SALARY: $73,257.60 - $98,155.20 Annually
LOCATION: Portland, OR
JOB TYPE: Full Time
REMOTE EMPLOYMENT: Flexible/Hybrid
JOB NUMBER: 2024-0074-WPES
DEPARTMENT: Waste Prevention and Environmental Services
OPENING DATE: 09/24/2024
CLOSING DATE: 10/8/2024 5:00 PM Pacific
Position Summary
Hello, we’re Metro! Metro is dedicated to shaping a better future for the greater Portland region. The work the people of Metro do every day benefits the lives of the people who live here, today, and tomorrow.
Are you highly organized? Are you people centered and prioritize worker safety? Then consider applying for our newly created Operations Program Coordinator position to steward a library of over 20 (and growing!) operating procedures within the Garbage and Recycling Operations Division (GRO) of Metro’s Waste Prevention and Environmental Services Department (WPES). GRO Division staff, who serve the 1.7 million residents of the greater Portland region, use many tools to get the job done. This position will build and maintain a well-organized and accessible toolbox of clear, written procedures for transfer station and household hazardous waste workers to use to serve the public and to keep people safe.
This Operations Program Coordinator will have primary responsibility for keeping existing procedures and other guidance documents up to date and easy to access, for revising or creating new written procedures when needed, and for ensuring and tracking periodic reviews, so that staff stay current. Secondarily, this position will assist operations planners with monitoring, administering, and renewing low-risk contracts, and potentially could help compile technical data for required regulatory reporting.
The person in this role should be experienced in documentation and organization, at seeking input from subject matter experts, at developing, implementing, and improving processes that facilitate the upkeep, modification, and approval of guidance documents. Procedures do the most good when everyone they are intended to guide are aware of and knowledgeable about them.
An ongoing role of this position will be to ensure and document that supervisors and their staff continually stay informed and up to date on all procedures relevant to their jobs. The GRO Division has three operational functions, each with its own teams and operating requirements: Household Hazardous Waste, Scalehouse (point of sale and cash handling), and Traffic and Load Review.
With some 75 Metro staff working in the field at Metro’s busy hazardous waste and transfer station facilities, this position has access to many waste and recycling subject matter experts. The role of this mostly office-based position will be to develop, maintain, organize the procedural and other guidance documents that staff follow every day. Comprehensiveness, consistency, clarity, and easy access will be hallmarks of success in this job.
As the solid waste authority for the greater Portland region, Metro is responsible for ensuring proper management of solid waste—commonly known as garbage and recycling—generated in the region. Metro meets this responsibility by owning and operating garbage and recycling facilities, regulating others that are privately owned, educating communities about the impact of waste, and maintaining the physical assets entrusted to Metro on behalf of the public.
The Waste Prevention and Environmental Services Department (WPES) is committed to leading with equity, and is guided by the 2030 Regional Waste Plan, which focuses on advancing racial equity, reducing the environmental and health impacts of products, maintaining and improving the region’s garbage and recycling system, and rectifying the historic and ongoing inequities of that system on communities of color and others in our region.
As the Garbage and Recycling Operations Program Coordinator you will:
Develop and maintain documentation of operational processes and procedures
Recommend improvements to procedural and other guidance documents
Oversee the documentation of process and procedural changes
Draft and revise procedures
Organize guidance documents for easy access
Coordinate operational processes with external and internal systems and activities
Work with staff and managers to prioritize operational SOPs or policies needing review and/or revision
Conduct annual reviews of policies, procedures, and other guidance documents to rectify out-of-date or obsolete passages
Check in periodically with staff and supervisors to ensure consistent and accurate application of procedural guidance on the ground
Track the status of all operational SOPs, including changes (with version control)
Generate and distribute periodic summary reports documenting status of SOPs, whether complete, under review, in revision, or scheduled for review and/or revision
Assume responsibility for SOP revisions when updates or corrections are called for
Seek appropriate final review and approval of new or revised SOPs
Communicate changes to management and staff
Identify opportunities for establishing new SOPs and other guidance materials
Lead the effort to draft new SOPs and guidance documents based on operational needs
Work across divisions to seek areas of commonality, to broaden applicability of formal guidance documents
Develop a simple, transparent method for tracking annual staff review of SOPs
Become familiar with Metro’s solid and hazardous waste operations
Interact regularly with Metro operations, safety, and environmental compliance staff and management, both on site and virtually
Use your creativity to create equitable opportunities for staff to provide input and to enhance the accessibility of information
Attributes for success
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Great organizational skills
Ability to write clearly and concisely
Basic project management skills
Good listener, with ability to consider points of view from different perspectives
Curious, quick learner, especially of relevant solid and hazardous waste laws, regulations, policies, and procedures
Ability to learn industry jargon and turn it into plain language in order to communicate with a variety of audiences of diverse backgrounds
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
At Metro, we strive to cultivate diversity, advance equity, and practice inclusion in all of our work. This means attracting and empowering a workforce that is inclusive of a broad range of human qualities. Workplace diversity is both a moral imperative and a business strength, essential to providing quality support and services to our region. Metro’s goal is to hire, develop and retain highly skilled and talented individuals across all departments and programs who best reflect the diversity of our community.
