Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist 3

*This position is expected to last one (1) calendar year*

The position will primarily interact with the RCO invasive species council executive coordinator in addition to other RCO staff as needed. Approximately 80% of position interactions will be collaborative with council members and project partners with external organizations such as Washington State University, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington State Department of Agriculture. It is expected that the person has a highly developed ability to communicate and build working relationships with diverse organizations and groups with differing missions, goals and objectives, styles, and views.

Some of what you’ll enjoy doing:

• Lead implementation of annual outreach plan.
• Responsible for execution of long-term outreach campaigns.
• Create monthly batches of social media content.
• Perform analysis of key engagement metrics that are available.
• Review existing outreach among WISC members and identify gaps and overlaps for the council.
• Compile risk data from council members for assessment tool development.
• Draft economic impact updates from the economic technical committee.
• Track pathway analyses and summarizes findings.
• Create training materials and prevention toolkits, especially at local levels for public use
• Create and maintain a living list of member agency invasive species programs and state and federal funding streams.
• Implement communication toolkits developed for Tribal and municipal partners.
• Coordinate logistics to set up and run meetings for advisory panels.
• Draft panel meeting summaries, and recommendation reports.
• Track research publications and emerging threats communicated from member agencies.
• Coordinate workshops and drills.
• Track available Early Detection, Rapid Response metrics.
• Work with agencies to close the loop on response actions so WISC gets feedback essential to metric tracking.
• Develop dashboards summarizing management progress.
• Review website for possible enhancements related to data sharing and act as a hub for regulatory classification synthesis.
• QA/QC storage of documents and files online.

Qualifications

REQUIRED:

• Valid driver’s license, free from serious traffic violations.
• Seven years of professional experience involving environmental analysis or control, environmental planning, environmental education, community outreach, or communications activities; or equivalent education/experience.

* Relevant education will substitute year-for-year for experience, up to 4 years.

Required Competencies:

• Leadership and Implementation – Proven ability to implement multi-year strategic and work plans. Experience building consensus on deliverables, schedules, and scopes of work among diverse stakeholders.
• Project Management – Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-agency projects.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination – Experience collaborating with tribal governments, federal/state/local agencies, and private sector partners. Skilled in facilitating inclusive dialogue and representing multi-interest groups.
• Communication and Public Engagement – Strong oral and written communication skills. Comfortable giving presentations, leading public meetings, and responding to public inquiries. Familiar with current standards for developing and managing content across social media accounts and websites.
• Invasive Species or Natural Resource Knowledge – Working knowledge of invasive species management, prevention, and ecological impacts. Understanding of inventory, monitoring, and control strategies relevant to natural resource sectors.
• Technology and Digital Tools – Proficiency with standard office software, web content management (e.g., for website updates), social media, and virtual meeting tools.
• Communication – Effectively express ideas and information through the spoken and/or word using language that is appropriate to both the complexity of the topic and the knowledge and understanding of the audience. Communicate openly and honestly with staff and management.
• Customer Service – Build and maintain internal and external customer satisfaction with the products and services offered by the organization. Consistently go beyond basic service expectations to help customers implement complete solutions.
• Integrity – Earn the trust, respect, and confidence of co-workers and customers through consistent honesty, forthrightness, and professionalism in all interactions.
• Self-Management – Identify what needs to be done and proactively takes appropriate action. Recognize situations that warrant assertive action and move forward without hesitation. Get the job done. Be accountable for work and consistently achieve excellent, timely results with little need for oversight.
• Teamwork – Actively partner with co-workers to provide them with assistance, information, techniques, instruction, feedback, and encouragement to maximize their successes on the job. Emphasize team approach to providing excellent customer service.
• Ability to Take Action to Learn and Grow – Practices self-awareness by reflecting on personal strengths, growth areas, and biases.
• Ability to Take Action to Meet the Needs of Others – Flexible, adaptable, customer service focused, and willing and able to empathically respond to the unique needs of the people they work with and serve.

PREFERRED:

• Bachelor’s degree involving major study in environmental, physical, or natural science, education, communications or closely related field.
• Policy Awareness – Familiarity with state and federal legislative processes.
• Equity and Inclusion – Demonstrated commitment to inclusive engagement and equity-focused program implementation. Experience working respectfully with diverse communities and tribal nations.
• Independent Research and Analysis – Ability to conduct or commission research on emerging threats, policy issues, or best practices. Experience developing pilot programs, evaluations, or strategic public education campaigns.