Local recruitment: ADAP Engineer (Agricultural Drainage Assistance Program - Engineer IV)

Summary

Embrace your engineering expertise to empower landowners in unincorporated King County, addressing a range of drainage and surface water issues. Take the lead within a collaborative team of engineers, offering tailored support, facilitating essential construction projects, and ensuring compliance with King County regulations. Join us in shaping a more inclusive and sustainable future for our communities!

About the Role:
This role is responsible for managing the Agricultural Drainage Assistance Program (ADAP), a council mandated landowner assistance program, requiring the incumbent to be a technical expert in drainage engineering, possess well developed management skills and to be a skillful collaborator and communicator experienced with working constructively with ideologically diverse landowners and non-governmental organizations, local and state agencies, and community partners.

About the Team:
The Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) is a highly diverse and multi-discipline organization charged with protecting, restoring, and managing King County’s water and land resources using best available science, innovation, and collaboration with its partners and the community. The Stormwater Services (SWS) Section is a constantly evolving cutting-edge organization charged with delivering services essential to managing stormwater runoff and surface water to protect public safety, improve water quality, restore aquatic resources, safeguard properties, and comply with county, state, and federal requirements.

Commitment to Equity, Racial and Social Justice:
King County, named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a diverse and vibrant community that represents cultures from around the world. Our True North is to create a welcoming community where everyone can thrive.  We prioritize equity, racial and social justice, making it a foundational and daily expectation for all employees. As an ADAP Engineer, you will actively apply these principles in all aspects of your work. Learn more about our commitment at http://www.kingcounty.gov/equity.

Apply now for a rewarding career at the Water and Land Resources Division of King County Department of Natural Resources & Parks (DNRP). Join our talented workforce in protecting and restoring the natural environment and promoting more resilient, sustainable, and equitable communities.  Enjoy training, comprehensive benefits, and growth opportunities.

Job Duties

What You Will Be Doing:

1. Manage the Agricultural Drainage Assistance Program, overseeing project development, budgeting, scheduling, and reporting. Lead presentations, stakeholder communication, and compliance with technical and regulatory requirements. Direct design and contract document preparation and approval.
2. Design and execute drainage and surface water projects, including ADAP and additional assignments. Independently conduct surveys, design, permitting, and project management. Approve engineering designs as per codes and occasionally supervise staff on project tasks.
3. Support SWS programs including emergency response, engineering reviews, studies, enforcements, and urban drainage solutions, and others as assigned.
4. Foster relationships with community partners, negotiating partnerships and agreements. Collaborate on project design, implementation, and maintenance, leveraging multiple technical and funding sources.
5. Serve as a technical liaison for code, policy, and regulation updates. Participate in committees and task forces addressing flooding and drainage policy changes.

Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills

Qualifications You Bring:

• Three (3) years of experience in applying engineering principles, practices, and methods to assess, understand and solve surface water problems, including stormwater drainage, fish passage improvement, floodplain design OR habitat improvement.

• Experience in conflict resolution including hearing, understanding and addressing the concerns of diverse individuals, community groups, and decision makers.

• Experience with interpreting and applying local, state, and federal regulations, codes, and rules pertaining to stormwater and surface water management.

• Proven capacity to communicate complex technical details in a clear and concise manner to diverse audiences, both technical and non-technical, through both oral and written channels, including technical writing.

• Experience with managing multiple ongoing projects and/or contracts.

• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex or ambiguous land management and project development conditions using professional experience and judgement.

• A commitment to equity and a demonstrated skill establishing and maintaining work relationships with a diverse group of people.

Competencies You Bring:

• Manages complexity: Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Manages Ambiguity: Operating effectively, even when things are not certain, or the way forward is not clear.
• Balances Stakeholders: Anticipating and balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders.
• Tech Savvy: Anticipating and adopting innovations in business-building digital and technology applications.
• Cultivates Innovation: Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer centric solutions.

Required Licenses:
 

• Professional Engineer Registration in Washington State

It Would Be Great if You Also Bring:

• Working knowledge of King County Surface Water Design Manual and King County Code (KCC) (sections 9.04, 16.82, 21a.24 and 21a.25) and WDFW 2013 Water Crossing Design Guidelines.
• Proficient in software: Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, CityWorks, ArcGIS, and AutoCAD.
• Experience with Hydraulic and Hydrologic modeling software, such as HEC-RAS and Western Washington Hydrologic Model (WWHM).
• Application of the concepts and practices of Standard Work and Continuous Improvement.
• Working knowledge of the principles, practices, and methods of topographic survey.

Supplemental Information

Working Conditions:

• Remote and Onsite Work Details: Employees in this role work remotely from a home location, with onsite reporting requirements typically 3-4 days per month. The frequency of onsite work is determined by business needs and may be adjusted accordingly. Onsite reporting locations may be at various King County worksites including the collaboration space at King Street Center (201 S. Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104). This work arrangement promotes work-life-balance and reduces carbon footprint under the department’s vision of Green Where We Work.

• Remote Work Location Requirement: Employees must reside in Washington State and be within a reasonable distance to King County worksites to meet onsite reporting requirements.
• Work Schedule: This full-time position works a 40-hour work week.  This position is covered under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and is overtime eligible.

• Union Representation: This position is represented by PROTEC Local 17A.
• Necessary Special Requirements:
  • Valid Washington State driver’s license or the ability to obtain one prior to starting work if selected for this position.
  • The final candidate will be required to successfully pass a pre-employment physical.
• Physical Requirements:  
  This position requires the ability to conduct physical site inspections and evaluations, including in times of inclement weather conditions. There is often a need to walk on uneven terrain, for extended periods of time. Field conditions include brushy, forested environments, river, stream and wetland corridors, and slippery, uneven surfaces and adverse outdoor weather conditions. Work tasks also may include in-water situations involving wading and the use of rafts. Ability to work long hours outside conducting field work and occasionally in inclement weather is necessary.

Application and Selection Process:
We welcome applications from all qualified applicants. We value diversity, diverse perspectives and life experience and encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

Application materials will be screened for clarity, completeness including online application, cover letter and resume, and responsiveness to the list of qualifications, skills, and abilities. The most competitive candidates may be invited to participate in one or more panel interviews. Applications without the following required materials may not be considered for this position.

• King County application
• Resume
• Cover Letter detailing your background and what you can bring to this position.
• Responses to supplemental questions

Note:  Additional documents won’t be considered during minimum qualification screening.

Who to Contact: For more information regarding this recruitment, please contact Jamie Jensen-Young at 206-263-8779 or jjensenyoung@kingcounty.gov.

Discover More About the Division: Visit our website.

Discover More About DNRP: Visit our website, explore an interactive map of our recent accomplishments and check us out at Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Keeping King County Green News.
Forbes named King County as one of Washington State’s best employers.

Together, with leadership and our employees, we’re changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation’s best places to live, work and play.

Guided by our “True North”, we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles – we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

To Apply

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.