Statewide Emergency Spill Response Coordinator

Full Job Description

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is seeking a Statewide Emergency Spill Response Coordinator. This high-impact role manages the full lifecycle of hazardous material incidents for UDOT. You will lead a unified response strategy, coordinating across all UDOT regions and partnering with state agencies (DEQ, DPS, and local health departments) to ensure rapid stabilization and seamless transition to final remediation. You will act as the central bridge between UDOT regions, divisions, state agencies, and private contractors to mitigate the significant regulatory and financial risks associated with fuel, oil, and chemical releases. This position will lead a unified approach by synchronizing response efforts across Maintenance, Construction, Environmental, Structures, and Safety divisions. This position will act as an interagency liaison and establish and maintain clear communication networks with first responders, the DEQ, third-party insurers, and cleanup contractors to ensure seamless ownership transfers. This position manages every phase of cleanup to ensure all spills are remediated to regulatory standards, protecting the state from long-term environmental and financial liability.

Example of Duties

• Program Ownership: Manage all aspects of UDOT’s IDDE Program, including monitoring compliance, planning long-term improvements, and providing strategic recommendations to UDOT Management.
• Incident Response: Immediately respond to inquiries, complaints, or reports of suspected illicit discharges, illegal dumping, or illicit connections.
• Data & Compliance Management: Develop and maintain intuitive organizational structures for IDDE programmatic data, tracking programs, and compliance databases.
• Reporting & Quality Assurance: Prepare, monitor, and submit first-quality technical reports and regulatory deliverables for all IDDE incidents.
• Stakeholder Coordination: Act as the primary lead for internal and external IDDE incident meetings with divisions such as Stormwater, Risk Management, Traffic and Safety, and the Attorney General’s Office.
• Training & Auditing: Collaborate with Learning and Development to periodically review and revise IDDE training modules, and perform annual inventories and audits of spill response equipment at maintenance stations.
• Enforcement: Work with the Attorney General’s Office to develop and implement MS4 Permit-required enforcement options and penalty schedules.

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree or higher in the sciences, engineering or a related field OR six or more years of related experience.
• Relevant Experience: Four or more years in environmental regulations, permitting, monitoring, emergency response, safety, or a related field.
• Licensure/Certification: Must complete and maintain OSHA’s 40-hour HAZWOPER certification, and hold and maintain a valid Utah driver’s license.

The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a self-directed leader capable of tracking numerous complex work products and deadlines in a fast-paced environment. You are responsible for seeing all IDDE incidents through until close-out. You must be able to lead by example, professionally represent UDOT to outside parties, prepare concise and complete regulatory reports, and clearly convey technical regulations to stakeholders of varying programmatic understanding.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Regulatory Proficiency: Ability to understand relevant and applicable laws, rules, regulations, and/or policies and procedures.
• Compliance Oversight: Ability to interpret, implement, and apply laws, rules, regulations, policies, and/or standard operating procedures to ensure compliance with UDOT’s MS4 Permit.
• Leadership: Ability to lead people and groups, and effectively communicate expectations.
• Analytical Examination: Experience conducting methodical examination of information and evaluating information against a set of standards.
• Data Analysis: Ability to analyze and identify underlying principles, reasons, and facts associated with information or data.
• Effective Communication: Ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and effectively, both verbally and in writing; ability to listen to and understand information and ideas.
• Meeting Facilitation: Ability to facilitate or lead calls, presentations, meetings, teams, or work groups to encourage participation and build mutual trust, respect, and cooperation to meet a common goal or effect change.
• Best Management Practices: Knowledge of Best Management Practices (BMPs) and their implementation, evaluation, and maintenance as applied to MS4 permits and IDDE incidents.
• Technical Proficiency: Skill and ability to learn and use geospatial applications, spreadsheets, word processing, and investigative or inspection software.
• Regulatory Tracking: Ability to fully document and track numerous IDDE incidents of varying complexity within a strict regulatory framework.
• Physical Ability: Physical ability to walk or hike in varying terrain and weather conditions, including potentially contaminated (but safe) environments.

Supplemental Information

• This position is expected to coordinate responses to IDDE incidents that occur outside of normal working hours; however, this position is not eligible for on-call pay.
• This position requires the ability to travel anywhere within the State of Utah on short notice and respond on-site to major incidents within 24 hours.
• Working Conditions - This position is both in-office and field work, therefore the risks are both those found in the typical office setting and those that require the use of special safety precautions.
• Physical Requirements - Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform the work and special physical demands are not required to perform the work; however, while working in the fieldphysical requirements of this job are moderate.
• Employee may be reassigned to a different location as deemed necessary by the Region Director/Group Leader.

Why Should You Join Our Team?

The work we do matters. If you want to make a positive difference doing meaningful work, this is the right place for you.

Our mission statement is, “Enhance quality of life through transportation.” We define quality of life through a framework of Good Health, Connected Communities, Better Mobility, and Strong Economy.

We help the State of Utah and its traveling public to get to where they want, when they want, in the way they want -- and we make sure they can do it safely.

You will become part of a team with an internal culture of Trust, Teamwork, and Flexibility. Our organization lives by the values of Respect, Integrity, and Caring. If these are your values too, you'll be a great fit.

Aside from working for a cause-driven, cutting edge agency that is leading all other transportation departments in the nation, you will receive great health and retirement benefits.

Working for the State of Utah provides a positive work-life balance. Click here to view a summary of the benefits we offer.

The Agency

UDOT is a strengths-based organization, which means its approach is based on identifying and developing individual and organizational strengths.

Our philosophy is to address challenges by bringing our strengths to each situation and create the best solutions.

Candidates are encouraged to be familiar with their strengths and consider how they may potentially be of benefit to the roles for which they are applying.

UDOT uses the Clifton Strengths Assessment, but there are multiple strengths assessment tools available online, and no formal assessment is required.

For more information on the Utah Department of Transportation, please click here.