Utilities Regulatory Specialist

City of Englewood Career•Englewood, CO

About The Position

The Regulatory Specialist oversees federal planning, permitting, and regulatory compliance activities for Englewood Utilities’ water production, engineering design, treatment, Clean Water Act, and distribution activities. Under the supervision of the Environmental Compliance Manager, the specialist ensures compliance reporting and tracking requirements are met and serves as a point of contact for internal staff and a liaison to regulatory agencies and stakeholders. The position also manages the City’s Backflow Prevention and Cross-connection Control Program and serves as the City’s administrative contact to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for drinking-water regulatory communications. The role prepares regulatory plans, reports, applications, scientific documents, and procedures; conducts regulatory research and training; participates in engineering planning and rulemaking activities; and tracks compliance requirements. It includes field inspections of public and private backflow devices, cross-connections, and facilities, along with customer service on lead and copper and backflow-related questions. The specialist also supports water rights accounting and planning and works with staff, consultants, attorneys, agencies, and stakeholders to address current and future regulatory requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, environmental engineering, watershed science, biology, environmental chemistry, civil engineering, natural resources, or a related field; equivalent professional experience in regulatory compliance and/or environmental programs may be considered in place of education.
Three to five years of experience in municipal water regulatory compliance and associated activities, including backflow prevention and cross-connection control, data management, regulatory research, reporting, and monitoring.
Valid Colorado driver’s license and a clear or acceptable motor vehicle record.
Knowledge of water treatment, water distribution, and wastewater collection processes.
Knowledge of water-quality monitoring and reporting practices and water storage and distribution practices and compliance requirements.
Knowledge of regulations associated with the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.
Knowledge of regulatory data management applications and business support systems.
Strong computer skills, including experience with Microsoft Excel, environmental databases, sampling equipment data, GIS, and other compliance support systems.
Ability to query and process large datasets to identify important information, trends, and patterns.
Strong verbal and written communication skills for working with regulatory agencies, consultants, and utility staff.
Advanced project and time management skills to prepare and submit accurate compliance reports, applications, and requests on time.
Ability to coordinate and lead teams involving environmental and legal consultants, complete projects on time, prioritize assignments, and lead team members and staff.
Advanced understanding of state and federal water regulatory and compliance requirements.
Continuous-improvement mindset and ability to lead improvements in data collection, storage, and reporting processes.
Ability to support planning and prioritization of capital improvement projects to meet current and future regulatory requirements.
Collaborative communication skills for interacting with utility operations and maintenance staff and outside agencies, partners, consultants, and stakeholders.
Experience with data collection, storage, and reporting that supports regulatory compliance activities.
Pass required pre-offer and post-offer/hire processes, including in-person interviews, reference checks, and background checks that may include local police, DMV, drug-screen, and CBI/FBI fingerprint checks.

Responsibilities

Manage the City’s Backflow Prevention and Cross-connection Control Program, direct the backflow team’s workflow, and manage third-party data providers.
Serve as the City’s administrative contact to CDPHE for drinking-water regulatory communications.
Prepare monitoring plans, extension applications, and regulatory reports for submission to CDPHE.
Prepare scientific reports, maps, memoranda, meeting summaries, permit applications and authorizations, and compliance documents for utility staff and outside stakeholders.
Research regulations for engineering and operations staff to support regulatory compliance in design plans, contracts, and methods of procedure.
Provide regulatory training to engineering and operations and maintenance staff on current requirements and future regulatory developments.
Participate in engineering planning meetings to help ensure regulatory compliance and support design planning and operations and maintenance direction.
Maintain a regulatory calendar, keep utility staff informed of state drinking-water requirements, and conduct proactive outreach to determine department needs.
Prepare standard operating procedures for regulatory monitoring, the backflow prevention and cross-connection control program, and operational matters.
Recommend regulatory, policy, and guidance developments or revisions through stakeholder groups and collaboration with CDPHE, utility staff, consultants, and attorneys.
Monitor and participate in EPA and state drinking-water rulemaking to support planning for future capital projects.
Work with the communications department on website messages and provide customers with technical information about lead and copper and backflow prevention and cross-connection control programs.
Conduct field inspections of public and private backflow devices, cross-connections, and facilities; assess compliance and recommend resolutions to violations.
Support water rights accounting and planning.
Ensure data collection and reporting comply with state and federal requirements and track the status of regulatory compliance requirements.
Perform other associated duties as assigned and required.