The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office (LOSCO), established by the Louisiana Legislature in 1991, serves as the state’s central point of contact for oil spill prevention, preparedness, and response. LOSCO protects Louisiana’s natural resources, communities, and economy by coordinating oil spill response efforts, assessing environmental damages, restoring affected resources through the Oil Pollution Act–Natural Resource Damage Assessment (OPA NRDA) Program, and providing public education and outreach.
The Environmental Scientist Manager will assist LOSCO's Executive staff in the performance of their duties. This position serves as the state’s primary technical and operational Trustee representative for the Preassessment and early Restoration Planning Phases of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) program, focusing exclusively on incidents falling under the statutory authority of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA).
A bachelor’s degree in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field plus four years of experience in an environmental program, nuclear energy or radiation protection program; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); an environmental, analytical, or research laboratory, LIMS (Lab Integrated Management Systems), or laboratory auditing; OR
A master’s degree in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field plus three years of experience in an environmental program, nuclear energy or radiation protection program; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); an environmental, analytical, or research laboratory, LIMS (Lab Integrated Management Systems), or laboratory auditing; OR
A doctorate in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field plus two years of experience in an environmental program, nuclear energy or radiation protection program; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); an environmental, analytical, or research laboratory, LIMS (Lab Integrated Management Systems), or laboratory auditing.
The official job specifications for this role, as defined by the State Civil Service, can be found here.
The Environmental Scientist Manager (NRDA Program Manager - Field Response and Injury Assessment) in the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office (LOSCO) is responsible for the development, management, and implementation of the Natural Resource Damage Assessments and Restoration (NRDAR) program for the State by assessing the environmental effects of oil spills and cleanup activities through management of investigations, data collection and assessment, quality assurance, sample collection, laboratory analysis, environmental assessment. In addition, the Environmental Scientist Manager will assist LOSCO's Executive staff in the performance of their duties. This position serves as the state’s primary technical and operational Trustee representative for the Preassessment and early Restoration Planning Phases of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) program, focusing exclusively on incidents falling under the statutory authority of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). The incumbent is responsible for directing the state’s statutory responsibilities under 15 CFR Part 990. Additional duties include, but are not limited to the following:
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Deploy and direct OPA NRDA Trustee field teams to collect time-sensitive ephemeral data, including but not limited to water, sediment, biological tissue, and oil fingerprinting samples.
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Coordinate parallel field operations and track chain-of-custody data to manage active OPA NRDA cases.
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Responsible for training staff on OPA NRDA assessment protocols and utilizing them to execute field assessments and data collection across multiple NRDA incidents.
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Manage staff and coordinate NRDA activities between State and Federal Trustees and responsible parties.
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Supervise and conduct complex studies and analytical assessments in support of OPA NRDA activities.
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Work with senior-level staff, attorneys, contractors, and case teams to develop legally defensible technical positions and rationale in support of settlement negotiation with Responsible Parties.
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Supervise contracts, interagency agreements, cooperative agreements, memorandums of agreement (MOA), and memorandums of understanding (MOU) as directed.
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Manage staff and assist in the coordination of oil spill preparedness exercises and workshops attended by Louisiana Natural Resource Trustee agencies.
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Represent LOSCO at and participate in meetings, workshops, symposiums, conferences, and seminars to enhance the development of the State’s OPA NRDA program.
Position-Specific Details:
Appointment Type: Promotional position only open to current permanent Department of Conservation and Energy (DCE) employees.
Career Progression: This position does not participate in a Career Progression Group.
Work Schedule: Work hours are flexible.
Compensation: The salary offered will be determined based on qualifications and experience.
How To Apply:
No Civil Service test score is required in order to be considered for this vacancy.
Applicants are responsible for checking the status of their application to determine where they are in the recruitment process. Further status message information is located under the Information section of the Current Job Opportunities page.
Information to support your eligibility for the position must be included in the application (i.e., relevant, detailed experience/education). Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of completed education and experience sections. Applications may be rejected if incomplete.
For further information about this vacancy contact:
Human Resources
Department of Conservation and Energy
PO Box 94396
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9396
Email: [email protected]
