Coastal Resources Scientist Manager (LOSCO)

About this Job

The Office of the Secretary (OSEC) provides strategic leadership and interagency coordination, ensuring consistent alignment of departmental goals with statewide objectives. The office supports regulatory alignment, transparent governance and clear, accountable communication. It includes the Office of Legal Services (OLS), responsible for comprehensive legal guidance and regulatory compliance; the Office of the Natural Resources Commission (ONRC), facilitating transparent stakeholder engagement and strategic decision-making; and LOSCO, coordinating statewide oil spill prevention and response, and Oil Pollution Act - Natural Resource Damage Assessment (OPA NRDA) activities.

The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office (LOSCO) was created by state legislature in 1991. This division serves as the single point of contact for programs related to oil spills in Louisiana. LOSCO’s mission is to minimize unauthorized discharges of oil, provide for an effective spill response, compensate the public for damages to the state’s natural resources and services, and assist the public through education, service, and public outreach. LOSCO protects Louisiana's natural resources, communities, and economy by preparing for, preventing, and coordinating responses to oil spills through their Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program, and by assessing natural resource injuries, recovering damages from responsible parties, and implementing restoration that compensates the public for lost natural resource services through the OPA NRDA Program.

The Coastal Resources Scientist Manager (NRDA Program Manager - RRP Program and Restoration Implementation) in the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office (LOSCO) is responsible for the management, development, and implementation of the Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning Program and the Natural Resource Damage and Restoration (NRDAR) Program for the State. In addition, the Coastal

Resource 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 later Restoration Planning and Restoration Implementation Phases of the NRDAR process, focusing exclusively on incidents falling under the statutory authority of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA).

Minimum Qualifications

Job Specification

The official job specifications for this role, as defined by the State Civil Service, can be found here.

Job Duties and Other Information

Job Duties:

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:

• Direct, manage, and supervise the quantitative resource scaling and data modeling necessary for the injury quantification and restoration scaling for the State’s NRDAR program.
• Trains technical staff on OPA NRDA modeling protocols and utilizes them to input spatial data and verify metrics across multiple concurrent OPA NRDA cases. Manage staff and coordinate NRDA restoration activities between State and Federal Trustees, Responsible Parties, parishes, and other stakeholders.
• 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.
• Supervise and conduct complex studies, and analytical assessments.
• Manage and direct OPA NRDA restoration projects (e.g., design, implementation, and monitoring) and coordinate scientific planning with contracting agencies.
• Develop, manage, and implement Louisiana’s Regional Restoration Planning Program.
• Conduct statewide project solicitation to develop and maintain a comprehensive restoration database in support of the RRP Program.
• Supervise contracts, interagency agreements, cooperative agreements, memorandums of agreement (MOA), and memorandums of understanding (MOU) as directed.
• 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: Probational. Promotional.

• This position requires the selected applicant to serve a minimum probationary period of twelve (12) months. A current, permanent status state employee may be required to accept a probational appointment in lieu of promotion. Additional Vacancies may be filled from this announcement within 90 days of the closing date.

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.

**Note regarding the advertised pay range: The maximum amounts listed are the maximum salary amounts a person can make at each level over their career and not the amount we are allowed to pay a new hire.

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: DNR-Recruiting@la.gov