Senior Water Quality Program Specialist

Senior Water Quality Program Specialist

Salary

$80,901.00 - $103,331.00 Annually

Location

City Hall Building, Gresham, OR

Job Type

Full Time

Job Number

26174-1

Department

Environmental Services

Division

Water Operations

Opening Date

07/13/2026

Closing Date

8/9/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

• Description
• Benefits
• Questions

Overview

The City of Gresham is seeking a Senior Water Quality Program Specialist to serve as the Citys central lead for its drinking water quality and protection programs, reporting directly to the Water Operations Manager. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced water professional to take ownership of a large-scale, high-profile program with direct public health, regulatory, and community impact.

This position provides advanced technical oversight and citywide coordination of regulatory sampling and reporting, distribution system flushing strategy, cross-connection control, customer water quality investigations, and data analysis across SCADA, GIS, laboratory, and field datasets. This person must be fully versed in drinking water testing procedures under Oregon Health Authority (OHA) rules and regulations and will often serve as the divisions subject matter expert. The position provides lead direction, training, and functional guidance to water quality staff.

As Oregons fourth-largest city, Gresham is a welcoming community of hard-working people where tradition and heritage meet innovation and opportunity. Gresham is a dynamic and rapidly growing city where families and businesses have a mutual desire and drive to thrive. City of Gresham employees care deeply about the community they serve and go one step beyond to deliver services in collaborative, inventive, practical, and nimble ways. Our work is challenging, fast-paced and rewarding.

We believe that to deliver the highest level of service to all Gresham community members, it is crucial we employ a diverse workforce, foster an inclusive working environment, and ensure our policies and systems result in equitable outcomes. The City seeks candidates who will support these values by continuously incorporating equity in their daily work and actively contributing to a workplace culture that respects unique viewpoints, life experiences and cultural perspectives. Come build the future with us.

Position Description

What you will get to do:

• Plan, organize, and manage a high-profile drinking water quality program with regulatory and public health components.
• Assist with strategic planning, develop program goals, policies, and procedures.
• Monitor subprograms, evaluate and report on performance and outcomes, and analyze technical information and evolving federal and state regulatory requirements to recommend improvements and ensure ongoing compliance.
• Conduct program-related research and data analysis.
• Gather and compile drinking water quality and regulatory monitoring data from a variety of sources.
• Apply descriptive statistics to answer questions and support programmatic changes.
• Prepare, submit, and distribute the annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) along with a variety of technical reports, notices, and public communication materials.
• Develop and implement outreach in support of program goals.
• Build and maintain relationships with partner and regulatory agencies.
• Provide water quality technical assistance and education to staff, the public, and outside agencies.
• Represent the City in meetings, presentations, committees, and interagency work groups, and respond to sensitive inquiries, investigate complaints, and recommend corrective actions.
• Maintain and advance critical program documentation, including SOPs, technical manuals, monitoring plans, and staff training materials essential to regulatory compliance and sanitary survey readiness.
• Support budget development, equipment procurement, and inventory management.
• Deliver training and functional oversight to operations staff.
• Serve as delegated backup Direct Responsible Charge (DRC).
• Coordinate, prioritize, and assign work to assigned staff.
• Perform other duties as assigned, including participation in citywide emergency response.

Qualifications

Knowledge of:

• Federal and state drinking water regulations, including the Safe Drinking Water Act and OAR 333; cross-connection control and backflow assemblies.
• Sampling techniques, QA/QC protocols, and laboratory coordination.
• Data analysis, trend evaluation, dashboards, and regulatory record keeping.
• Development of monitoring schedules, SOPs, and multi-program workflows.

Ability to:

• Prioritize multiple high-risk regulatory tasks with minimal oversight and exercise sound operational judgment, including as backup DRC.
• Train others and lead program initiatives.
• Perform instrument calibration and field troubleshooting.
• Communicate effectively verbally and in writing; present information, proposals, and recommendations clearly and persuasively.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with all internal and external contacts.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Associates degree, and
• Three (3) to six (6) years of progressively responsible water quality, water distribution, or related experience.

Any combination of qualifying education, training, and/or experience equivalent to five (5) to eight (8) years may be considered.

Required Licenses and Certifications:

• Valid drivers license
• Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Water Distribution System Operator Level 4 Certification.
• OHA Cross Connection Tester License.
• OHA Cross Connection Specialist License.
• Ability to obtain Oregon OSHA-approved confined space training within six (6) months of hire.

