Director, Department of the Environment - Prince George's County Government

Come join our team! Located minutes from downtown Washington DC, Prince George's is the perfect family-friendly community to live, work, and play!

We are Prince George's Proud!

Located in the heart of the Baltimore/Washington corridor, Prince George’s County borders Washington D.C. and is just 37 miles south of the city of Baltimore. Encompassing almost 500 square miles, with over 900,000 residents Prince George's County has an urban atmosphere that still manages to provide a scenic and peaceful place to live, work, and play.

The Department of Environment’s mission is to protect and enhance the natural and built environments of Prince George's County by enforcing all federal, state, and County laws to create a healthy, safe, and aesthetically pleasing environment for all residents and businesses of the County.

The Prince George’s County Department of Environment (DOE) is a critical component of the County Executive’s Proud Priority titled, Quality of Life. The Quality of Life of county residents is heavily dependent on various environmental initiatives including adapting to the impacts of climate change, beautification of the community, and effective stormwater management. The DOE protects, enhances, and restores the County’s air, land and water through pollution reduction and flood control programs; recycling, waste and resource management; beautification, education and litter prevention; and animal services and pet adoptions. This position partners and collaborates with the Department of Permitting, Inspections & Enforcement, the Department of Public Works, County residents, businesses and non-profit organizations.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

This is an executive-level position with the responsibilities of directing the operations of the Department and regularly engaging with high ranking executive and legislative officials within County Government, officials of equivalent rank in other governmental jurisdictions, the private sector, and community-based organizations.

The incumbent in this class of work plans, develops, and implements county, state, and federal environmental policies and programs by directing departmental leaders in providing the following variety of services:

• Improving and protecting water quality to comply with the County’s federal and state regulations, which include the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Discharge Permit, retrofitting impervious acres with stormwater management controls and leading the implementation of flood control projects.
• Investigating constituent service requests for flooding on private properties with the identification of problem sources and corrected measures.
• Collecting, receiving, and processing residential and commercial waste, recyclables, and yard trim at the County operated landfill, materials recycling facility, and organics composting. 
• Managing the planning, design, and construction of landfill expansion to extend its useful life in accordance with the Ten-Year Solid Waste Plan approved by the Maryland Department of the Environment.
• Educating the community on beautification, litter reduction, tree planting, pollution prevention, and environmental best practices.
• Leading a climate action commission in developing plans to mitigate greenhouse gases and adopt measures to help protect the County’s communities from the increasing likelihood of significant climate change. 
• Facilitating pet adoptions, managing an animal service facility, issuing licenses, investigating cruelty complaints, and conducting humane outreach and education events.

The complexity of the work is reflected in the need for planning, directing, and integrating a broad range of environmental protection, restoration, and enhancement functions and programs.  The work of the Department is essential to the mission of the County Government and affects the health and safety of all county residents.  The work is primarily sedentary, performed in a typical office setting, and subject to common everyday risks.

EXAMPLES OF WORK

• Develops and administers environmental programs, practices, and policies to protect, promote, and enhance the safety and well-being of county residents.
• Directs the enforcement of federal, state, and local environmental regulations.
• Directs preparation and administration of the Department's annual operating and capital budgets.
• Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with local, regional, state, and Federal agencies engaged in the field of environmental protection, news media, and the general public.
• Addresses governmental organizations, businesses, and civic groups concerning the objectives and activities of the Department.
• Directs inspection activities to ensure compliance with State and County regulations and codes relating to air, water, and noise pollution.
• Represents the County on a variety of regional environmental boards and organizations. 
• Assures excellent customer experience to county residents through prompt and effective responses to environmental concerns.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Understanding of federal, state, and local environmental protection policies and standards.
• Knowledge of government functions and operations.
• Skill in planning, developing, implementing, and administering a broad range of functions and programs carried out by an agency consisting of approximately 300 employees with a wide and diverse range of abilities.
• Skill in conducting and evaluating proposed solutions to address environmental and other problems to establish proper policies and corrective procedures.
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with other governmental and bi-county agencies, private organizations, and the general public.
• Ability to lead, inspire, motivate, evaluate, and counsel subordinate management/ supervisory staff and delegate responsibility to them as appropriate.
• Ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and effectively; listen effectively and share information both internally and externally.

EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION:

Experience:  At least seven (7) years of extensive experience in state or local government environmental services, with at least four (4) years in a senior leadership, managerial or supervisory capacity, to include responsibility for fund and budget administration, program planning, implementation, and administration.

Education:  Master’s degree in environmental science/management, engineering, public administration, business administration, law (J.D.), or a related field.

Equivalency:  An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

LICENSE:  None.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

ELIGIBILITY TO WORK: Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, an employer is required to hire only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized alien workers. Applicants who are selected for employment will be required to show and verify authorization to work in the United States. This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S., only after an offer has been accepted and the Form I-9 is completed. For information on E-Verify, or if you believe the County has violated its E-Verify responsibilities, please contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at 888-897-7781 or visit their website at dhs.gov

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested candidates must submit a cover letter & resume to the following email address: ohrm@co.pg.md.us 

Prince George's County Government is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer committed to Diversity in the Workplace