Industrial Facility Management Engineer; Environmental Engineer

Description

Keeping Washington Clean and Evergreen

The Department of Ecology is hiring an Industrial Facility Management Engineer (Environmental Engineer
5) within the Water Quality Program.

Location:

• Central Region Office in Union Gap, WA.
• Upon hire, you must live within a commutable distance from the duty station.

Schedule:

• For the first month, this position will be required to work full-time in the office.
• After successfully completing onboarding and training, the position will then be eligible for a primarily telework schedule, with occasional in-person meetings and activities.
• Schedules are dependent upon position needs and are subject to change.

Application Timeline:

• Apply by June 7, 2026
• Applications submitted after the date above may be reviewed only if additional qualified applicants are needed.

As the Industrial Facility Management Engineer for the Central Regional Office Water Quality Industrial Unit, you will be in the forefront of emerging engineering technical issues and trends associated with industrial wastewater treatment, reclaimed water, and permitting. You will assist in fulfilling the Water Quality Program’s mission by providing engineering and regulatory oversight of industrial and municipal wastewater discharges to protect and preserve water quality in Washington state.

You will use your expertise to represent the section statewide on current and emerging industrial stormwater, pretreatment, and wastewater trends and issues. Your expertise in professional engineering will support a rapidly growing Water Quality program and diverse industrial sector in the Central Region.

You will work closely with Central Region Office Water Quality Industrial staff, regulated entities, and the public to provide regulatory oversight of industrial wastewater discharges. Permits issued by the Industrial Unit are critical to protecting and maintaining water quality, supporting growth in our state, and keeping our communities healthy and thriving. You will be a key partner in our collective efforts to protect public health, the waterways, and the environment in Washington state.

What you will do:

• As a registered professional engineer, negotiate and prepare wastewater discharge permits (State Waste Discharge & National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) for industrial facilities.
• As a registered professional engineer, apply conventional engineering techniques and principles to the section’s most complex projects or largest projects with complex features, including major permits with metal, milling, and mining activities and other industries with increased oversight from the public and third-party advocate groups, clean energy, data centers, and hydropower permitting.
• Derive permit conditions based on legal and technical requirements for discharges into state waters, utilizing mathematical models for mixing zones and consideration of the complex biological, chemical, and physical properties of the discharge and receiving environment.
• Represent the agency in technical negotiations with private parties and their engineering consultants to resolve complex environmental engineering issues involving regulatory interpretation and compliance; treatment technologies and the feasibility of their applications, permit limits, conditions, and applicability; and water quality investigations, pollutant sampling, documentation, data interpretation, and quality assurance.
• Collaborate with other Ecology engineers to interpret and, when necessary, revise internal and external engineering guidance materials.
• Conduct permit compliance inspections, prepare inspection reports, and communicate findings to facilities.
• Provide technical assistance to legal counsel with the Attorney General’s Office on appeals of permits or enforcement actions and develop expert testimony and serve as an expert witness in court cases or issues under consideration of administrative hearings boards.

For detailed information on how we calculate experience and responses to other frequently asked questions, please visit our Recruitment website.

Required Qualifications:

• Registration as a Professional Engineer in the state of Washington or another state based on registration requirements equivalent to those in Washington, AND
• Five (5) years of experience in environmental engineering.

Special Requirements/Conditions of Employment:

• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license.
• Registration as a Professional Engineer in the State of Washington or another state, based on registration requirements equivalent to those in Washington, in good standing.

NOTE:

Individuals who are licensed as professional engineers in another U.S. jurisdiction or foreign country and wish to apply for this position must qualify for licensure in Washington State by comity. Applicants are responsible for reviewing and ensuring they meet Washington's comity requirements before submitting application materials.

Licensing requirements can be found on the Washington State Board of…