The Air Quality Program‘s (AQP) mission is to protect, preserve, and enhance the air quality of Washington to safeguard public health and the environment, and support high quality of life for current and future citizens.

Within the Technical Services Section (TSS), the Information Technology and Telemetry Unit (ITTU) provides a wide range of Information Technology services to staff of the AQP.  The unit  works on highly visible projects used by many different stakeholders, including Ecology headquarters’ and regional staff,  staff from 17 local air agencies and conservation districts, and staff from large industrial sources to small local farmers in Eastern Washington-all who are required to report environmental data, obtain a permit or interact electronically with Ecology to achieve a goal.  The ITTU also operates and maintains a state-wide Telemetry network that collects, reports, and displays near real-time ambient air quality data. 

Citizens and scientists use data from this system to make health-based decisions, determine when prescribed burns can occur, characterize the “State of the Air” in Washington, judge whether or not Washington air meets federal health standards and a lot more.  The Telemetry System is one of Ecology’s few systems designated “mission-critical.”  The ITTU also oversees the highly complex IT components implemented by Ecology’s Vehicle Emission Check vendor, which determines emissions from vehicle tailpipes from more than a million vehicles a year.  

Some of the key work activities of the Small Source Registration and Emission Inventory Specialist position are:

• Independently codes, tests, and deploys and maintains new and existing moderate-sized scientific information systems used by many different stakeholders, i including Ecology headquarters’ and regional business staff, staff from local air agencies and conservation districts across the state, and staff from large industrial sources to small local farmers i n eastern Washington. Systems are used to collect air quality related data and provide for the assessment and analysis of current environmental conditions. In support of higher-level developers, codes and tests parts of larger and more complex systems.  Existing applications included the Site Information Management System (SIMS), Washington Emission Inventory Reporting System (WEIRS), the electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting System (GGRS), the Air Quality Program Permit System (AQPPS) and others.
  Tasks:
• Codes custom web-based application for custom information systems using Ecology’s standard software development platform; adheres to industry best practices and Ecology’s software development standards.  Current development platform includes lronspeed Designer, C# programming language, Active Server Pages.Net (ASP.Net), Hypertext Markup Language-5 (HTMLS), JavaScript, Team Foundation Server, and Microsoft SQL Server. Assures the AQP has applications that are useful to users and maintainable by other IT professionals.
• Independently develops and maintains user-interface (UI) design, establishes testing plan, develops and implements specification packages from start to finish: codes, tests, and implements application components and web services; writes re-usable code using the C#, programming language: documents information systems.  Collaborates with and seeks input from users to the design/layout of screens so that data entry i s easy and logical; continually seeks feedback during development process; confirms assumptions with project team to avoid wasted or duplicative work.
• Develops software test plans, conducts User Acceptance Test (UAT) sessions to assure end user requirements are met and that bugs are resolved before releasing software to production and to help mitigate against code revision.
• Determines the causes of system failure and resolves issues promptly so that user frustration is minimized and the application functions to meet the program’s needs.
• Follows the AQP change management process so that changes do not result in unintended consequences and project deadlines are not missed.
• Collaborates with the project team to clarify business processes and to assure an excellent understanding of system requirements that support these processes.  Has in-depth knowledge of the AQP business and independently sets up and facilitates requirement gathering sessions: knows the questions to ask, defines problems, determines needs, and solves problems independently to facilitate collection of business requirements.
• Consults with customers to analyze technology needs and problem: follows an agency-standard structured process; participates in requirement gathering sessions, knows the questions to ask, defines the problem, determines needs, and solves problems effectively. This guarantees high-quality business requirements and satisfied users.
• Translates business requirements into user interface (UI) mock-ups and facilitates user acceptance of system design so that rework of system components is reduced for development team members.
• Identifies IT-related problems, including defining and analyzing the problem, identifying and testing solutions, choosing and implementing the best solution, documenting the changes as needed, and evaluating the outcome. Engages others in the process to attain highest level of understanding of problems and potential solutions.
• Resolves issues in the programming code and the user interface before releasing the application to business users for testing so that user frustration is minimized and user satisfaction is maximized.
• Compiles issues reported by testers, prioritizes fixes with input from business users and project leader: resolves these issues before re-releasing applications.

This recruitment will remain open until filled. The initial screening will be July 26, 2017.  In order to be considered for the initial screening, please submit an application on or before July 25, 2017. The agency reserves the right to make an appointment any time after the initial screening date.