Basin Coordinator for Central Iowa

Full Job Description

Only applicants who meet the Minimum Qualification Requirements and meet all selective requirements (listed below) will be placed on the eligible list.

The Department of Natural Resources encourages all applicants to upload a current resume and cover letter to their online application.

Help Us Improve Iowa's Waters:

At the Iowa DNR, we are the stewards of our state's natural beauty. We are looking for a Central Iowa Basin Coordinator who is ready to take the lead.

You’ll be the "boots on the ground" lead worker, providing the technical spark and financial guidance needed to restore our impaired streams, protect our drinking water, and develop the connections to ensure lasting and impactful improvement to Iowa's natural resources.

If you’re a problem-solver who loves the outdoors and wants to lead a team toward a common goal, we want to hear from you.

As the Central Iowa Basin Coordinator, you won’t just be managing projects, you’ll be the bridge between local communities and a cleaner, healthier Iowa. We’re looking for a leader who is passionate about conservation and ready to turn strategy into real-world results.

What You'll Actually Do:

• Be the Local Expert: You are the go-to resource for the Central Basin including watersheds from the Raccoon River to the Iowa River and beyond, helping local groups navigate the technical and financial path to better water quality.

• Lead the Team: You’ll mentor and guide a team of Watershed Coordinators, helping them grow and succeed in their local missions.

• Get Into the Field: This isn't just a desk job. You’ll be on-site, assessing terrain and ensuring conservation practices are being built to last.

• Bridge the Gap: You’ll connect the dots between government agencies (like the EPA) and the people on the ground - farmers, city planners, and conservation districts.

Why You'll Love This Role:

• Autonomy & Influence: You’ll have the authority to shape how water quality projects are implemented across the region.

• Variety: One day you’re at a high-level meeting with community leaders; the next, you’re in your boots inspecting a new best management practice implementation site.

• Legacy: You will literally be able to point to a lake, river or stream and say, "I helped make that cleaner."

Who We are Looking For:

• A Technical Mind: You understand water quality, nonpoint source pollution, and sediment and nutrient management.

• A People Person: You can talk to a farmer, a scientist, and a local politician in the same afternoon.

• A Project Master: You’re comfortable managing budgets, reporting progress, and keeping multiple complex projects on track.

Essential Functions

• Reviews and analyzes water quality, water quantity, and nonpoint source pollution issues and mitigation strategies
• Reviews environmental principles related to sediment/nutrient/bacterial pollutants and their relationship to water quality
• Reads and absorbs technical and non-technical studies and reports on environmental planning, soil conservation, flood
• and hazard mitigation, and river basin and watershed planning
• Communicates water quality data to technical and non-technical individuals and groups of stakeholders in a clear and
• understandable manner
• Evaluates and interprets the relationship between agricultural production activities, economics, stream hydrology and
• nonpoint source pollution issues
• Develops/maintains effective working relationships with staff, state/federal agency partners, local watershed leaders/
• groups, agricultural/environmental interests, local citizen groups, private-sector partners, the regulated public, and
• industry professionals
• Establishes effective contract administration and management strategies
• Traverses open and/or cultivated fields, rolling terrain, riparian zones, and stream beds
• Prepares and interprets reports, project contracts, programmatic and financial tracking spreadsheets, and project and
• program information databases
• Reviews written watershed plans and provides constructive input and feedback
• Writes technical and non-technical documents that clearly communicate program/project ideas, goals, and objectives
• Reads and absorbs laws, rules, policies, and position papers related to TMDLs, water quality assessments, water quality
• standards, watersheds, source water protection, water quality, and water quantity improvement
• Reviews and approves contract/vendor claims, invoices, and draft/final product deliverables
• Trains/advises local/regional watershed staff on field assessment protocols and effective watershed planning processes

Critical Job Competencies

Accountability, Integrity, High Productivity, Interpersonal Skills, Communication Skills, Customer Focus, Team Player, Self Management, Computer Skills, and Technical Skills - Natural Resources Planning, Project Management and Problem-solving.

What You Get From Us:

• A competitive pay plan and rewarding work.
• Insurance benefits that start the first of the month following 30 days of employment.

(Premiums can start as low as $64/month for single and $210/month for family coverage).

• Separate vacation and sick leave accruals that start on the first day and can roll over annually.
• Nine paid holidays/year.
• Iowa Public Employee Retirement System (IPERS) retirement package with employer match.
• Optional deferred compensation (457/401A) plan with employer match.
• Professional training opportunities.
• Family friendly and professional work environment.
• Employee Discount Programs (vision, cellular, fitness, recreation, season passes, travel, counseling)

• The State’s total compensation package features benefits that are worth about 30% of your total compensation. For a list of additional benefits, please visit the DAS website for more information.

• Flexible work schedules (as approved by the supervisor).
• Opportunities for hybrid telework (as approved by the supervisor).
• Workout/Gym facilities available onsite at DNR Headquarters 6200 Park Ave, Des Moines, Iowa.

