Supervisor III (Environmental Monitoring) - Surface Water Management

The Snohomish County Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) includes the Division of Surface Water Management, the Division of Parks & Recreation, the Office of Energy and Sustainability and the Office of Agriculture and aims to achieve high-priority environmental sustainability goals. Snohomish County Surface Water Management is seeking an experienced, people-centered Supervisor III to lead a talented team of 16 technical professionals dedicated to protecting and restoring our region’s streams, lakes, floodplains, and watersheds.

Join Snohomish County Surface Water Management (SWM) as Our Next Environmental Monitoring Supervisor!

Snohomish County Surface Water Management is seeking an experienced, people-centered Supervisor III to lead a talented team of 16 technical professionals dedicated to protecting and restoring our region’s streams, lakes, floodplains, and watersheds.

In this leadership role, you will guide multidisciplinary environmental programs that include water quality, habitat, and hydrology monitoring; salmon recovery efforts; lake restoration; stormwater management; and pollution investigations. You’ll help shape data-driven strategies that support healthy ecosystems and resilient communities—all while fostering a positive, collaborative team environment.

What You’ll Lead and Manage

• Champion a supportive, collaborative, high-performing team culture.
• Guide staff in designing, executing, and evaluating environmental monitoring programs.
• Develop clear annual work plans, including priorities, staffing, deliverables, and resources.
• Build, manage, and adapt program budgets to meet evolving needs.
• Align staff strengths with program goals, balancing responsibilities and workloads.
• Recruit, onboard, and grow staff through strong mentorship and clear performance expectations.
• Strengthen partnerships with internal divisions, external agencies, and community stakeholders.
• Contribute to division-wide strategy as part of SWM’s Management Team.
• Promote safety, inclusion, and continuous improvement across all work areas.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for a thoughtful, collaborative leader who’s excited about supporting people and advancing meaningful environmental work. If you have relevant experience, enjoy helping teams succeed, and are eager to grow, we’d love to hear from you.

DCNR partners with Snohomish County communities to steward resources and manage infrastructure for the purpose of protection, enhancement, use, and enjoyment of our land, air, and water now and into the future.

Our ideal candidate will have qualities in alignment with the County’s values: providing and demonstrating high quality service, leadership, stewardship, accountability, respect, and integrity.

Job offers are contingent on successful completion of reference and background checks. Snohomish County will not sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for this opportunity. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States.
 
About Surface Water Management
SWM is a stormwater utility that provides services to unincorporated Snohomish County. These services are funded by service charges paid by property owners in the unincorporated county. SWM is the largest division in Snohomish County’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with an annual budget of $54.6 million.
  
SWM works in partnership with other local and regional agencies to improve Snohomish County now and for future generations. SWM provides a variety of programs and services for reducing road and property flooding and preserving and improving the health of Snohomish County's water resources and natural systems. We focus on four core areas of service:

• Drainage and road flooding
• Clean water in rivers, streams and lakes;
• Salmon and marine habitat; and 
• River flooding 

You can find us responding to water-quality problems and complaints, monitoring river levels during flood season, maintaining drainage systems, managing habitat improvement projects and more. For further information on Snohomish County Surface Water Management's programs, please go to www.surfacewater.info. Our 2025 Highlights report is available here. 

Surface Water Management Overview

     
About the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR)
The Snohomish County Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) includes the Division of Surface Water Management, the Division of Parks & Recreation, the Office of Energy and Sustainability and the Office of Agriculture and aims to achieve high-priority environmental sustainability goals. Some of the greatest assets we have in Snohomish County are our unparalleled beauty and abundant natural resources. From the Puget Sound and five watersheds, to forestland, lakes, farms, ranches and parks, our quality of life, economic prosperity and future sustainability are dependent on protecting and improving our environmental resources. Visit the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources web page to learn more. 
    
About Snohomish County
Snohomish County, north of Seattle, is located in northwest Washington between the Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains. The county has rich scenery, numerous activities, and a thriving economy. Snohomish County is a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family. When joining the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, you will work in an environment where innovation, collaboration and continuous improvement are highly encouraged and supported. We are proud to offer an outstanding benefit package to employees and their dependents. We are invested in your success and growth and offer competitive wages, job flexibility and stability, employer paid ORCA cards, and a friendly, diverse team atmosphere where employees are appreciated and make a real difference providing services for our citizens. We strive to not only provide a meaningful job, but a lifelong career.

Snohomish County - The Future We Choose

Benefits
Snohomish County will be invested in your success and growth. We demonstrate this by offering a generous compensation package to our employees. Your salary is only part of your Total Compensation Package. Our benefits include:

• Retirement: County employees participate in the Washington State Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) administered by the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems (DRS). 
• Medical benefits: The County offers a choice of three comprehensive medical insurance plan with low deductibles. The county’s contribution to this benefit is significant.
• Sick leave: You will accrue 8 hours of sick leave per month.
• Vacation Leave: You will start out accruing 8 hours of vacation leave per month totaling 2.4 weeks of vacation in your first year. Your leave accruals increase based on your years of employment with the County.  
• Holiday Pay: The County observes eleven (11) paid legal holidays per year and provides employees with two floating holidays annually.
• Other benefits include wellness, dental, vision, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, long term disability, and more.
• Deferred Compensation: If you choose to participate in the Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP), the County will match your contributions up to 1 percent of your base monthly salary.
• Pay Increases: Each year you will be eligible for a step increase until you reach the top step. 
• Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA): County employees typically receive yearly cost of living adjustments.  
• Flexible work schedules. 
• Career development training. 

Teleworking Options
The work associated with this position can be performed with a hybrid of remote work with at least one day of in-office work per week. For employees who prefer to work in the office full time, that option is also available. 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. Snohomish County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. A Snohomish County Telework agreement is required for employees assigned to telework.
 
Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their Snohomish County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.