Job Description
COCONINO COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT IS HIRING FOR A DISTRICT ENGINEER
Coconino County Flood Control District is recruiting a for District Engineer. The District is committed to a collaborative and empowering culture - a culture that supports a strong sense of belonging and deep trust. All team members work together to create, share, challenge, and grow our team. The District Engineer is a key contributor to this transformational leadership vision, specifically working within our organization to provide engineering guidance and leadership to our complex and varied flood mitigation and forest restoration projects, while ensuring we meet our Board of Directors' capital investment goals. The District is funded by a secondary property tax so our revenues are stable and have grown. The District is recognized nationally for working with a set of consulting firms over the past 15 years to develop the most successful post-wildfire flood mitigation in the country. Most recently, the District secured upwards of $132 million in federal, state and local funds to address Pipeline Fire post-wildfire flooding. To date, this remarkable team has accomplished just over $117 million in projects that reduce the threat to lives and decrease the impacts to public infrastructure and about 1,500 private properties. The work is nearing completion but an important project to mitigate U.S. Highway 89 remains in engineering, which is funded by $15.9 million federal Department of Transportation PROTECT grant (only one awarded in Arizona) and a $3.2 million AZ SMART
grant through the State Transportation Board. This past year the District has turned its focus to mitigating the significant flood threat that exists in five major FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas including Sedona, Tusayan, Munds Park, Fort Valley and Kachina Village. All of these areas can experience major monsoonal rainfall events and most can also experience serious flooding caused by rain on snow-events so flooding is a year-around threat in Coconino County. This affords the District Engineer with compelling challenges and opportunities for positively impacting people's lives and the regional economy. UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
For example, Tusayan is the primary gateway to the Grand Canyon National Park, whose visitation contributes over $1.1 billion to the regional economy. Over 90% of the visitors to the park travel through Tusayan via State Route 64, which is subject to 10,000 CFS of floodwater during a 100-year rainfall event. Even much smaller flood events pose a serious threat to the highway and the regional economy but would also be devastating to the community of Tusayan's business, housing and importantly their wastewater treatment/recycled water plan. The Town of Tusayan in close partnership with the District secured a $2.4 million grant to engineer a flood mitigation system for this area, which is known now as the Ensuring Grand Canyon National Park Access Project . The engineering of this critical project is nearing the 30% level and for more information go to https:// www.coconino.az.gov/3275/Tusayan-Drainage-Master-Plan . Flooding impacts to Sedona with its over 4 million annual visitors is also a major threat to public safety and the regional economy. Recently the District's Board of Directors approved a Flood Mitigation Capital Plan for these highly flood-prone areas so the District is poised to move forward over the next several years to engineer and secure the grants and partnerships that will be necessary to construct the complex projects required to mitigate flooding. The District also leads the County's Forest Restoration Initiative, which is a program to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire and post-wildfire flooding. To date, the District has invested over $11 million on U.S. Forest Service lands to restore our forest to their natural condition. The foundation of this program is the most sophisticated pre-wildfire, post-wildfire modeling conducted by J.E. Fuller Hydrology, which has identified the areas at greatest risk for post-wildfire flooding and is used to prioritize the areas needing restoration. Once again, the District is forging the science and action as the leader in this arena. AWARD-WINNING DISTRICT
The District, with the support of a strong team of consulting and contracting partners, is nationally renowned for the Schultz/Pipeline and Museum Post-Wildfire Flood Mitigation Projects. Several wildfires resulted in catastrophic flooding of downstream neighborhoods beginning in 2010. Most recently, this remarkable team designed and constructed over $117 million in flood mitigation projects in just over two years. The Arizona Association of Counties recognized this team for this achievement. Our Administrator was the recipient of the After the Flames Phoenix Award in 2024 and was the recipient of a Diversity Leadership Award given by the Diversity Leadership Alliance. In addition, the District's innovative Forest Restoration Initiative has been recognized with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo) in the category of " County Resilience:
Infrastructure, Energy & Sustainability " and awarded the 2023 Environmental Excellence Award from Arizona Forward. THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
