SENIOR WATER CONSERVATION SPECIALIST

Water Supply Planning and Conservation Unit (Position Code 0890)

 
Overview:
Do you want to make a difference in your community by ensuring there is enough water for over 1.9 million people that live in Santa Clara County?  Valley Water is looking for a highly capable and collaborative Senior Water Conservation Specialist to join our water supply planning and conservation team. Under the direction of the manager, this position will oversee and lead Valley Water’s water conservation program, which includes supervising three Water Conservation Specialists and temporary support staff, overseeing the water conservation programs in the unit, and lead or support several committees to ensure short and long-term conservation goals are being met.  This position will assist the Unit Manager on a number of duties including reviewing legislation, regulations, studies, and reports; hire support staff; and assist in the development and monitoring of the programs annual budget. Additionally, this position is responsible for the development and management of cost share agreements, working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to develop marketing and promotional materials for various outreach campaigns, and represents Valley Water at various meetings.

Key Responsibilities include, but are not limited to :

• Develop, plan, and administer Valley Water’s water conservation program.
• Oversee and manage the three Water Conservation Specialists and temporary support staff; including hiring of new staff, assign and review work, approve time off, prepare employees performance evaluations and interprets Valley Water policies and procedures to employees.
• Research and analyze legislation and current regulations related to water conservation and demand management; review regulatory reports and maintain awareness of new developments in the field of water conservation; incorporate new developments as appropriate into the design of existing and new programs. 
• Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to develop marketing and promotional material in support of Valley Water programs. This includes ensuring the annual summer Water Conservation Campaign and Landscape Summit are implemented and the website is up to date and user friendly. 
• Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to develop, administer, and closeout cost-share agreements. This includes getting all necessary signatures, overseeing the budget, processing invoices, and providing updates as needed. 
• Lead the development and preparation of staff reports to committees, the Board of Directors for water conservation measures, practices, policies, and ordinances. 
• Prepare the annual budget request for the work unit, estimates staffing, equipment and supply needs based upon recent trends and planned activities and monitors expenditures after budget adoption.

Ideal Candidate's Background Includes:
Applicants whose experience and background best match the ideal experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, and education are considered ideal candidates for the position. To determine the top candidates, each applicant will be assessed based on the ideal candidate criteria listed below.

Ideal Experience:

• Six years of professional experience in the evaluation, development, implementation, and administration of a water conservation and/or demand management programs.
• Experience with or exposure to Valley Water's conservation programs.
• Possession of an American Water Works Association-Water Conservation Practitioner Level 1 or 2 certification is desirable.

Ideal Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to lead, plan, assign, direct, review, train, and participate in the more complex and difficult work of staff. Facilitates cooperation and motivates team members to accomplish group goals; team player who inspires and fosters team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. 
• Strong written and oral communication skills with the ability to interpret technical data and communicate the results to a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Possess a continual improvement mindset and always looking for efficiencies or opportunities to improve Valley Water’s conservation programs.   
• Must be able to juggle competing priorities while delivering high quality products on time with strong attention to detail. 
• Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills; carefully listens and effectively clarifies information as needed; acknowledges others' skills, experience, creativity, and contributions and treats others with courtesy, sensitivity, and respect; considers and responds appropriately to the needs and feelings of different people in different situations.
• Able to demonstrate resiliency and effectively deals with pressure, remains optimistic and persistent, even under adversity and recovers quickly from setbacks.
• Strong customer service skills.

Ideal Knowledge:

• Methods and techniques of evaluating water conservation and demand management programs. 
• Strong knowledge of the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance, California Plumbing Code, local water use efficiency ordinances and state water-related executive orders (i.e., Making Conservation a California Way of Life).
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of water efficiency technologies associated with sectoral water use, efficiency-based regulations, policies and codes, and demand-forecasting techniques. 
• Working knowledge of databases and database design.

Ideal Training and Education:

• Equivalent to a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in natural or physical sciences, geology, environmental science, or a related field. OR
• Directly related experience may be substituted for the college requirement on the basis of one and one-half years of experience for one year of education to a maximum of four years.
• Possession of an American Water Works Association-Water Conservation Practitioner Level 1 or 2 certification is desirable. 

Required License or Certificate

Possession of, or ability to obtain, an appropriate, valid California driver's license. Individuals who do not meet the driver's license requirement due to a disability will be considered for a reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case basis.

To review the Classification Specification, please click here (Download PDF reader)

Selection Process

(1)   The selection process may include one or more of the following: application review, application assessment, performance exercise, written exercise and/or interview.
(2)   The Employment Application, Qualifying Information Questions and/or Supplemental Questions will be evaluated based on the ideal candidate criteria listed above. Resumes are highly recommended.
 
NOTE:  Position and start date is subject to availability of funds. Valley Water retains the right to repost this position as deemed necessary.
Consideration may be given to existing applicant pools within the same classification.

Valley Water's Equal Opportunity Non-Discrimination Policy is available for review upon request.

Information

• Location: Santa Clara, United States

Industry experience

Education: Bachelor

Seniority: Expert, Engineer, Consultant

Years of experience: 5 to 10 years

Taxonomy

• Engineering
• Conservation
• Conservation
• Water Conservation