Environmental Technician

We are Herrera

Envision yourself at a growing, employee-owned company that inspires and empowers you to deliver your best performance while making a difference in the world.  

We are Herrera, a science, planning, and design consulting firm dedicated to working with clients to develop holistic solutions that provide social and environmental benefit. We protect the environment every day by providing a diverse range of consulting services to cities, counties, state and federal agencies, and private clients throughout Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, and western Canada.  

For over 40 years, Herrera has cultivated a collaborative, caring, and values-driven culture that empowers our employee-owners to achieve excellence while ensuring we have fun along the way. By providing our employee-owners with the autonomy to pursue their professional interests and through encouraging them to grow, we benefit from high employee-owner retention that contributes to our longstanding partnerships with clients.

Our Values 

• Treat everyone with respect and dignity, always.  
• Insist on integrity, objectivity, and social and environmental ethics in our work.  
• Act as stewards of the environment upon which we depend.  
• Research and outreach, learn and teach.  
• Employee owners, employee leaders.

Your Opportunity

Are you interested in using your software and hardware technology experience to problem solve and conduct scientific experiments in the field under challenging conditions? 

As an Environmental Technician, you will be in an hourly on-call/variable-hour role collecting water and sediment quality samples and flow measurements to assess pollutant transport and remediation in stormwater. We anticipate 15-20 hours per week on average; however, hours will vary based on weather and project needs and won’t exceed 24 hours per week on average. The position is based out of Herrera’s Bellingham office, and most work will be in the field throughout western Washington.

In this role we will count on you to:

• Work in the lab and in the field to set up and operate field monitoring equipment (with a focus on operating automated samplers and calibrating field sensors)
• Collect field grab and composite samples during working hours, as well as sometimes on nights and weekends during storm sampling events as necessary
• Collect samples and measurements in a variety of water bodies and stormwater infrastructure, including locations requiring confined space entry
• Calibrate and clean field instruments
• Carefully and precisely record activities, notes, and measurements in the lab and in the field
• Program, install, and maintain field instruments for water quality and flow monitoring (e.g., Isco automated samplers and YSI flow meters)
• Transport environmental samples to commercial labs (must have a current driver’s license)
• Complete miscellaneous tasks to perform quality assurance and quality control for field monitoring activities and data
• Manage collected data using spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel)

Minimum Qualifications

Education, Experience, & Licensure/Certifications 

• 1+ year of related experience, or bachelor’s degree or coursework towards a degree in environmental science or related discipline
• Valid driver's license

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Attention to detail and ability to organize and compile observations and data
• Self-starter with ability to carry out detailed instructions as well as think creatively to carry out lab and field monitoring assignments
• Team oriented, and collaborative and communicative work style
• Excellent problem-solving, verbal and written communication, design, development, and debugging skills
• Ability to carry and lift materials and equipment up to 40 pounds typical in the lab or field

• Experience collecting water quality, sediment, or other environmental data
• Calibrating and programming water quality monitoring equipment
• Confined space entry safety training and experience, or ability to complete training within 6 months
• Experience working in the right of way and associated traffic safety training, or ability to complete training within 6 months

This is an hourly, on-call/variable-hour position and it is not eligible for benefits. The pay range is $27.69 - $36.92.

We Are Committed to Equal Opportunity, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At Herrera, we celebrate our differences as much as our similarities. We know the best outcomes come from interdisciplinary, diverse, and inclusive teams. Our values are ever-present in the people, culture, and work we do, they are not just a few sentences on our website. We treat people with respect and act with integrity and objectivity. Our employment decisions are based on knowledge, skills, and abilities, and have nothing to do with your race, color, gender, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, medical history, reproductive health decisions, political ideology, veteran status, or physical appearance. As an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, we encourage women, minorities, veterans, disabled veterans, and individuals with disabilities to apply for our open positions. We are also a member of E-Verify. To learn more about E-Verify, read the E-Verify Notice and the Right to Work Notice.