The Coconino County Flood Control District Engineer understands and embraces the breadth and complexity of flood control projects. The District Engineer works very closely with a set of consulting engineering firms that have a long history of supporting the District with achieving its goals and attaining national recognition. The District Engineer also supervises and works closely with the District's Hydrologist to implement the directives of the National Flood Insurance Program and the County's Drainage Criteria Manual. The ideal candidate brings a balance of in-depth hydrological engineering knowledge and practical engineering experience, as well as supervisory/coaching experience and leadership vision. For an ideal candidate, the District seeks a professional with knowledge of a wide range of flood mitigation/control measures, including measures such as channels, storm drain systems, detention/retention basins, berms, and flood retarding/dam structures and understands and can fully utilize hydrological modeling using various software tools including FLO 2-D and HEC RAS. Importantly, the District Engineer has experience leading during flood emergencies and specifically with rain & stream gauges and flood emergency notification systems. Furthermore, having experience communicating with elected officials, funding agencies and partners, and engaging with the public to secure project support are key attributes. WE VALUE HONESTY, FAIRNESS, AND MUTUAL RESPECT
The District Engineer is a skilled leader who is open-minded, ethical, honest and accountable. This individual is enthusiastic about public service, supports an already very strong team and exhibits superior character traits, including: Professional credibility and confidence; Trustworthiness, humility, and integrity; Strong work ethic; Balances big picture, visionary thinking with thoughtful strategic implementation of District programs and services; Sensitivity and savvy navigating the political nature of the work; Agility to work collaboratively with community partners, residents; and elected officials on key community priorities; Experience leading and coaching diverse teams towards their goals; and Ability to work under pressure during emergencies and disasters. Coconino County Flood Control District promotes a transformational leadership philosophy that inspires team members to achieve extraordinary results while cultivating our next generation of leaders. Every team member is expected to lead by example, regardless of their job title. The District Engineer is expected to foster a climate of trusting relationships, take ownership for their actions, honor diversity, seek and share knowledge openly, as well as accept that every outcome presents a new learning opportunity. LOCALLY FUNDED WITH A FOCUS ON INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
The Coconino County Flood Control District now owns and maintains over $160 million in flood mitigation assets as well as manages a robust post-wildfire flood warning system. The District is responsible for administering the FEMA designated floodplains and the National Flood Insurance Program within the unincorporated, non-tribal areas of the County as well as within the communities of Sedona, Tusayan, and Page. The District, with strong support from its Board, has been extremely successful in securing significant federal and state funding over the past 15 years and is nationally recognized for mitigating post-wildfire flooding and its Forest Restoration Initiative. The District's revenues are estimated to be over $11 million in FY 2027 and we are actively pursuing several federal and state grants to support the Flood Mitigation Capital Improvement Plan investments and Forest Restoration Initiative. The projects identified in the Flood Mitigation CIP are estimated to cost over $100 million. The District has strong relationships with our Congressional members and with State leadership and with the key federal and state agencies that regulate and fund flood mitigation. The District is also very proud of its acclaimed public and advocacy communication vehicles that are seen as important sources for flood and forest restoration facts derived from working closely with educational institutions including Northern Arizona University's Economic Policy Institute and Ecological Restoration Institute as well as Arizona State University's LightWorks® and the University of Arizona Geological Survey. For more information about the department, please visit https://www.coconino.az.gov/1450/Flood-Control-District. ROBUST BENEFITS PACKAGE
Coconino County offers a comprehensive and cost-effective benefits package as a member of the Northern Arizona Public Employees Benefit Trust (NAPEBT). In addition to medical, dental, vision, life insurance, FSAs and HSAs, the County's insurance includes the Vera Whole Health Clinic, a clinic for employees and their enrolled family members. The County offers a robust wellness program, an employee assistance program, as well as tuition reimbursement, vacation sell-back, personal day purchase, paid volunteer time off, training academies, leave sharing, flexible options for vacation/personal time/leave, up to four weeks of paid parental leave, and professional development opportunities. The District Engineer will also receive 10 paid holidays and membership in the Arizona State Retirement System. For detailed information on the benefit offerings, including cost tables, visit https://www.coconino.az.gov/258/Employee-Benefits APPLICATION PROCEDURE
For more information about this exciting opportunity, please visit http://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/coconino? or contact our Coconino County HR Business Partners with any questions at HRBusPart@coconino.az.gov or (928) 679-7100.
