The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) is a regional planning agency. As the region's Metropolitan Planning Organization and Areawide Water Quality Management Agency, NOACA conducts transportation and environmental planning for a five-county region that is home to 2.1 million people and includes the counties of Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina.

The Manager of Environmental Planning supervises and collaborates with the air quality, climate and water quality planners within NOACA’s Strategic and Environmental Planning (SEP) Division. Under supervision of the SEP Division Director, the Manager coordinates projects, programs, and plans and monitors the budgets for those activities. The Position also serves as the Agency’s primary point of contact for and works closely with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) state and regional offices, and the Ohio Association of Regional Councils’ (OARC) Rideshare/Air Quality and Areawide/Water Quality Subcommittees.

Core air quality responsibilities include oversight of the agency’s Rideshare Program, (Gohio Commute transportation demand management platform, Gohio Mobility Tool, Vanpool Program); updating NOACA’s Air Quality Trends Report; and collaborating with the Public Affairs Division on air pollution public education and outreach programs. The Position also collaborates with the Agency’s Programming and Transportation Planning and Engineering Divisions, conducting conformity analysis to ensure that NOACA’s projects contribute to regional attainment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Core water quality responsibilities include working with staff on the preparation of scopes of work for grant applications and funding agreements; development of strategies and plans for nutrient reduction; review of and providing recommendation on modifications to facility planning area (FPA) boundaries; maintaining and implementing the Water Quality Strategic Plan; and maintaining and implementing NOACA’s Water Quality and Wastewater Management Plan (208 Plan).

As part of the comprehensive climate action planning work that NOACA has recently undertaken in partnership with member jurisdictions, the Manager is also responsible for oversight and performance of administrative and technical tasks that are required for the completion of plan development and implementation to meet critical milestones for the U.S. EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. Climate action planning integrates work from both air quality and water quality planning programs into a more comprehensive framework to strengthen regional cohesion and improve quality of life in Northeast Ohio.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Urban/Regional Planning, Public Administration, Public Policy, Environmental Planning, Environmental Engineering, Sustainability or relevant field preferred, plus 10 years of relevant planning experience. Master’s degree may be substituted for one year of experience. PhD may be substituted for an additional year of experience.

• Advanced understanding of regional air quality and water quality issues, with basic understanding of regional transportation issues

• Advanced knowledge of local, state and federal air quality, water quality and transportation programs, policies, and procedures

• Advanced experience with Microsoft Office applications

• Advanced experience with ESRI GIS application

• Advanced research and data analysis skills

• Advanced experience with policy and program development and implementation

• Proven leadership and team-building capabilities

• Strong organizational skills

• Strong collaboration skills

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Must be authorized to work in the United States

NOACA jobs

Manager of Environmental Planning