CDA-Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program Manager (Administrator V)

Agriculture is a part of all our lives. When you eat, put on clothes, or care for an animal--your life is touched by agriculture. Colorado's food and agriculture industry generated $47 billion of economic activity in 2019 and supports nearly 5% of the state's workforce. CDA is proud to be a part of such an important industry.

Mission:

The CDA's mission is to strengthen and advance Colorado's agriculture; promote a safe and high-quality food supply; protect consumers; and foster responsible stewardship of the environment.

CDA Wildly Important Goals:

To accomplish our mission, CDA focuses on five "wildly important goals:"

• Goal 1: Expanding National and International Market Access

• Goal 2: Developing Agricultural Leaders

• Goal 3: Advancing the Colorado Water Plan

• Goal 4: Implementing the Beaver Strategy

• Goal 5: Providing Education on Animal Mistreatment and Livestock Theft

We use these goals to focus and align the daily work of our staff in support of Colorado farmers and ranchers. Learn more about our Department and our wildly important goals in our performance plan on our website.

• Strong, secure, yet flexible retirement benefits including aPERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan plus optional 401(k) and 457 plans (www.copera.org)
• Medical and dental health plans ()
• Employer supplemented Health Savings Account ($60 per month)
• Paid life insurance, plus additional optional life insurance options
• Paid Short Term Disability and optional Long Term Disability coverage
• 11 paid holidays per year plus generous vacation and sick leave accruals
• BenefitHub state employee discount program
• Employee Wellness program State of Health
• Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, remote work opportunities, free parking, professional development and more!

To learn about the total compensation package for State government employment visit:

Equal Opportunity

The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness.

The State is resolute in non-discriminatory practices in everything we do, including hiring, employment, and advancement opportunities.

We believe that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply. The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer committed to building inclusive, innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them. Therefore, in all aspects of the employment process, we provide employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status (with preference given to military veterans), or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

Organizational Purpose
This work unit exists to administer the Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program, created by recent legislation (HB26-1111) and housed within the Division of Plant Industry, Pesticides Program. This program deals with consumer protection and environmental protection addressing a critical and long-standing infrastructure problem for the state's commercial applicators, farmers and ranchers that had no viable means to dispose of unused pesticides and recycling of pesticide containers.

Major Objectives of the Position
This position oversees the administration of the Colorado Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program, including building the brand-new program from the ground up by establishing foundational program rules, policies, and guidelines that affect pesticide Colorado Department of Agriculture applicators and the pesticide industry statewide. The Manager leads the development of educational materials, provides communication and outreach to statewide agricultural and commercial stakeholders, and coordinates and oversees pesticide and recycling collection events. Additionally, the role develops cooperation and collaboration with stakeholders for geographically equitable site selection, reviews and approves disposal and recycling contracts in coordination with the Enterprise Board, provides budget planning and oversight, actively monitors vendor compliance, safety protocols, and risk management during collection events, ensures strict adherence to state and federal environmental regulations, tracks program metrics, compiles and reports program performance annually to the legislature, and communicates with the Enterprise Board to obtain guidance and approval for program administration and strategic growth.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Program Administration and Financial Management:

Brief Duty Description: This position serves as the primary authority for the statewide Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program, ensuring strategic alignment, comprehensive regulatory compliance, and long-term fiscal viability across all program operations. Duties include:

• Design, implement, and oversee foundational administrative rules for the new pesticide disposal and container recycling program.
• Establish statewide administrative rules and operational frameworks that directly govern and support commercial applicators, agricultural producers, and pesticide dealers, providing environmental and economic solutions for agricultural waste management across Colorado.
• Drive statewide environmental stewardship and economic protection by ensuring commercial applicators, farmers, and ranchers have safe, reliable, and equitable statewide access to proper pesticide disposal and container recycling services.
• Act as the primary liaison and point of contact for the Enterprise Board, facilitating meetings, providing detailed operational updates, and securing formal approvals for strategic growth initiatives.
• Serve as the primary external-facing authority and liaison for industry stakeholders, agricultural associations, and local communities, translating statewide regulatory requirements into accessible compliance pathways for the agricultural sector.
• Develop, forecast, and actively manage the program’s enterprise fund budget, tracking fee revenues against operational expenditures to guarantee long-term fiscal sustainability.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs)—including total pounds and types of pesticides collected, recycling weights, and cost-per-pound metrics—and compile formal performance reports for the Board, the legislature, and the public.
• Identify, evaluate, and pursue opportunities to optimize program efficiency, expand statewide reach, and secure supplemental funding (such as federal EPA grants) to support the agricultural community.

