Research & Planning Coordinator, Stream Management Program

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) enriches the environment and protects public health for all New Yorkers by providing 1.1 billion gallons of high-quality drinking water, managing wastewater and stormwater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. DEP is the largest combined municipal water and wastewater utility in the country, with nearly 6,000 employees. DEP's water supply system is comprised of 19 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes throughout the system’s 2,000 square mile watershed that extends 125 miles north and west of the City.
The Bureau of Water Supply seeks to hire a City Research Scientist III for a position with the Watershed Agriculture, Forestry and Streams (WAFS) division within the Source Water Protection (SWP) directorate, located in Arkville, New York. Under general supervision of the Streams Management Program (SMP) Section Chief, the City Research Scientist III will serve as the Research & Planning Coordinator for the Stream Management Program. This position is responsible for planning and coordinating applied research and monitoring initiatives; supporting interagency and external partner collaboration; managing technical projects, contracts, and deliverables; facilitating communication among scientific, engineering, and policy stakeholders; and supporting the integration of technical findings into DEP planning and implementation efforts.
The Research & Planning Coordinator supports the integration of scientific findings into stream management practices, program planning, flood hazard mitigation, watershed protection, and ecological restoration efforts. DEP’s SMP works with local, regional, and state partners to protect and restore stream system stability and ecological integrity through long-term stewardship of streams and floodplains. The SMP develops and implements stream management strategies that reduce flood and erosion hazards, protect infrastructure and water quality, and improve aquatic and riparian habitat conditions.
Specific duties include, but are not limited to:
-Coordinate and manage scientific research, assessment, monitoring, and technical support initiatives that advance Stream Management Program (SMP) priorities and watershed management objectives within DEP’s West of Hudson watershed.
-Develop, implement, and periodically update SMP research, monitoring, and technical support work plans in coordination with DEP staff, partner agencies, consultants, academic institutions, and other stakeholders.
-Plan, coordinate, and track technical and scientific projects, including establishing project schedules, milestones, budgets, deliverables, reporting requirements, and management tracking systems.
-Coordinate activities among DEP programs, consultants, contractors, partner organizations, academic researchers, and governmental agencies to support timely completion of project objectives and implementation priorities.
-Review technical reports, consultant deliverables, project schedules, monitoring summaries, invoices, and related documentation to ensure compliance with project objectives, quality assurance standards, contractual requirements, and project schedules.
-Assist with procurement, administration, and management of contracts, task orders, cooperative agreements, and technical service agreements, including monitoring budgets, processing payments, and tracking project expenditures and deliverables.
-Serve as liaison between the SMP and internal and external partners by facilitating technical working groups, stakeholder coordination, trainings, workshops, and interagency collaboration related to stream management, watershed resilience, flood mitigation, and environmental planning initiatives.
-Prepare management reports, technical memoranda, presentations, briefing materials, and summary documents, and communicate scientific and technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
-Support stream assessment, monitoring, post-flood evaluations, field investigations, and scientific data collection efforts, as needed, to support SMP objectives and program implementation.
-Provide technical support and recommendations to DEP leadership, SMP partners, and stakeholders regarding watershed management, stream restoration, climate resilience, flood hazard mitigation, environmental planning, and related scientific or technical initiatives, and perform related work as assigned.
Preferred Skills:
- Ability to work independently under general direction while exercising sound professional judgment and maintaining effective coordination with supervisors and partner organizations.
- Knowledge of watershed science, stream management principles, flood risk reduction, climate resilience, environmental planning, ecological restoration, and related natural resource management concepts.
- Familiarity with environmental monitoring and analytical tools, including ESRI ArcGIS (or equivalent GIS software) and with GPS equipment, field monitoring tools, and standard environmental field equipment used in support of watershed and stream management activities. Familiarity with scientific, environmental monitoring, hydraulic/hydrologic, statistical, and data visualization software.
- Experience conducting field work in a variety of terrain and weather conditions, and with remote sensing technologies, uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), topographic survey equipment, cameras, LiDAR, and other field data collection technologies is preferred.
- Strong project management and organizational skills, including the ability to establish project goals and objectives; develop and manage schedules, budgets, and deliverables; track project progress; and coordinate multiple priorities and stakeholders simultaneously, utilizing data management and project management systems.
- Ability to develop and maintain collaborative working relationships and facilitate interagency coordination, technical working groups, stakeholder meetings, and partner engagement efforts.
- Utilization of Microsoft Office applications, to accomplish daily tasks, including the development of documents and presentations
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex scientific, technical, and policy information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Ability to coordinate multidisciplinary scientific, technical, and policy-related initiatives involving internal DEP programs, consultants, contractors, governmental agencies, academic institutions, and external partners.
- Ability to review, interpret, summarize, and apply scientific, technical, monitoring, and geospatial data to support watershed management, stream management, flood mitigation, climate resilience, and environmental planning initiatives.
- Ability to supervise, coordinate, and support the work of interns, seasonal staff, consultants, contractors, and technical partners, as needed.
Working Conditions:
This position will be required to make site visits to potential and selected research site and stream project locations; these visits may entail walking in hot, humid conditions through forests and meadows with the ability to navigate fallen trees and uneven ground. Walking in mountain streams will be necessary. Safely navigating past large wood accumulations in streams. Site visits will also include inspecting flood impacts to channel morphology, surveying eroding channels and adjacent hillslopes. Personal protection equipment (PPE) will be issued including hard hat, eye protection, steel toed boots, and a safety vest. The selected candidate should be able to perform the duties of the position in these conditions, with or without reasonable accommodations.
Typical Hours/Shift:
35 hours/week
Monday to Friday, Day Shift
May be required to work shifts including nights, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Work Location:
669 County Highway 38, Ste. 2
Arkville, NY
Arkville is a hamlet in the Town of Middletown, in Delaware County, NY, approximately 145 miles northwest of New York City.
OR
71Smith Ave.
Kingston, NY
Kingston is a city in Ulster County, NY approx. 90 miles North from New York City.
To Apply:
Navigate to the NY City Job Board at www.cityjobs.nyc.gov and use the search feature to find the job number to this position: 796338. Click on “apply” when within the job announcement and follow the directions to import your resume.
CITY RESEARCH SCIENTIST - 21744

1. For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health.
To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have:
1. A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or
2. A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or
3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of specialization and at least two years of experience described in "2" above. Two years as a City Research Scientist Level I can be substituted for the experience required in "1" and "2" above.

NOTE:
Probationary Period
Appointments to this position are subject to a minimum probationary period of one year.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.