Supervising Environmental Services Specialist

Requisition Number: 202300082

Salary Range: $119,508.48 – $145,649.64

Application Deadline: 11/28/2023 11:59 PM Pacific

Supervising Environmental Services Specialist – Environmental Services Department (202300082)

Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work. Visit here to learn more about San José.

About the Department

The Environmental Services Department (ESD) is a national leader in pollution prevention, watershed protection, utility service provision, and climate action. Together, ESD employees positively impact every resident and business in San Jose.

Our department is an exceptional place to start or grow your career. We have a supportive leadership team, numerous professional growth opportunities, and an inclusive workplace culture that is welcoming of your talents! We offer an array of meaningful career paths and value flexibility – offering hybrid work and alternative work schedules in select roles, and pension benefits, as well as 15 paid holidays!

To learn more about ESD, follow @sjenvironment on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and San Jose Environmental Services on LinkedIn.

Salary Information

Salary range for this classification is: $119,508.48 – $145,694.64, annually

Actual salary shall be determined by the final candidates’ qualifications and experience. In addition to the starting salary, employees in the Supervising Environmental Services Specialist classification shall also receive an approximate five percent (5%) ongoing non-pensionable compensation pay.

Position Duties 

The Environmental Services Department is currently seeking to fill two (2) full-time Supervising Environmental Services Specialist vacancies in the Sustainability and Compliance Division.

Supervising Environmental Services Specialists plan, organize, and supervise the activities of assigned staff and program area within a division of the Environmental Services Department. This classification is designated as management and supervises other professional staff, as well as manages programmatic teams by providing direction and leadership. Incumbents in this classification are responsible for the successful development, implementation, and/or ongoing supervision and overview of assigned program(s). This classification not only supervises and oversees assigned professional staff, but also performs the most complex and specialized functions in support of assigned program(s).

Sustainability and Compliance Division 

The Division’s responsibilities cover a diverse range of programs including compliance with multiple state and federal regulations, such as Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act permits for the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility; managing and conducting environmental assessments and scientific investigations on City properties and in San Francisco Bay to support projects and discharge permits; biological permits and CEQA clearance; ensuring environmental due diligence for contaminated sites; conducting outreach and education to reduce water pollution; coordinating legislative advocacy for the department’s utility services; advancing regulatory advocacy for regulations impacting the department’s utilities; advancing climate smart and carbon neutrality efforts in department operations; and implementing environmental and industrial health and safety programs. The Sustainability and Compliance Division’s initiatives are implemented through the following programmatic sections: Sustainability and Policy, Environmental Compliance and Safety, Wastewater Compliance, and Air Compliance.

Wastewater Compliance Position 

The Wastewater Compliance SESS is the front-line manager for a team of biologists and environmental specialists. The team ensures compliance with multiple National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits for the San Jose-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility (RWF) by providing continuous guidance to the RWF’s Operations & Maintenance and Capital Improvement Divisions regarding permit requirements. The team manages multiple environmental data streams and is responsible for reporting water quality data and pollutant reduction program activities on a monthly and annual basis. The SESS also implements pollutant reduction outreach and education strategies for the Pollution Prevention Program. The SESS supports a proactive environmental field monitoring and assessment program, conducted by staff biologists that evaluate environmental condition of Lower South San Francisco Bay. The SESS also assists with permit reissuance and manages consultant budgets and contracts. A strong background in both science and regulatory permit compliance is desirable.

Land Use and Planning Position 

The Land Use and Planning SESS oversees a team of two environmental specialists and one environmental planner. The primary role is to oversee and ensure environmental permitting and regulatory requirements are completed for the Regional Wastewater Facility’s Capital Improvement Program projects and ongoing operations and maintenance projects at the facility. Duties include managing and developing staff, delegating assignments, identifying and set program priorities, tracking various project timelines, and managing project and program budgets, including a $2 million environmental consultant contract. The SESS coordinates internally and externally with a diverse group of engineers, project managers, consultants, and regulators to deliver environmental documents on critical infrastructure projects. They provide expertise on CEQA, biological permitting, historic preservation, habitat conservation, wildlife, and land use planning.

Note: This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this division, other Environmental Services Department divisions or City of San José departments. If you are interested in employment in this SESS classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment. Divisions that have SESS positions within ESD are listed below:

Capital Improvement Program 

The San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility Capital Improvement Program (CIP) division is leading one of the largest public works programs in San José’s history! Check out CIP’s website for more information on the $1.4 billion infrastructure construction program currently in its first 10-year phase. While all this planning and construction is on-going, the facility is in continuous operation, serving 1.4 million residents and over 17,000 businesses in eight cities.

Combine your expertise with the on-the-job experience you’ll gain in CIP by working with multi-discipline engineering professionals, program management consultants, and San José Public Works staff. You will enjoy career development, new skills, mentoring, and the benefits of contributing to your Community.

