ECMC - West OWP Environmental Protection Specialist II

About the Department

This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application.

Are you interested in investing in a career that makes a difference?
  
Consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. It’s our mission to manage and conserve Colorado’s natural resources for the benefit of people today – and tomorrow. That means we have to balance development with conservation so the state we all love provides similar opportunities for our children and their children.
  
We invite you to explore our website at https://dnr.colorado.gov/about-us to find out more about the work we do to manage Colorado’s natural resources for today – and tomorrow.
  
The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply.
  

  In addition to offering rewarding, meaningful work, we offer:

• Medical, Vision and Dental plans

• Strong, flexible retirement plans including PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus pre-tax and Roth 401K and 457 plans

• Paid life insurance

• Short- and long-term disability coverage

• Employee Wellness programs

• Flexible Spending Accounts

• Health Savings Accounts

• 11 paid holidays per year plus generous vacation and sick leave

• Flexible work schedule options and remote-work options

• Career advancement opportunities throughout the State system

• Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program 

For more detailed information, please visit State of Colorado Employee Benefits

About Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC):
The Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) regulates the development and production of Colorado's natural resources, including oil and gas, geothermal energy, and carbon capture and storage. The ECMC's mission is to do so in a way that protects the environment, public health, safety, and welfare.

The Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) Orphaned Well Program (OWP) identifies, prioritizes, and addresses "Orphaned" oil and gas wells, locations, and production facilities statewide for which there are no known responsible parties or for which financial assurance instruments have been claimed. If not addressed, these oil and gas locations have the potential to impact surface and groundwater resources, impair surface owners' agricultural or development activities, harm wildlife, emit atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), or endanger public health and safety. Funding through state financial assurance claims, the Orphaned Well Mitigation Enterprise (OWME), and federal grant programs enables OWP to plug wells, decommission and remove production equipment, investigate and remediate soil and groundwater contamination, install safety infrastructure, and execute full surface reclamation. While ECMC rules, policies, and industry standards guide this work, unique site conditions frequently require the development of custom technical solutions and adaptive practices.

Position Duties

This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application.

The Position serves as the OWP Western Region Environmental Specialist, responsible for designing, managing, and implementing Phase 3 environmental activities (site investigations and soil/groundwater remediation) at orphaned oil and gas locations. Because orphaned sites lack active operators, the Position prepares, submits, and executes environmental work plans, permits, technical specifications, and regulatory reports on behalf of ECMC.

Many legacy sites fail to meet modern environmental standards due to prolonged neglect or outdated construction practices. The Position evaluates complex hydrogeological and environmental data to design site-specific remediation plans that ensure full protection of public health, safety, welfare, and environmental resources. The Position manages environmental contractors, oversees field operations, tracks project budgets and schedules, responds to public or surface owner environmental complaints, and coordinates third-party environmental consultants.

Specific job duties include but are not limited to:

• Operating in both field and office environments, the Position manages environmental contractors and assigned technical staff to execute environmental investigation and remediation projects safely, cost-effectively, and in accordance with ECMC rules, specifications, and state standards.

• Prepares technical procurement scopes, reviews bid proposals, establishes ordering agreements, approves field scope modifications, and provides technical guidance to field personnel.

• Functions as the technical authority for preparing, submitting, and managing regulatory permits, environmental site investigation work plans, and remediation plans.

• Conducts pre-design field inspections, reviews historical well files, interprets complex analytical data, and designs custom remediation systems tailored to legacy oil and gas infrastructure. 

• Responsible for project scoping, budget development, contract scheduling, and resource allocation for environmental investigation and remediation projects across the Western Region.

• Negotiates surface access agreements with landowners and surface tenants, conducts pre-bid and pre-work meetings, and ensures environmental field operations seamlessly transition into final surface reclamation. 

• Work closely with internal ECMC environmental staff, CDPHE, local jurisdictions, and federal land managers, to ensure all site assessment and cleanup activities meet applicable regulatory frameworks.

Other Duties Assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application.

Minimum Qualifications:
Experience Only:

Six (6) years of relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned to this position

OR

Education and Experience:

A combination of related education and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to six (6) years.

Substitutions:

Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.

Please note: The required experience must be substantiated within the work experience section of your application. Your resume will not be reviewed to determine if you meet the minimum qualifications; only the work experience section of your application will be reviewed to determine this. “See Resume” statements on the application will not be accepted. In addition, part-time work will be prorated.
 
Preferred Qualifications:

• Current or former state experience relevant to this position.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Knowledge and/or experience of the oil and gas industry. 
• Experience working with diverse groups of people and adapting messaging to meet needs of different audiences. 
• Proficient in using Microsoft Office and Google Suite, specifically Excel and Sheets.
• Experience with contracts and/or invoicing. 
• Profile preparation for waste disposal. 
• Experience with excavation and/or heavy equipment operations. 
• Experience auditing/reviewing forms/applications for compliance and correctness. 
• Experience reading and interpreting rules, guidelines, legal documents, statutes and policies. 
• Professional level writing, research and communication development skills.
• Experience converting technical content into plain language content for diverse stakeholders.
• Customer service experience, previous public service experience, experience  dealing with public, experience with complaint intake/response.

The current work arrangement for this position is as follows: 
(Please note, this arrangement can be subject to change)

• Hybrid: This position will work from a home office and have Statewide travel responsibility with concentrated travel throughout the Western Region. Occasional travel to the Denver central office and eastern regional sites. Multi-day travel required for field oversight, contractor supervision, landowner meetings, and pre-bid walkthroughs.

Conditions of Employment:

• Colorado residency is required at the time of application.
• Former employees of the state of Colorado must have concluded employment in good standing to be eligible for rehire.
• You must be legally eligible to work in the United States to be appointed to this position. DNR does not sponsor non-residents of the United States.

• Pursuant to the DNR-120 Fleet and Driving Standards Administrative Directive, any worker who will be expected to drive a State-owned vehicle is responsible for maintaining a safe driving record and a valid driver license prior to driving any State-owned vehicle. 

  To be compliant with the new fleet vehicle policy, Motor Vehicle Records (MVRs) will be pulled for review for workers who: 

  • Have an assigned State fleet vehicle

  • Are required to operate a vehicle as part of the position

  • Utilize a State fleet vehicle as a pool vehicle

Other Qualifications

• All applications received by the closing of this announcement will be reviewed by an HR Specialist against the Minimum Qualifications in this announcement. 

• Colorado Revised Statutes require that state employees are hired and promoted based on merit and fitness through a comparative analysis process. Part of, or all of, the comparative analysis for this position will be a structured application review by Subject Matter Experts.

• Resumes, cover letters and other attachments are not considered as part of initial reviews, therefore, it is important to document in your application your education, experience, minimum qualifications, and preferred qualifications as outlined in the job announcement. 

• Please thoroughly answer all supplemental questions (if listed) since question responses may be evaluated for content, writing ability, spelling, grammar, and effective communication. 

• This recruitment may involve additional testing and/or exams to arrive at the top group for interviews.

Benefits

The State of Colorado offers permanent employees a variety of benefits including medical, dental, life and disability insurance, as well as a comprehensive leave program.  Please click the following link for detailed information:  www.colorado.gov/pacific/dhr/benefits 

Please note that each agency's contact information is different; therefore, we encourage all applicants to view the full, official job announcement which includes contact information and class title. Select the job you wish to view, then click on the "Print" icon.
 

Supplemental Questions

Required Question

Agency Information

EmployerState of ColoradoAddress See the full announcement by clicking
the "Printer" icon located above the job title
Location varies by announcement, Colorado, -- Website https://careers.colorado.gov/