Conservation Manager Jobs in Bend, OR (NOW HIRING)

Are you interested in applying your leadership skills to protect and enhance Oregon’s environment? If so, please consider a career with the State of Oregon at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). At DEQ, employees have the opportunity to work with a dynamic and supportive team of mission-focused individuals tasked with maintaining, restoring, and enhancing the quality of Oregon’s air, land, and water.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality strives to build and sustain an inclusive and equitable environment that embraces and values diversity. Employees at all levels of the agency work together to foster fairness, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We strive to be a workplace where we share our authentic identities, while advancing our individual professional goals, and while collaborating to protect, preserve, and enhance the environment for current and future generations. We celebrate and appreciate diversity, champion equity, and treat each other with respect and dignity.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, age, or physical or mental disability in the administration of our programs and activities. Visit DEQ’s Civil Rights and Environmental Justice page.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has a full-time opportunity available for a Water Quality Regional Manager (Natural Resource Protection and Sustainability Manager 2). This position is based out of Bend, Klamath Falls, or Pendleton, Oregon (finalist may choose work location).

Please consider joining an innovative team, and work to advance our agency’s mission to protect and improve Oregon’s environmental quality.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is the primary regulatory agency of the government of the U.S. State of Oregon responsible for protecting and enhancing the state’s natural resources. The Water Quality Division has a critical role in achieving the Department’s mission by developing policy, implementation tools, and implementation priorities for improving and protecting the quality of water in Oregon’s waterways. The Water Quality Division works cooperatively with the Department’s three regional offices and the Laboratory to deliver programs and services that protect and enhance the quality of the waters of the state to protect public health and the environment.

The Regional Divisions are responsible for implementation of Water Quality, Air Quality, and Waste Management and Cleanup Programs. The Regions provide the following services: compliance inspection of regulated entities; enforcement of permit requirements and administrative rules; issuance of air, water, and solid waste permits; investigation of complaints; issuance of subsurface permits; response to spills or other incidents with environmental impacts; direct contact and liaison with other governmental entities, industries, and the public; and technical assistance to regulated entities and the public. The Regions consist of Northwest, Eastern, and Western Region. This position is in Eastern Region and focuses on the Water Quality Program.

You will lead and manage the Eastern Region’s environmental programs related primarily to TMDL and nonpoint source water quality activities, 401 Water Quality Certification Dredge and Fill and Hydro programs, the statewide Water Integration Team, and regional stormwater permitting and compliance activities. Your work will include contributing to, and collaborating on, development of statewide program goals and objectives and development of regional and staff-specific goals.

You will identify, prioritize, and schedule work; hire, manage, lead, and coach technical and professional staff; resolve difficult technical and/or administrative problems; monitor goal progress; and track and ensure timeliness and responsiveness to the public and regulated community.

As a manager and people-centered leader, you will be expected to demonstrate, and model for others, the following competencies: proactive communication, innovation, intentional engagement, mentoring and developing others, stewardship of state resources, and business acumen. These competencies show up in your day-to-day work through:

• Supporting staff with the tools, resources, and information they need to succeed.
• Coaching, mentoring, and motivating staff through regular check-ins, thoughtful guidance, and opportunities for skill development and career growth.
• Setting clear work objectives, goals, and expectations, and addressing performance with timeliness, care, and accountability.
• Creating belonging by fostering team cohesion, encouraging collaboration, and helping ensure staff understand each other’s roles and can step in to support one another when needed.

• Demonstrated commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity; proven experience developing and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; commitment to navigating and facilitating a psychologically safe, culturally responsive, and respectful workplace through a trauma-informed approach.
• Experience working with diverse groups and communities; skill and experience in communication and outreach to underrepresented communities; ability to build partnerships across diverse community and partner groups and interests.
• Experience building and supporting high-performing, collaborative, and inclusive teams that appreciate and encourage diverse thinking and foster an inclusive culture of belonging; proven experience fostering teamwork among direct-report employees; experience coaching, mentoring, and motivating direct-report employees and peers through inclusivity, equity, and kindness.
• Skill in cultivating positive relationships across diverse teams while addressing workplace dynamics with professionalism and cultural sensitivity.
• Supervisory management experience in a natural resource or environmental program; supervisory management experience in a government agency or government organization; understanding of or experience working with labor unions, particularly in a government setting.
• Experience managing a department with water quality responsibilities, including program and strategic planning; knowledge of the federal and state laws governing water quality and natural resources management; familiarity with regulatory programs involving permitting, inspections, and compliance; familiarity with Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and nonpoint sources.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate emerging environmental programmatic priorities with both statewide and national implications; public policy and program development experience in leading discussions with external parties and agency responsibilities to protect human health and the environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead both technical and program development teams using data collection, goal setting, measure design, and report development to address statewide environmental challenges and opportunities.
• Ability and experience managing human, financial, and informational resources in a manner that instills employee and public trust and accomplishes the organization’s mission.
• Experience in strategic planning, plan implementation, succession planning, outcome-based management, and change management; champions process improvement.
• Demonstrated skill in advising executives and other decision-makers; political awareness; ability to communicate clearly and effectively in stressful situations, such as with permittees and internal and external partners; excellent verbal and written communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills.

Minimum Qualifications: 6 years of supervision, management, or progressively related experience or 3 years of related experience and a Bachelor’s degree.

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 11 paid holidays
• 10 hours of vacation per month, eligible to be used as accrued
• 8 hours of sick leave per month, eligible to be used as accrued
• 24 hours of personal business leave per fiscal year, eligible to be used after 6 months of service
• Optional life insurance packages
• Flexible spending accounts
• Membership in the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
• Optional deferred compensation retirement program
• Opportunity to potentially receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)
• Continuous growth and development opportunities
• Opportunities to serve your community and make an impact through meaningful work
• A healthy work/life balance, including flexible schedules and hybrid work options for many positions

DEQ provides candidate preference points to all eligible veterans and Oregon National Guard servicemembers (current and former). For more information on candidate preference, please visit Veterans Resources. For privacy reasons, please do not attach candidate preference documents when initially applying. Instead, you will be asked to submit those at a later time as part of a future task in Workday.

As an employer, the State of Oregon complies with HB 2005, the Pay Equity Bill. We do not discriminate on the basis of protected class in the payment of wages, and we do not screen applicants on the basis of their current or past compensation. All finalists have an equal pay analysis completed to determine their placement on the salary scale. Please note: the salary listed is the non-PERS qualifying salary range. If the successful candidate is PERS qualifying, the salary range will reflect an additional 6.95% (6% goes to PERS and .95% covers payroll taxes). Please review the Classification and Compensation page for more details.

DEQ does not offer visa sponsorships. On the first day of employment, all hires will be required to complete the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Form I-9, confirming authorization to work in the United States. In addition, hires will have three business days from their first day of employment to present documents that establish employment authorization and identity. DEQ is an E-Verify employer and will use E-Verify to confirm that hires are authorized to work in the United States.