Special Assistant to the Director – WMS Band 2 – Fish Program – Permanent – *05743-24

FULL-TIME/PERMANENT
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR
WMS BAND 2

Fish Program
Olympia, Washington – Thurston County 

This recruitment will be posted until June 20, 2024 – submit your application materials as soon as possible. This recruitment may be closed at any time.

This position, reporting to the Program Director of the Fish Program, leads high-level policy projects as the Executive Sponsor.

The Fish Program is one of three natural resource programs within the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department). 

The Fish Program implements the agency legislative mandate to preserve, protect, perpetuate, and manage food fish, game fish and shellfish in state waters and offshore waters and seeks to maintain the economic well-being and stability of the fishing industry in the state.

In this pivotal position, you will serve as the driving force behind the implementation of budget provisos, the development of legislative reports, and major policy reviews assigned by the Commission. 

Your adept project management skills will be instrumental in ensuring the seamless execution of agency priorities, all while providing direction and oversight to program policy leads.

Additionally, as the Washington Commercial Guide Policy Lead, you will play a central role in shaping statewide policy recommendations associated with the commercial guiding industry here in Washington. 

Your responsibilities will include evaluating, developing, and implementing policy recommendations, as well as fostering collaboration through the management of the WDFW Commercial Guide Advisory Group.

Duties:

As our Special Assistant to the Director, some of the duties are:

Leadership,

This position serves as a member of the Fish Program Management Team (FPMT). The position provides high level consultation to the Director’s Office and the Office of the Assistant Director. The position must act as an influencer to achieve buy in and support, both internal and external, required to successfully fulfill the scope of the position.

This position serves as the Fish Program Executive Sponsor for high level projects to include implementation of budget provisos including, 

Development of legislative reports, Commission assignments such as major policy reviews, and agency priorities requiring project management and oversight. As the Executive sponsor, this position works closely with and provides direction to program policy leads to finalize, approve, implement, and track projects within the fish program to ensure appropriate objectives are identified, timelines are met, and projects are completed on time.

Agency and Program Policy Representation,

This position is responsible for strengthening relationships, improving communication, and building and expanding strategic partnerships to promote the agency’s budget and policy agenda.

This position ensures that these priorities are internally vetted and reflected in agency budget and policy decisions. This position ensures there is external partner understanding of and buy in for Agency priorities and that these priorities are reflected in Governor’s Office, Tribal, and federal and state agency budget and policy priorities.

Fish Program Legislative and Commission Coordinator,

This position is responsible for coordinating Fish Program legislative activities. This includes coordinating legislative responses, bill analyses, fiscal notes, and committee hearing testimony. This position will work closely with the Legislative Affairs office to develop information materials for use by the Legislative Affairs and Public Affairs teams.  In addition, this position works closely with the Assistant Director for the purpose of ensuring Commission inquiries and assignments are completed and reviews/approves Commission presentations conducted by Program staff.

Coordinate with Public Affairs,

This position will guide strategic development and implementation of outreach to influencers. These include members of the State Legislature, local elected officials, non- governmental organizations, stakeholders, and members of the public.

And will also collaborate with Public Affairs to develop strategic plans to create communication tools to help simplify complex natural resource issues so they are more easily digestible to our partners, policy makers and the public.

This position is the Washington Commercial Guide Policy Lead,

And is responsible for evaluating, developing, and implementing statewide policy recommendations associated with the industry. In this role, the Special Assistant establishes, maintains, and manages the statewide WDFW Commercial Guide Advisory Group and works closely with advisors to identify and address policy level issues associated with commercial guiding in Washington.

Strategic Planning,

This position is responsible for coordination and development of the Fish Program’s statewide business plan (strategic plan) and is the Program Director’s designee as the programs Agency strategic planning liaison.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Work Setting, including hazards:
  • Working environment is a busy office setting.  Varying degrees of activity occur in the common areas during working hours.
  • Most tasks will involve working on a computer.  Incumbent must be able to work amid distraction.
• Schedule:
  • As an overtime exempt employee, the incumbent is expected to be available to work as needed beyond normal work hours, (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) including evenings, weekends, and holidays.
• Travel Requirements:
  • Occasional travel is required. Must be willing and able to travel to locations across the state to conduct and participate in meetings.
  • Occasional out of state travel may be required.
• Customer Relations:
  • Requires frequent contact with stakeholders, WDFW employees and external contact with other agencies, members of the public, etc.
  • Responsible for legislative, contentious issue resolution and leaders of major stakeholder interaction.

