Salary : $4,770.00 - $8,589.00 Monthly
Location : Lafayette, LA
Job Type: Promotion
Job Number: 26-76 DCLA KS
Department: Department of Environmental Quality
Division: OEC ARO
Opening Date: 07/21/2026
Closing Date: 7/26/2026 11:59 PM Central

The Department of Environmental Quality/Office of Environmental Compliance has a vacancy.

Join LDEQ's mission to protect public health and the environment through field inspections, environmental investigations, and compliance monitoring. This position position performs highly technical duties in the Acadiana Regional Office (ARO) located in Lafayette, La. and the Kisatchie Central Office (KCO) located in Alexandria, La.

Supplemental Qualifications: One year of scientific/technical experience at or above the Environmental Scientist 3 level in field operations associated with Water Media (i.e., conducting compliance inspections, investigations, and responding to complaints.)
Minimum Qualifications
A bachelor's degree in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field plus three years of experience in an environmental program, nuclear energy or radiation protection program; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); an environmental, analytical, or research laboratory, LIMS (Lab Integrated Management Systems), or laboratory auditing; OR

A master's degree in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field plus two years of experience in an environmental program, nuclear energy or radiation protection program; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); an environmental, analytical, or research laboratory, LIMS (Lab Integrated Management Systems), or laboratory auditing; OR

A doctorate in an environmental, biological, atmospheric, chemical, health, nuclear or physical science field, an engineering field, a geography/geosciences field, a natural resources field, or in a statistics or quantitative methods field plus one year of experience in an environmental program, nuclear energy or radiation protection program; Geographic Information Systems (GIS); an environmental, analytical, or research laboratory, LIMS (Lab Integrated Management Systems), or laboratory auditing.

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:
1) Coordinates compliance inspections of major sources related to one or more of the media programs, in particular those related to water quality.
2) Conducts special investigations of citizen complaints, especially those that are chronic and difficult to resolve, particularly those related to water quality.
3) Assists regional staff and serves as an expert concerning response situations related to environmental incidents, including drills related to emergency response, spills, and nuclear power plants.
4) Provide technical assistance and regional staff training as needed to allow for access to work assignments and information relative to facilities, response activities, and sampling data in the region
5) Provides guidance and supports ambient sampling efforts designed to determine levels of environmental impacts caused by pollution sources within the region.

Position-Specific Details:
Appointment Type: Promotion - Internal Open only to current permanent employees of DEQ

Domicile: Lafayette Parish

Compensation: This position offers a Special Entrance Rate (SER) listed below. This is the minimum compensation that may be offered. The job title and salary offered will be determined based on qualifications and experience.

• Environmental Scientist Staff DCLA: $31.38 per hour

Overview of the five major offices within the agency: It provides information on the mission, function, and organization along with a biography for each member of management.

How To Apply:
No Civil Service test score is required in order to be considered for this vacancy.

To apply for this vacancy, click on the "Apply" link above and complete an electronic application, which can be used for this vacancy as well as future job opportunities. 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 this job title 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 on your application. Applications may be rejected if incomplete.

Please make every effort to attach a copy of your transcript to your application if possible (PDF format preferred). The selected candidate will be required to submit original documentation upon hire.

You must submit an equivalency evaluation statement for any international degree(s) by the closing of this announcement.

Contact Information:

For further information about this vacancy, contact:

Kierra Smith

LDEQ/OMF

[email protected]

(225)219-3850

01

Are you a current, permanent employee of DEQ?

• Yes
• No

Required Question