Job Specification

Purpose :

- To provide technical guidance to the Ontario Clean Water Agency and its clients on technical, engineering, scientific and regulatory issues related to water, wastewater and biosolids treatment and technology.

Key Responsibilities :

1. Program Research, Assessment, Evaluation & Development
- Conducts investigations, studies, research and assessment of current and proposed water and wastewater processes, systems and plans; evaluates feasibility of the proposed design, proposes alternatives and provides recommendations for economically responsible improvements that will ensure compliance. Participates in the RFP and tendering process by evaluating technical content.
- Develops standards, guidelines, operational procedures, best practices and evaluation criteria for product and program evaluation that conform to scientific and engineering principles and relevant federal and provincial regulations, and that support cost and operational efficiency and compliance by clients. Develops processes to assess and implement new provincial regulations and guidelines.
- Develops evaluation criteria to enable review of current operation practices from a business case standpoint; e.g., return on investment, profit margin, client acceptability, compliance, practicality. Provides operational analysis regarding development, design, production and delivery capacities of plant operations to enable managers to plan and determine capacity to fulfil projects.
- Conducts reviews of current plant operations and plant performance for process optimization; recommends process, operational and plant modifications to achieve optimum results and compliance; prepares cost estimates, scope of work package and schedules.
- Reviews and evaluates specific application of new and innovative waste destruction and utilization technologies and recommends best available technology.
- Prepares nutrient management strategies and plans.
2. Stakeholder Relations
- Provides specialist services in the area of sludge management best practices and environmental management systems for internal and external clients, including evaluating plant capability for handling sludge and septage, preparing and presenting research reports and briefings to senior management.
- Fosters and maintains a network of contacts in science, engineering, technological, professional, business and government communities in order to provide input into the industry and maintain awareness of emerging technologies, issues and engineering principles.

Knowledge / Skill :

Knowledge of and skills in:
- Environmental science and engineering, technical and scientific principles of water, wastewater and sludge/ biosolids treatment, processes and handling methods to review and assess current operations and evaluate new/ emerging technologies, prepare studies, evaluations, optimizations, facility designs.
- Capital costing and cost analysis to estimate capital and operating costs of improvements, modifications, upgrades and new installations.
- Ministry legislation, policies and standards to prepare and recommend operational strategies to ensure compliance by water and wastewater operations.
- Project management to coordinate studies, data collection and analysis.
- Communications to conduct meetings, prepare technical reports, recommendations, correspondence, briefings.
- Computer operations to use standard office software to manage data, prepare reports, manuals and presentations; computer modeling of wastewater treatment process to assess plant capacity and treatment options.

Interpersonal / Influencing Skill :

- Consultation and advisory skills to provide scientific and technical leadership and advice to the agency and its clients on water, wastewater and sludge issues.
- Stakeholder relations and facilitation skills to work with operators, owners, government and industry to develop and implement programs.
- Presentation skills to provide convincing explanations of complex regulatory, technical, risk and financial issues and strategies to stakeholders.
- Training skills to ensure new regulations/policy guidelines are understood/interpreted correctly by compliance staff.

Analyzing / Problem Solving Skill :

Analyzing and problem solving skills to:
- Research and evaluate directions, trends, standards and policies using multiple sources of information to identify requirements, develop options and make recommendations.
- Analyze plant operations and interpret plant data to evaluate performance.
- Conduct computer modeling of wastewater treatment process to assess plant capacity and treatment options and recommend improvements.
- Interpret and apply recognized methods, policies, procedures to meet regulatory, technical, financial requirements.

Decision Making / Responsibility :

Responsible for:
- Developing and recommending capital and operational improvements to meet OCWA and its clients' needs and interests, and ensuring recommendations are economically justifiable while maintaining regulatory compliance.
- The conduct of studies, assessments and evaluations of water, wastewater and sludge treatment plants.
Has latitude to: determine improvements necessary for plant operation efficiency and compliance.
Decisions are guided by: Ontario Ministry of Environment regulations, policies and guidelines; Nutrient Management Act, Canadian Environmental Protection Act, Canadian Fertilizer Act, Occupational Health & Safety Act, Canadian Gas Association Code, U.S. EPA and professional practice guides.

Contacts / Stakeholder :

- Operational staff to provide training, advice, troubleshooting and to collect data for evaluations.
- Senior management to advise on industry standards and issues, present options and make recommendations.
- Other ministries and federal government to provide input on proposed regulations, policies, guidelines, issues.
- Owners and councils to advise on new technologies, requirements, policies, present options and recommendations.
- Technology providers and product suppliers to review/pilot test technology/product.

Guidance / Supervision :

- Supervises junior technical staff, administrative assistant and students by explaining assignments, providing technical advice and ensuring project requirements and timelines are met.
- Provides technical guidance to the training and development group on the development of training materials.
- Provides expertise and guidance to compliance staff in interpreting new regulations and guidelines, their requirements and implications.

Demands / Pressures :

Work Demands :

- Occasional unexpected modifications to deadlines on short notice.
- Frequent unexpected demands on short notice; e.g., assist operations with urgent compliance problems.
- Frequent conflicting work demands requiring incumbent to set/revise priorities due to, e.g., risk of non-compliance or requests from managers.
- Frequent limited control over the pace of work as it is determined by data availability or need for approvals.
- Occasional requirement to work beyond normal hours to meet tight time pressures or travel to remote facilities.
- Periods of extended work hours during crisis or emergency situations.
- Availability to respond to work requests during normal off duty hours.

Mental / Sensory :

- Frequent periods of reading without interruption to review regulations, scientific and engineering reports.
- Frequent periods of concentrating intently to analyze documents, focus on meetings/conferences with stakeholders and technology sessions.
- Occasional observing at facility site visits.
- Frequent giving instructions/recommendations to assist operators to improve operations.

Conditions / Environment :

Work is performed primarily in a typical office environment with visits to treatment plants in any/all weather conditions and weekly exposure to treatment plant hazards, e.g., raw sewage.