Riparian Grant Program Specialist (Program Specialist 3)

State of Washington • Multiple Locations Statewide, WA

8h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Washington State Conservation Commission (SCC) is a non-regulatory state agency that supports and coordinates our state’s 45 conservation districts and administers voluntary conservation programs. Together, the SCC and conservation districts (CDs) provide incentive-based services that empower people across Washington to take actions that keep natural resources and working lands healthy for all. With funding from the Washington State Legislature, SCC administers the Riparian Grant Program (RGP) to restore and protect priority riparian areas across the state, through grants made to Conservation Districts for projects that restore, maintain, and enhance riparian habitat. In the Riparian Grant Program Specialist position, you will be responsible for building positive working relationships with diverse stakeholders and entities, including conservation districts and external partners. You will provide internal program administration and implementation assistance and will coordinate outreach to conservation districts and interested parties on the program. Additionally, you will offer support for updating program guidelines and adjusting reporting or improving delivery systems to better accomplish program goals.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s Degree AND Two years of experience in natural resources or agricultural grant management, program administration, or related field. OR Any combination of relevant experience, including strong working knowledge of ecological restoration principles.
• Computer skills with Microsoft applications
• Strong customer relations, customer service, negotiation and problem-solving skills
• Hold a valid Driver’s License, free from serious traffic violations
• Ability to travel (including overnight)
• Ability to handle multiple projects with competing deadlines in a dynamic work environment
• Strong written and verbal communications skills, including public speaking and the ability to research, organize and present varied and complex subjects in an approachable and understandable manner
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills necessary to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other agency staff, partner organizations and conservation district supervisors and staff
• Ability to understand and follow agency safety policies and other standards established to maintain a safe work environment
• Proven ability to work comfortably with people of widely differing temperaments, perspectives, cultures, work styles and preferences

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with conservation districts
• Experience interacting collaboratively with local, state or federal agencies (especially USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service), and other specialty or user groups
• Experience facilitating meetings/groups and working with committees to gain consensus
• Extensive knowledge and/or experience working in or around agriculture in the western United States
• Experience with riparian ecological restoration and monitoring techniques and principles
• Familiarity with state grant programs to protect and conserve natural resources
• Experience working effectively with Tribes
• Working knowledge of stream geomorphology and stream flow
• Working knowledge of the federal Endangered Species Act and Washington’s State Wildlife Action Plan
• Working knowledge of the federal Clean Water Act and state Water Pollution Control Act
• Working knowledge of salmon recovery efforts in the Pacific Northwest
• Skill with collaborative decision-making models
• Experience using GIS software to develop maps and for light geoprocessing for data analysis
• Able to learn and understand the language and concepts of our SCC DEI culture and commit to being a part of creating and maintaining a diverse, equitable, respectful and inclusive workplace.
• Demonstrate a commitment to growth, learning and self-awareness when provided training and opportunities to participate in improving our work environment.
• Participate and behave in a manner that creates trust and builds working relationships, promoting teamwork and collaboration in the work environment.
• Demonstrate the understanding that all people are valued; contribute to an equitable, inclusive and respectful environment when working with members of the group, team, organization or community.
• Commit to being an active participant in continually evaluating and improving strategies that promote equity and inclusion in our organization.

Responsibilities

• Monitors and processes Riparian Grant Program (RGP) grant applications.
• Checks applications and project data in SCC’s grant portal for completeness and provides initial review of alignment with guidelines and SCC policies.
• Checks applications and project data in SCC’s Conservation Practice Data System (CPDS) for completeness and provides initial review of alignment with guidelines and SCC policies.
• Routes applications for review by other SCC staff, tracks awards as issued by finance staff team.
• Monitors and supports implementation of RGP grant awards.
• Provides technical resources and support to awardees.
• Resolves questions and issues as they arise from awardees.
• Monitors spending and progress of RGP awards including quarterly progress check-ins with CDs, review of monthly spending reports, identification of any issues or anomalies occurring through these processes, elevates issues as appropriate to supervisor or others.
• Use knowledge of riparian restoration and knowledge gained from conservation district award implementation to support program administration process improvements (e.g. updates and improvements to the application, reporting tools, and data collection).
• Develops schedule, protocol, and template for 5-year technical project site/field reviews and coordinates site visits with conservation districts.
• Integrates observations from site reviews into program administrative improvements.
• Provides technical advice to RGP participants on program practices, rules, policies and procedures to conservation district staff, other agencies and the public; ensuring compliance with policy and guidelines.
• Identify, develop or distribute resources to aid conservation districts to implement RGP awards and riparian restoration, in collaboration with Science Hub.
• Tracks RGP-related activities and data.
• Assists in the development of report template and SCC data platform.
• Assists in program reporting processes for RGP portion of agency-wide biennial and annual reports.

Benefits

• The typical workweek is a standard 40-hour workweek and may need occasional adjusting in order to meet the customer’s need.
• Work hours are typically 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday.
• This position requires occasional travel and overnight stays to attend commission meetings, workshops, meeting sites, or project sites to assist staff, arrange meetings, etc.
• This position will operate in a hybrid/remote setting, with the expectation of being able to come into the office as needed.
• This position has the ability to work from anywhere within Washington State.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level