Learn more about Metro’s Diversity Action Plan
TO QUALIFY
We will consider any combination of relevant work experience, volunteering, education, and transferable skills as qualifying unless an item or section is labeled required. Please be clear and specific in your application materials on how your background is relevant.
Minimum qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in the program area of specialty and
Two years of relevant experience or
Any combination of education, professional, volunteer and lived experience that provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the classification duties and responsibilities.
Valid driver’s license as needed for assigned tasks
Working Conditions
Duties are performed mostly indoors, but occasionally outdoors and exposed to inclement weather.
Required use of Metro-provided Personal Protective Equipment when on site at operational facilities.
Optional use of a Metro-owned vehicle, if reserved in advance, for travel from Metro headquarters (600 NE Grand Ave) to the operational sites and back. Metro vehicles may not be driven to staff’s residence.
Employee will work around potentially strong odors, dust, slippery surfaces and loud noises.
The position requires standing and sitting on a daily basis, travel around the region, and occasional traversing of a busy, industrial work site that hosts heavy equipment, moving trucks and cars, and commercial waste collection vehicles.
If this statement is true for you, then you may be ineligible to apply
If you were terminated for cause during any employment with Metro, or resigned in lieu of termination, you may be ineligible for rehire for a minimum of 3 years.
Hybrid Telework
At this time, this position is designated as “hybrid telework.” You will have the option to work away from the office, although frequently coming into the office or visiting a waste facility will be required. The manager will work with you to identify a schedule that balances the operational needs of the department and your needs. Employees must reside in Oregon or Washington to work at Metro.
Like to have qualifications
You do not need to have the following preferred qualifications/transferable skills to qualify. However, keep in mind we may consider them when identifying the most qualified candidates. Your transferable skills are any skills you have gained through education, work experience, including the military, or life experience that are relevant for this position.
Previous experience with solid waste or household hazardous waste operations
Knowledge of State of Oregon and Federal laws governing waste management
Previous experience working for or representing a regulated entity
SCREENING AND EVALUATION
The application packet: The application packet consists of the following required documents. Please ensure that you upload these documents in your online application. Make sure your application is complete; missing any part of these items could result in an incomplete application and will not be moved forward in the recruitment.
A completed resume that includes:
Name of employer, working title
Dates of employment; including the months/years, if the work was full-time or part-time, your title,
Summary of your responsibilities
A cover letter including:
Why you are interested in this role and how your skills and qualifications make you a good match for the position.
The selection process: We expect to evaluate candidates for this recruitment as follows. The selection process is subject to change.
Initial review of minimum qualifications
In-depth evaluation of application materials to identify the most qualified candidates
Consideration of top candidates/interviews
Testing/assessments
Reference check
Driving records check for finalist candidate
COMPENSATION, BENEFITS AND REPRESENTATON
The full-salary range for this position is step 1. $73,257.60 to step 7. $98, 155.20. However, unless a candidate’s qualifications justify, based on the Oregon Pay Equity Act requirements and Metro’s internal equity review process, the appointment will likely be made between step 1. $73,257.60 to step 4. $84,760.00.
This position is not eligible for overtime and is represented by AFSCME 3580. It is classified as a Program Coordinator I position. Classification descriptions are typically written broadly and do not include the specific duties and responsibilities of the positions. View the classification description.
Questions?
Recruiter: Carrie Gundermann
Email: carrie.gundermann@oregonmetro.gov
Additional Information
Equal employment opportunity
All qualified persons will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, familial status, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability for which a reasonable accommodation can be made, or any other status protected by law.
Accommodation
Metro will gladly provide a reasonable accommodation to anyone whose specific disability prevents them from completing this application or participating in this recruitment process. Please contact the recruiter outlined in the job announcement in advance to request assistance.
Veterans' preference
Under Oregon Law, qualified veterans may be eligible for veterans' preference when applying for Metro positions. If you are a veteran and would like to be considered for a veterans' preference for this job, please provide qualifying documents as instructed during the application process.
Hybrid Telework
Positions designated as “hybrid telework,” meaning you will have the option to work away from the office, although there may be times that coming into the office will be required. The designation of Hybrid Telework may be subject to change at a future time. All employees must reside in Oregon or Washington; Metro cannot support ongoing telework from other locations.
Pay equity at Metro
No matter who you are or where you work at Metro, you deserve to be paid fairly for the work you do. Every worker must get equal pay for equal work regardless of your gender, race, age, or other protected characteristics. Metro has established processes and conducts routine pay equity reviews as part of the hiring process to ensure compliance with the 2017 Oregon Pay Equity Act.
Online applications
Metro accepts job applications online. If you need assistance or accommodation with your application, or access to a computer, please contact the recruiter outlined in the job announcement in advance to request assistance.
How to Apply
For tips on how to apply and more information on what the application process looks like, visit Metro’s “How to apply” page.
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Metro
Led by an elected council, this unique government gives all residents of greater Portland a voice in shaping the future and provides parks, venues, services, and tools at a regional scale. We find solutions for our area’s garbage and recycling that protect clean air and water; help plan land use and development to provide jobs and safe transportation; manage local venues that provide a connection to arts and culture and help keep the economy growing; protect 17,000 acres of parks and natural areas, and run the Oregon Zoo, to keep nature close to home.