Comments

This position will work from an office approximately 60% of the time, when not in an office, this position will work in the field in the Central Iowa territory covering approximately 30 Iowa counties (Emmett, Kossuth, Palo alto, Buena Vista Pocahontas Humboldt, Hancock, Wright, Sac, Calhoun, Webster, Hamilton, Hardin, Carroll, Greene, Boone, Story, Marshall, Tama, Guthrie, Dallas, Polk, Jasper, Poweshiek, Iowa, Johnston, Madison, Warren, Marion, Mahaska, Keokuk, Washington, Louisa, Clarke, Lucas, Monroe, Wapello, Jefferson, Henry, Des Moines, Davis, Van Buren, and Lee counties)

The successful candidate is expected to establish a relationship with local DNR field offices, as well as soil and water conservation district offices and county conservation board offices within the Central Iowa district.

This position will oversee program operations and team members stationed in the Central Iowa territory listed with the above counties.

This position will also meet with water quality improvement partners located predominantly in the Central Iowa territory.

This position will also engage with project coordinators stationed around the state and represent the agency onsite for water quality events predominately in the Central Iowa territory and on occasion around the state.

The successful candidate must reside within one hour of the Central Iowa territory. Please refer to the map https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dLR2F4ZviHesOXPrLFERQAI2EFJVuiQ0/view?usp=sharing

Within this one-hour restriction, the following options are available:

•The successful candidate, as approved, may choose to telework (establish a home office/remote working location) in Iowa within the 1 hour driving distance of the Central Iowa territory.

•The successful candidate, as approved by all parties, may be stationed at an existing Partner or DNR facility/office in the Central Iowa territory.

The starting salary for new state (Executive Branch) employees is expected to be at the base of the pay range.

Additional salary increases may occur after the first six months, and then annually (if applicable).

The State’s total compensation package features an outstanding set of employee benefits that are worth about 30% of your total compensation. Visit the DAS website for more benefit information.

Program Webpage Link: https://www.iowadnr.gov/environmental-protection/water-quality/watershed-improvement

Ensure you are kept up-to-date of this position by checking your email regularly for emails from info@govermentjobs.com. This is a system generated email from the DAS application system and it may be sent directly to your Junk/Spam folder.

DNR Application Tips

For more information about DNR Employment Opportunities and position specific notices, please visit the DNR Employment website.

The State of Iowa is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

E-Verify and Right to Work

The State of Iowa participates in E-Verify, a federal program that helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.

Within the required timeframe, new hires will be verified through the E-Verify system to ensure authorization to work in the United States.

The State of Iowa also complies with the federal Right to Work laws, which protect employees’ rights to work without being required to join a labor organization.

For more information, please visit www.e-verify.gov.

Iowa DNR Mission

To conserve and enhance our natural resources in cooperation with individuals and organizations to improve the quality of life in Iowa and ensure a legacy for future generations.

Requirements

246 Grant Writing and Management 6 months’ professional level experience as one of a team or as the sole organizational resource managing the grant program, which includes all of the following: writing grant applications/proposals, managing grant funds, providing technical assistance to sub-grantees, monitoring grants, and grant performance reporting. Experience must have been a major or dominant function of the job. May also include experience reviewing, approving/awarding, and monitoring others' grant proposals, but this alone does not qualify.

OR

621 Service and Performance Contract Negotiations and Management 6 months’ experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination. Differs from labor contract negotiation. These are contracts with various vendors or other service providers and the applicant must have demonstrated experience and/or education that allowed them to review performance and service delivery and know what to do and be able to act when performance does not meet expectations. Includes: drafting or developing contracts for provision of products and/or services and the related budget components; negotiating the terms of contracts to include: costs, timeframes and performances expectations and/or work products; monitoring and managing all aspects of the contracts: to include timely submission of financial reports, performance reports, work products and determining when appropriate benchmarks for payment of invoices are met. Specific educational courses that relate to the selective might include: contract management, business law, principles of economics, business management and similar courses.

AND

450 Natural Resources 6 months’ experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both in one or in a combination of more than one of the following: • Ecology • Environmental planning • Soil conservation • Biological sciences • Waste water treatment • Forestry • Engineering related to natural resource areas (dams, sanitary engineers, etc.) • Outdoor recreation planning • Physical sciences • River basin planning • Geography • Wildlife management

Qualifications

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree in a Natural Science and three years of full time professional scientific experience in an environmental program in the areas of water supply, waste water, animal feeding operations, hazardous substances, radiation, sewage treatment, solid waste, geology, history, archeology, flood plain, air pollution, dam safety, or underground storage tanks;an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting one year of the required full-time professional work for each 30 semester hours of the required education;an equivalent combination of education and experience, substituting thirty semester hours of accredited graduate level coursework in a Natural Science, history, or archeology for each year of the required experience to a maximum substitution of two years;employees with current continuous experience in the State of Iowa Executive Branch that includes twenty-four months of full-time work as an Environmental Specialist or Environmental Engineer.

For additional information, please click on this link to view the job description.