LEAD INTERDISCIPLINARY
What you'd do
About the Position: Serves as authority on water quality issues, senior Water Control / Water Quality liaison, and Water Quality Team Lead, resolving critical water management conflicts and issues impacting the District's multipurpose lake projects.
Major duties
Serve as the District’s water quality Subject Matter Expert (SME), applying specialized reservoir storage knowledge to resolve critical, controversial water management conflicts, policy interpretations, and operational trade-offs. Develop, evaluate, and apply new operating principles, guidelines, and water management priority strategies in the day-to-day regulation of District multipurpose reservoir and flood-control projects. Coordinate internally/externally to meet requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and other mandates, representing the District on interagency workgroups and regional meetings. Support the Water Management Program Manager by planning, budgeting, and executing the Water Quality program, including preparing out-year budget submittals and executing the Program Management Plan (PgMP). Apply biological, chemical, physical, and hydrodynamic concepts to evaluate environmental conditions, aquatic organism behavior, and the interactive effects of sudden high-velocity releases, stratification, and chemical build-up on ecosystems. Conduct water quality and environmental investigations, analyze physical/chemical parameters (e.g., DO, pH, trace elements), write technical reports of findings, and review environmental assessments/impact statements prepared by other agencies. Apply and complete rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality Control and District Quality Control (DQC) processes on project designs, peer-created products, and national Agency Technical Reviews (ATR) to minimize claims and ensure accuracy. Serve as senior liaison between Water Control and Water Quality missions, translating technical issues to Corporate Boards, facility groups, and Project Review Boards to align project timing, funding, and goals. Lead the full product development process from planning to completion, managing multiple resources concurrently, tracking schedules, mitigating risks, and advising executive management on courses of action. Provide expert environmental guidance to flood-control reservoirs during flood and non-flood periods, issuing/reviewing Special Directives and evaluating deviations from established Water Control Plans. Lead and coordinate a multidisciplinary workforce of 5-9 professional engineers, scientists, and technicians; setting priorities, distributing workload, monitoring progress, and resolving informal complaints. Coach, mentor, and identify training needs for team members, promoting team building and consensus while representing the team to leadership to secure resources.
What you need to qualify
Who May Apply: US Citizens In order to qualify, you must meet the Individual occupational requirements and the minimum experience requirements described below. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Minimum Experience: Qualified applicants must describe in their resume at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in federal service with applying limnological principles in evaluating physical, chemical, and biological parameters of water bodies and their relationship to the natural and built environment; and leading a multidisciplinary team for a water quality study. The hiring manager will review your resume under Direct Hire procedures, considering your level of competence with: Hydrology: Water Quality Subject Matter Expertise in aquatic ecosystems, environmental regulations (Clean Water Act, ESA, NEPA), data interpretation (biological, chemical, physical, hydrodynamic), program budgeting, and technical reporting. Technical Competence with Interdisciplinary project management, bridging Water Control and Water Quality missions, translating technical issues for executive management, risk mitigation, and utilization of systems like CWMS (Corps Water Management System). Leadership: Leading, mentoring, and organizing a workforce of 5-9 technical professionals. Workload distribution, performance tracking, conflict resolution, training, and consensus building. Individual Occupational Requirements: Basic Requirement for Biologist (0401): A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines appropriate to the position. OR B. Combination of Education and Experience: Courses equivalent to a major, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. Basic Requirement for Wildlife Biologist (0486): A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in biological science that included at least 9 semester hours in such wildlife subjects as mammalogy, ornithology, animal ecology, wildlife management, or research courses in the field of wildlife biology; AND at least 12 semester hours in zoology in such subjects as general zoology, invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology, comparative anatomy, physiology, genetics, ecology, cellular biology, parasitology, entomology, or research courses in such subjects (excess courses in wildlife biology may be used to meet the zoology requirements where appropriate.); AND at least 9 semester hours in botany or the related plant sciences. OR B. Combination of Education and Experience: Equivalent to a major in biological science (i.e., at least 30 semester hours), with at least 9 semester hours in wildlife subjects, 12 semester hours in zoology, and 9 semester hours in botany or related plant science, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
Don't miss the next one.
Get an email the moment a similar federal job opens — postings can close in as little as 5 days.