Land Conservation Monitoring Specialist

with an anticipated 3-year duration. In addition to the current opening, this recruitment may be used to establish a pool of qualified candidates to fill future Land Conservation Monitoring Specialist (PPM III) SDA/TLT roles throughout the Department of Natural Resources & Parks (DNRP) over the next six (6) months.

Do you want your work to have a lasting impact on the lands, natural resources, and communities of King County?

The Land Conservation Monitoring Specialist is a newly established position responsible for helping create a coordinated approach to monitoring conservation easements, PBRS open-space agreements, deed restrictions, and certain County-owned lands associated with acquisitions led by DNRP's Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) and Parks and Recreation Division. Historically, monitoring has occurred within individual programs. This position will help bring those efforts together by developing consistent monitoring protocols, documentation practices, data systems, and approaches to compliance.

In this role, you will combine fieldwork, technology, data analysis, relationship-building, and program coordination. You will assess current property conditions, document findings, identify potential compliance concerns, and partner with program staff and landowners to address issues and support voluntary compliance. Monitoring may include traditional site visits as well as review of aerial imagery, GIS information, and emerging technologies, including AI-assisted remote monitoring platforms.

Your work will directly contribute to major King County priorities, including the Land Conservation Initiative, Local Food Initiative, Strategic Climate Action Plan, and policies established through the King County Comprehensive Plan.

This position is housed within the Agriculture, Forestry, and Incentives Unit (AFI) of the Water and Land Resources Division and reports to the AFI Unit Manager. However, this is a highly collaborative, cross-divisional role.

You will work closely with professionals across DNRP, including staff within:

• Agriculture, Forestry, and Incentives (AFI)
• Open Space Acquisitions (OSA)
• Environmental Policy and Initiatives (EPI)
• Recreation, Partnerships, & Property Management (RPPM)
• Parks Operations

Together, these teams conserve open space and working farms and forests, acquire and steward conservation lands, restore habitat, support environmental initiatives, manage County property, and maintain King County's extensive parks and trail system.

AFI works with forestland and farmland owners to improve land management, conserve working lands, restore habitat, increase environmental health and climate resiliency, and expand farmland access, including opportunities for farmers from historically underserved communities. This position will serve as an important connector across these programs, helping establish a consistent and effective approach to monitoring King County's conservation commitments.

King County, named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a diverse and vibrant community that represents cultures from around the world. We prioritize equity, racial and social justice, making it a foundational and daily expectation for all employees. As a Land Conservation Monitoring Specialist (PPM III) you will actively apply these principles in all aspects of your work. Learn more about our commitment at http://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

What You Will Be Doing:

• Develop monitoring standards and protocols. Partner with program leads to establish consistent guidelines for monitoring, documentation, communication, and outreach across programs and divisions.
• Conduct conservation compliance monitoring. Monitor King County-held conservation easements, landowner agreements, deed restrictions, and certain County-owned lands using field assessments and other monitoring approaches.
• Apply technology to conservation monitoring. Use traditional and innovative technologies—including GIS, aerial imagery, data systems, and emerging remote-monitoring tools to evaluate property conditions and identify potential compliance concerns.
• Address compliance concerns collaboratively. Work with program leads and landowners to identify issues, develop recommendations and corrective-action timelines, encourage voluntary compliance, and coordinate appropriate corrective or enforcement measures when necessary.
• Build a comprehensive monitoring data system.…