Qualifications:

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Public Administration, Natural Resources, or related fields.  

And

Ten (10) years of natural resource policy experience.

Experience with Washington State government systems and processes.

Closely related qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education on a year-by-year basis.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

In addition to those required qualifications, our ideal applicant will also have some or all the following: 

Master’s Degree in a natural resources field.  

And  

Five (5) years of natural resource policy experience.

Supplemental Information:

Please note: Failure to follow the instructions below may lead to disqualification.

Experience and education selected, listed, and detailed in the Supplemental Questions must be verifiable in the application.

In order to successfully apply for this position, you MUST complete your profile at www.careers.wa.gov and attach the following to your profile before completing the online application:

• A cover letter describing how you meet the qualifications of this position (Generic cover letter will not be accepted).
• A current resume.
• Three professional references.

IMPORTANT NOTE: 

All new employees must complete an Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9 Form) on their first day of work. If hired for this or any position at WDFW, you will be required to provide documentation proving you are eligible to work in the United States. For a list of acceptable documents, please use the following link:  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents

JOIN THE WDFW TEAM:

Learn about our agency and the perks of working for WDFW!

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has some of the most talented people in the natural resource field.  We celebrate and value diversity, appreciating that a workforce composed of those from different backgrounds and experiences creates an inclusive environment, strengthens positive relationships with the local community, and brings new perspectives and approaches to fulfilling the agency’s mission. We value demonstrated skill in living WDFW values of Accountability, Service, Professionalism, Integrity, Respect, and Empathy (ASPIRE).

WDFW employees may be eligible for the following: Benefits

Medical/Dental/Vision for employee & dependent(s), Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), Vacation, Sick, and other Leave types. 

Eleven (11) Paid Holidays per year and one (1) personal holiday if the employee is scheduled to be, or has been, continuously employed by the State of Washington for at least four (4) months. 

Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Tuition Waiver, Long Term Disability & Life Insurance, Deferred Compensation Programs, Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP), Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA),  and an Employee Assistance Program.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Employer

VETERAN PREFERENCE NOTICE:

To take advantage of veteran preference, please do the following:

• Email a copy of your DD214 (Member 4 copy), NGB 22 or USDVA signed verification of service letter to  valerie.rogers@dfw.wa.gov.
• Subject line must include recruitment number, position, and Vet (for example: #10155 Biologist 1 – Veteran)
• Include your name as it appears on your application in careers.wa.gov.

MILITARY SPOUSE PREFERENCE NOTICE: 

To take advantage of military spouse preference, please do the following:

• Notify us of your military spouse status by email at valerie.rogers@dfw.wa.gov.
• Subject line must include recruitment number, position, and MS (for example: #10155 Biologist 1 – MS)
• Include your name as it appears on your application in careers.wa.gov.

Note: Please blackout any PII (personally identifiable information) data such as social security numbers. 

As part of WDFW’s efforts to advance respectful and inclusive work environments, the Agency expects inclusivity as part of our professional interactions and communications.   Therefore, we want to ensure that all individuals feel welcome, are treated fairly and respectfully.  All staff are empowered to fully contribute to serving their work unit, Agency, and the citizens of Washington.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is an equal opportunity employer.  We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity.   Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, disabled and Vietnam era veterans and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply.  

Persons needing accommodation in the application process or this announcement in an alternative format please contact Jayme Chase by phone 360-902-2278 or email Jayme.Chase@dfw.wa.gov , or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at 800-833-6388.

If you are having technical difficulties creating, accessing, or completing your application, please call NEOGOV toll-free at (855) 524-5627 or support@neogov.com.

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