This posting is open to all qualified candidates.




If you want to use your communication skills to help people make informed decisions about the infrastructure and services that affect their lives, the Wastewater Treatment Division's (WTD) Community Services group looks forward to meeting you. Our work centers on building understanding, supporting transparency, and ensuring the public has the information they need to engage meaningfully with our projects and operations, even when faced with community opposition. We collaborate across the division to communicate clearly, anticipate concerns, and provide accurate, accessible information. We adapt our approach to meet the needs of diverse audiences and value the perspectives that different communities bring.

As a member of WTD's Community Services unit, you will support all aspects of the division's work by helping the public understand our infrastructure projects, operations, and services. You will provide timely, clear information so individuals, businesses, and communities can offer informed input and understand how decisions may affect them. This position supports WTD operations, Executive priorities, and complex multidisciplinary capital projects, planning efforts, and programs. You will also support incident response efforts that focus on protecting the public from sewage spills or other unexpected dangers related to an emergency.

King County, named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is a diverse and vibrant community that represents cultures from around the world. Our True North is to create a welcoming community where everyone can thrive.  We prioritize equity, racial, and social justice, making it a foundational and daily expectation for all employees. As a Senior Public Involvement Outreach Specialist (WQPPM III), you will actively apply these principles in all aspects of your work. Learn more about our commitment at http://www.kingcounty.gov/equity. 

What You Will Be Doing:

• Gain public acceptance for impactful construction projects that plan, build, repair or maintain wastewater treatment facilities. This could include treatment plants, large pipes, pump stations and other underground infrastructure for WTD's Capital Improvement Program.

• Develop, manage, and implement public involvement plans for projects that may face opposition or controversy. Navigate ambiguous environments and develop guidelines where none exist to share information and build community understanding and support for WTD's work. 

• Effectively communicate and coordinate with interdisciplinary project teams on complex infrastructure projects. Work collaboratively with project and construction managers, engineers, finance and contracting specialists, permitting, environmental leads, and real property experts to meet project objectives and division goals.

• Represent WTD at public events, briefings and in one-on-one venues. Support WTD projects by working directly with interested community members to reduce risks and advance opportunities for WTD's Capital Improvement Program.

• Provide planning, assessment, and advocacy for equity and social justice opportunities on WTD capital projects and plans using County equity assessment tools. 

• Support the community relations elements of the Wastewater Treatment Division incident response program, which requires night and weekend availability on a rotating basis. Duties could include safely moving through industrial and construction sites and driving metal fence posts into the ground to close off public spaces affected by incidents.

Qualifications You Bring:

• Experience managing public outreach on concurrent projects including serving as the public face for outreach efforts.
• Demonstrated experience leading public outreach on projects with no established guidelines or developing guidelines where none exist.
• Experience working effectively with racially, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse individuals, communities, and organizations.
• Experience planning and implementing effective public outreach campaigns that include strategic goal identification, objective setting, tactic selection, and managing schedules. Demonstrated skills in designing accessible outreach and using equitable engagement tactics.
• Demonstrated experience directing and managing consultant teams in support of community outreach efforts.
• Experience working with technical experts to develop easily understood communication pieces.

• Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.

• Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.

• Interpersonal Savvy: Relating openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people.

• Manages Ambiguity: Operating effectively, even when things are not certain, or the way forward is not clear.

• Being Resilient: Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations.

• A valid Washington State Driver's License (ability to get to meetings and field sites not served by transit at varying times of day).

• Working knowledge of wastewater systems and operations.

• Experience supporting public agency incident response efforts.

• Experience working with multiple capital delivery methods, including design-bid-build, progressive design build, and general contractor/construction management.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is: 
  • regularly required to stand, walk, and use hands to touch, handle or feel objects, tools or controls. 
  • required to talk and hear. 
  • occasionally required to reach with hands and arms, and to stoop, kneel or crouch. 
  • occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. 
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

Working Conditions:

• Work Location: The Community Services team works in a hybrid model, with days in the office as well as telecommuting. The ratio of remote to onsite work will be dependent on business needs and is subject to change. The primary onsite location is King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson, Seattle, Washington 98104.
  Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.
  King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. The individual selected for this opportunity will join an innovative and progressive team that is redefining how we work as we transition to the department's hybrid environment. Employees will be provided with a County-issued laptop and must maintain a home workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours.
• Work Schedule: This full-time position works a 40-hour work week. This position is exempt from the overtime provision of the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) and is not overtime eligible.
• Union Representation: This position is represented by Technical Employees Association (TEA).

• Complete Application
• Resume
• Cover Letter
• Responses to the supplemental questions

Forbes named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

To Apply

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.