Director of Regulatory Compliance, Strategy and Innovation

City of New York • Queens, NY

23h

About The Position

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) protects public health for all New Yorkers by providing high-quality drinking water, managing wastewater and stormwater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. DEP is the largest combined municipal water and wastewater utility in the country, with nearly 6,000 employees. DEP’s water supply system is comprised of 19 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes spread throughout the system’s 2,000 square mile watershed that extends 125 miles north and west of the City. The Bureau or Wastewater Treatment (BWT) Is responsible for the operation and maintenance of all facilities related to the pumping and treatment of sewage within the City’s five boroughs. This includes 14 wastewater treatment plants, 6 sludge dewatering facilities, collections facilities (pumping stations, combined sewer overflow retention facilities, regulators, tide gates, etc.), wastewater laboratories, and harbor vessels. The BWT Director of Regulatory Compliance, Strategy and Innovation is responsible for a broad range of State and Federal regulatory programs and policy needs. The Director manages departmental programs associated with regulatory compliance and strategy, including State Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems, Clean Water Act, Combined Sewer Overflow control(s), laboratory services, operational systems optimization, research and development, ambient water quality monitoring, air quality compliance, industrial waste, and all associated work. Responsible for approximately 170 diverse staff, the position requires a high level of effective communication in addition to negotiation with state and federal environmental regulatory agencies, environmental groups, elected officials and other regional stakeholders. The Director reports to the Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Compliance and serves on BWT’s senior leadership team. The Director is expected to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to deliver BWT’s mission and core values as well as advance resource recovery, improve business processes, and develop a culture of innovation. The Director will exercise an extremely wide latitude of independent judgment and initiative to improve existing programs and implement new programs, policies, and activities for high-level bureau priorities. The successful candidate for this position must have demonstrated effective leadership, technical expertise, negotiation prowess, creativity, and the ability to develop and analyze cost-effective alternatives to meet a growing list of environmental goals and requirements. This position is engaged in coordination with multiple DEP groups, including BWT, the Bureau of Engineering Design and Construction (BEDC) and Bureau of Environmental Planning and Analysis (BEPA) on achieving goals. This Director manages a wide range of divisions which requires a leader with a high level of technical expertise and communication skills to be able to coordinate internally and externally. This Director must have a working understanding of wastewater facilities operation and maintenance, permit limitations, laboratory requirements, staffing, and budgeting. The success of this Directorate depends greatly on the ability to communicate effectively with operations staff to develop consensus and understanding of operational needs and changes. The Directorate includes a diverse group of employees including chemists, engineers, scientists, lawyers, and enforcement personnel, all of which are responsible for a broad array of complex engineering, scientific, and regulatory programs.

Requirements

• Demonstrated effective leadership, technical expertise, negotiation prowess, creativity, and the ability to develop and analyze cost-effective alternatives to meet a growing list of environmental goals and requirements.
• High level of technical expertise and communication skills to be able to coordinate internally and externally.
• Working understanding of wastewater facilities operation and maintenance, permit limitations, laboratory requirements, staffing, and budgeting.
• Ability to communicate effectively with operations staff to develop consensus and understanding of operational needs and changes.
• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college in engineering, engineering technology, architecture, landscape architecture, architectural technology, construction, construction management, construction technology, sustainable design, urban planning, urban studies, city planning, transportation planning, business administration, or public administration, and five years of full-time satisfactory experience in the planning, administering or expediting of engineering design, and/or construction, or coordinating a very large engineering project, two years of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory capacity; or
• A four year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and nine years of experience as described in "1" above; two years of which must have been in an administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory capacity; or
• Education and/or experience equivalent to "1" or "2" above. One year of experience credit will be given for: (a) each 30 semester credits of college or university education leading to a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in engineering, engineering technology, architecture, landscape architecture, architectural technology, construction, construction management, construction technology, sustainable design, urban planning, urban studies, city planning, transportation planning, business administration, or public administration; (b) An accredited Master's degree in one of the disciplines described in "1" above; (c) a Juris Doctor degree, or (d) a valid New York State license as a Professional Engineer, Registered Architect or Landscape Architect. However, all candidates must have the two years of the administrative, managerial, executive, or supervisory experience as described in "1" above.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for a broad range of State and Federal regulatory programs and policy needs.
• Manages departmental programs associated with regulatory compliance and strategy, including State Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems, Clean Water Act, Combined Sewer Overflow control(s), laboratory services, operational systems optimization, research and development, ambient water quality monitoring, air quality compliance, industrial waste, and all associated work.
• Responsible for approximately 170 diverse staff
• Provide executive leadership and strategic direction to deliver BWT’s mission and core values as well as advance resource recovery, improve business processes, and develop a culture of innovation.
• Exercise an extremely wide latitude of independent judgment and initiative to improve existing programs and implement new programs, policies, and activities for high-level bureau priorities.
• Provide expertise for planning and technology decisions for new infrastructure, operation, research, policy development, and communications.
• Assist in developing strategies to manage emerging contaminants of concern, such as PFAS, and developing the technical information required to make sound decisions through the research and development program.
• Develop key metrics, help reduce costs, perform engineering alternatives analyses, support changes in operations, and improve process performance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees