The Shorelands and Environmental Assistance (SEA) program within the Department of Ecology is looking to fill a Coastal Engineer (Environmental Engineer 3) (In-Training) position. This position may be located in any of the following offices: Headquarters Office in Lacey, WA. or our Northwest Region Office (NWRO) in Shoreline, WA. Upon hire, you must live within a commutable distance from the duty station.
This Coastal Engineer position offers a unique opportunity to join Washington State’s Applied Coastal Research and Engineering Section (ACRE). ACRE is a dynamic and collaborative team whose work centers on providing a scientific basis for decision making in support of shoreline planning, coastal management, engineering design, and project implementation along Washington’s marine shorelines. In this role, you will address a wide variety of key issues regarding coastal community and ecosystem resilience, including chronic coastal erosion and flood hazards, climate change impacts on coastal hazards, shoreline and bluff retreat, natural and nature-based multi-benefit coastal projects, process-based restoration projects, and the application of morphodynamic approaches to nearshore habitat and ecosystem services studies.
Ecology’s ACRE team performs state of the art research to better understand physical changes along Washington’s beaches, bluffs, and nearshore zones to enhance their management, protection, and restoration while reducing coastal hazards and increasing community resilience. You will work on interesting and challenging coastal problems, develop and co-produce innovative solutions – including natural and nature-based features—with coastal communities and Tribes, and provide engineering guidance for their designs.
What you will do:
- Plan, conduct, and coordinate coastal monitoring, modeling, and research to advance our understanding of coastal processes, mixed sand-gravel and composite beach dynamics, bluff erosion, sediment transport, and the impacts of sea-level rise and climate change on coastal systems.
- Evaluate the effectiveness, performance, and impacts of a range of existing and planned adaptation measures including conventional coastal structures, innovative natural and nature-based alternatives, hybrid approaches, and process-based restoration projects.
- Conduct coastal processes analysis and site assessment to evaluate coastal hazards, potential impacts, and mitigation strategies along Washington’s high energy ocean coast as well as the sheltered shorelines of coastal estuaries and the Salish Sea.
- Develop and test natural and nature-based alternatives to conventional coastal structures and incorporate results into engineering design guidelines and best practices.
- Provide coastal engineering consulting services, design review, recommendations, and technical assistance to Tribes, local governments, and a range of other partners for natural and nature-based approaches, slope stabilization, shoreline restoration, beach nourishment, and beach access projects to address changing coastal conditions and environmental impacts.
- Write, review, and evaluate proposals, scientific documents, and technical guidance in support of shoreline planning, permitting, and other resource management activities.
- Communicate Washington State’s Applied Coastal Research and Engineering team’s work, through presentations and written documents, to a range of local partners as well as the Coastal Engineering professional community.
- Develop and conduct training on coastal processes and coastal project design for professional audiences, such as local governments, coastal resource managers, developers, and engineers, and contribute to the Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network.
Desired Qualifications:
We highly encourage you to apply even if you do not have some (or all) of the desired experience below.
At least two years of relevant coastal engineering experience, including:
- Developing or conducting coastal environmental research and field investigations involving the collection, measurement, analysis, and evaluation of physical coastal processes and interactions with the built environment; and/or
- Conducting coastal processes analysis and/or engineering design to develop solutions in the coastal zone. Participation in the advancement of coastal projects through various design phases (concept development, site assessment, permitting, design, implementation, and monitoring).
- Proficiency with engineering calculations and modeling (e.g., sediment transport, fetch-limited wave generation/transformation, wave run-up/overtopping, slope stability, and cobble mobility) for coastal analysis or design.
Salary: $67,380.00 - $105,096.00 Annually
Application deadline: June 10, 2024
