental agency inspectors, capital project managers and engineers, and compliance professional peers in other King County divisions.

The Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist will be assigned environmental compliance programs based on their work history and expertise. For instance, if the selected candidate has a 15-year history working with air permits and emissions compliance programs, the candidate will be initially assigned to lead and improve our air program. Or if the candidate is experienced with USTs and hazardous waste, those will be the initially assigned programs.

WTD has three main regional wastewater treatment plants, two small wastewater treatment plants, five combined sewer wet weather treatment plants, and close to 50 pump stations. The Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist will evolve, document and improve our compliance programs across all of these assets. An eye for standardization will be key.

WTD recently deployed the Maximo platform as our new computerized maintenance management software. WTD has plans to design, develop, and deploy an environment, health and safety module in the coming months. The Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist would be a key participant in the development team.

The Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist will be assigned to review the WTD design and construction specifications for capital projects. The specialist will then be asked to highlight areas for improvement and work with the standards committee to make the changes.

• Visit all WTD operational facilities, review existing programs and documentation, and meet with operators, engineers and mechanics. Complete a gap assessment between the requirements and the current activities.
• Design, implement, and improve programs to help WTD comply with state and federal regulations and applicable permits.
• Develop a network across the King County divisions. Where it makes business sense, push to standardize our compliance approaches.
• Identify risk and communicate risk to leadership.
• Partner with the first line worker force to understand their needs and constraints. Explain the why behind new initiatives or changes. Build programs that are as easy to implement as possible.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited course of study, in environmental engineering, environmental science, environmental management, biology, chemistry or related field.
• Direct hands‑on experience with developing, sustaining, and implementing environmental…