Climate Smart Division  

Climate Smart San José, adopted by the City Council in 2018, lays out how we are doing our part to address climate change. It’s a community wide initiative to reduce air pollution, save water and improve quality of life.

Climate Smart San José is one of the first detailed city plans for reaching the targets of the international Paris Agreement. To get there, Climate Smart sets ambitious goals for energy, water, transportation and local jobs.

In 2022, the City adopted a carbon neutrality by 2030 goal and, in 2023, created a Pathway to Carbon Neutrality by 2030 plan to focus the City’s climate efforts. This one-page flyer provides a summary of the Pathway.

Integrated Waste Management (IWM) Division  

ESD’s Integrated Waste Management (IWM) Division leads one of the largest and most advanced solid waste management systems in the United States through creativity and innovation. Division staff collaborate with other City departments and establish strong partnerships with private companies, other government agencies, nonprofits, and the community on a variety of key efforts. Experience fast-paced work and learn new skills that contribute to the bigger purpose of protecting the environment at a local level.

Water Resources Division 

ESD’s Water Resources Division brings together engineers, operations and maintenance, technical, and program staff to supply clean water to over 100,000 customers and recycled water to more than 850 customers; in addition, we lead conservation efforts to preserve our region’s precious drinking water supply. You can contribute to the local community by joining us in meaningful and important work focusing on water supply, resource sustainability, customer outreach, and infrastructure reliability. We are a small, but fun, division of ESD located in South San José.

Watershed Protection Division 

The Watershed Protection Division strives to preserve and sustain natural aquatic resources by connecting people to their watershed and the San Francisco Bay by helping them understand how their daily activities affect water quality. The Watershed Protection Division is approximately 100 employees and is responsible for stormwater management, environmental enforcement, source control and laboratory services. Stormwater Management coordinates a wide array of activities, such as education, outreach, trash reduction and collaboration with Countywide stakeholders to protect and to prevent pollution into the waterways. Environmental Enforcement provides inspection, education, and enforcement services to ensure that local discharges into the storm and sanitary sewers meet regulatory requirements and protect water quality. The Pretreatment Program administers federal requirements that include permitting and compliance monitoring to industrial that discharges into the sanitary sewer system and Region Wastewater Facility. Lastly, Laboratory Services provides scientific analysis for monitoring operations and compliance at the Regional Wastewater Facility that addresses water quality issues entering the Bay.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience: Four (4) years of increasingly responsible experience in developing, promoting, and/or implementing environmental programs (e.g.: programs in air quality, climate action, integrated waste management, biology, agriculture, energy, forestry or parks, habitat restoration, wastewater, water resources, stormwater, archaeology, geology, resource conservation, industrial or environmental health and safety, or any program emphasizing environmental sustainability or environmental regulatory compliance), including two (2) years of experience leading people or projects.

Relevant experience in environmental services programs may include: preparing outreach/educational materials, conducting survey work, tracking and monitoring deliverables, coordinating special events, promoting programs, developing and implementing new programs and/or policies, planning and permitting, grants or contracts administration, analyzing data and creating reports, and/or tracking budgets.

Acceptable Substitutions: 

• A Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in environmental studies or related field may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience developing, promoting, and/or implementing environmental programs.
• Additional years of experience in developing, promoting, and/or implementing environmental programs may be substituted for the bachelor’s degree requirement on a year-for-year basis.

Licenses or Certificates: Designated positions may require a valid State of California Environmental Health Specialist registration pursuant to California Health & Safety Code, Sections 106600-106735.

Form 700: This position requires a disclosure of outside investments, real property interest, income, and business positions. You must complete and file an “Assuming Office Form 700” with the City Clerk’s Office within the first 30 days of employment with the office.

If you have questions about the duties of these positions, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Annabella Castagna at Annabella.Castagna@sanjoseca.gov.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility:  Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

Per the City’s COVID-19 Mandatory Vaccination Policy, the City requires all new hires to provide proof of vaccination as a condition of employment absent an approved medical or religious exemption. Fully vaccinated means a person has received the following:

• Two doses of the monovalent Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine; or
• Two doses of the monovalent Moderna COVID-19 vaccine; or
• Two doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine; or
• One dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine; or
• One dose of the bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine; or
• One dose of the bivalent Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third-party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application.  If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided.  IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

How to Apply

The requisition # for this job posting is 202300082. To view the full job announcement and apply for this position, please go to: www.sanjoseca.gov/citycareers

PLEASE NOTE: YOU MUST APPLY & SUBMIT YOUR JOB APPLICATION AT www.sanjoseca.gov/citycareers IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A CITY OF SAN JOSE JOB OPPORTUNITY.

*Do not click on a resume or application service offered by a job board*

Direct candidates to our website to apply.

Contact – Annabella Castagna at Annabella.Castagna@sanjoseca.gov

Website – https://www.sanjoseca.gov/citycareers