Driving Matrix:

You will be disqualified from this process if you possess any of the following driving infractions:

• A major traffic offense or accident that results in death or major injury.
• Driving under the influence (DUI) offense within the last 5 years.
• Have more than 3 moving violations within a 3-year period or more than 2 within a one- year period.
• Have more than 2 accidents within a 3-year period.

Selection Process

To apply for this position, click Apply at the top of this job posting.

Required application materials:

• Complete online application(Do not type see resume in any fields or leave work experience fields blank in the application template.)
• Answers to supplemental questions

The City of Gresham offers a comprehensive and equitable base salary within the listed range based on your experience, skills, and education verified in your application. We encourage you to clearly describe how you meet the minimum and preferred qualifications and essential attributes in your application materials.Learn more about Oregon Equal Pay.

If you desire a modification of this process to accommodate a disability, please provide your request in writing to HRRecruiting@GreshamOregon.gov, or by phone to 503-618-2729, upon submitting the required application documents.

A review of application materials including your response to supplemental questions submitted will determine which candidates will be invited to an interview.

Communication with candidates will be done primarily through e-mail. Sometimes these messages may land in a spam or junk mail folder. We encourage you to monitor your inbox as well as the inbox within the governmentjobs.com portal for important updates related to this process.

Veterans Preference

The City of Gresham provides qualifying veterans and disabled veterans with preference in employment in accordance with state law. Any candidate wishing to have their qualifying veterans preference applied to the process must submit a qualifying document (DD Form 214 or 215) at the time of application providing proof of eligibility that includes discharge status. Disabled veterans must also submit a copy of their Veterans disability preference letter from the US Department of Veteran Affairs at the time of application, unless the information is included in the DD Form 214 or 215.

Our Commitment

The City of Gresham is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified employees and applicants without unlawful regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, familial status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, Oregon, or local law.

Please direct questions about this position to 503-618-2729 or HRRecruiting@GreshamOregon.gov.

If you need assistance with the online application, please contact NEOGOV directly at 1-855-524-5627.

Any offer of employment is contingent upon successful completion of reference checks, a criminal background check, and driving record review.

The City provides full family, comprehensive medical and dental insurance. Vision and prescription coverages are included in the medical plans. Most limited term and regular status employees who work at least 30 hours per week pay nothing for their medical and dental coverage.

Medical Insurance Options:

• City of Gresham Core Plan- UnitedHealthcare Options PPO Network
• Kaiser Permanente Traditional HMO

Dental Insurance Options:

• Delta Dental PPO Plan
• Willamette Dental Insurance
• Kaiser Permanente

Additional benefits include: Employer paid life insurance and long term disability, an employer sponsored deferred compensation plan, flexible spending accounts (medical, child care), Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) retirement (City picks up the 6% employees contribution), an employer contribution to a HRA/VEBA medical savings account, paid time off (PTO) accrual at a minimum of 12.66 hours per month, and 4 hours of sick leave, in additional to nine paid holidays and 3.5 paid floating holidays per year.

For more detailed information, please visit our Employee Benefits page at: https://greshamoregon.gov/benefits/

01

What best describes your highest level of education?

• High School/ GED
• Some College
• Associates Degree
• Bachelors Degree
• Masters Degree
• Doctorate Degree
• None of the above

02

How many years of progressively responsible water quality, water distribution, or related experience do you have?

• No experience.
• One (1) or more years of experience, but less than three (3) years of experience.
• Three (3) or more years of experience but less than five (5) years of experience.
• Five (5) or more years of experience.

03

Do you have a valid U.S. drivers license?

• Yes
• No

04

Do you have an Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Water Distribution System Operator Level 4 Certification?

• Yes
• No

05

Do you have an OHA Cross Connection Tester License?

• Yes
• No

06

Do you have an OHA Cross Connection Specialist License?

• Yes
• No

07

Do you an Oregon OSHA-approved confined space training certification, or can you acquire one within six (6) months of being hired?

• Yes
• No

08

Have you been convicted of a driving under the influence (DUI) offense within the last 5 years?

• Yes
• No

09

Have you been involved in a major traffic offense or accident that resulted in death or major injury?

• Yes
• No

10

In the last 5 years, have you had more than 2 motor vehicle accidents within a 3-year period?

• Yes
• No

11

In the last 5 years, have you had more than 3 moving violations within a 3-year period or more than 2 within a one-year period?]

• Yes
• No

Required Question

Employer City of Gresham

Address 1333 NW Eastman Parkway

Gresham, Oregon, 97030

Phone (503) 661-3000

Website http://greshamoregon.gov