Program Operations:

Brief Duty Description: As the statewide authority for the operations of the Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program, this position independently designs, establishes, and governs the comprehensive statewide operational framework for pesticide collection, transport, and container recycling. The Manager exercises high-level administrative discretion and independent judgment to formulate long-term logistical strategies, establish statewide standards, and direct complex multi-agency collection networks across Colorado. Duties include:

• Strategically design, architect, and direct the statewide rollout of collection infrastructure, leveraging demographic data, agricultural density analyses, and environmental risk assessments to establish equitable, permanent, and temporary collection sites across all regional jurisdictions.
• Cultivate, negotiate, and oversee high-level strategic partnerships with county commissioners, agricultural associations, university extension directors, pesticide dealers and municipal leaders to secure statewide host facilities and ensure institutional commitment.
• Develop disposal program policy, procedures and event criteria to ensure contractor and participants adhere to RCRA, EPA Universal Waste, and Department of Transportation (DOT) transport requirements, ensuring that all regional collection activities meet state and federal environmental safety mandates. This position will need to give guidance and direction to participants to ensure state and federal requirements are met when issues are identified.
• Independently resolve logistical disruptions by formulating and executing immediate alternative event strategies. This may include working directly with the contractor and stakeholders to adjust event schedules, locations and providing timely communication though different media sources or direct contact.
• Benchmark operational data against national best practices, develop cross-state collaborations with peer state pesticide disposal programs to continuously refine statewide logistics, maximize waste diversion, and optimize cost-efficiency.
• When necessary, this position communicates directly with state and county hazardous waste disposal programs to coordinate collection events, streamline logistics (co-locating agricultural and consumer events, unified vendor contracting, etc.), and ensure compliance with environmental regulations . By building cooperative relationships with regional agency partners, the manager aligns collection schedules when possible, shares resource networks, and resolves complex waste-handling challenges across jurisdictions.
• This position may be required to exert up to 50 lbs. of force occasionally, and/or up to 20 lbs. of force frequently, and/or up to 10 lbs. of force constantly to move pesticide containers during the course of a disposal event.

Contract Administration & Regulatory Compliance:

Brief Duty Description: This position administers the statewide Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program on behalf of the Pesticide Disposal Enterprise Board (established under HB26-1111), serving as the primary authority for specialized vendor contracting, hazardous waste compliance, and environmental safety oversight during collection events. Duties include:

• Draft scopes of work, review competitive bids, and recommend final contract approvals for specialized hazardous waste disposal and recycling contractors to the Enterprise Board.
• Ensure all chemical handling, packaging, labeling, and manifesting strictly adhere to the EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), state hazardous waste guidelines, and Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations for legacy chemical transport.
• Actively monitor contractor performance during collection events to verify proper staffing, adherence to safety protocols, and correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Report contractual performance issues to the Pesticides Section Chief and Plants Division Director, and coordinate with Department management to schedule personnel support for disposal and recycling events.

Stakeholder Outreach & Education:

Brief Duty Description: This position leads statewide stakeholder outreach, education, and communications for the Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program, fostering robust partnerships and ensuring widespread industry awareness and participation. Duties include:

• Design, publish, and distribute comprehensive educational materials regarding the proper storage, handling, and end-of-life management of agricultural chemicals and containers.
• Partner with the Communications Director to develop and execute statewide communication strategies (e.g., press releases, industry newsletters, social media, e-mail, direct mail) to notify stakeholders of upcoming collection events, program rules, and participation benefits.
• Cultivate collaborative relationships with farmers, ranchers, commercial applicators, agricultural associations, CSU Extension, pesticide dealers, and local governments to foster a culture of environmental stewardship.
• Actively survey, solicit, and review feedback from stakeholders before and after collection events to identify operational friction points, geographically optimized sites to maximize community participation and continuously improve program accessibility.

Skills-based Hiring:
This position is advertised in alignment with Executive Order 2022-015, Skills-Based Hiring. Recruitment for this position recognizes that skills can be developed through various pathways, including formal education, work experience, volunteering, self-directed learning, and other life experiences, opening doors to individuals from varied backgrounds. Those with relevant experience but without traditional credentials are welcome to apply!

• Practical experience handling, storing, transferring, spill response or supervising the use of commercial or agricultural-use pesticides in accordance with EPA, FIFRA, or RCRA disposal requirements.
• Experience in training internal and external stakeholders in policy and regulatory compliance
• Experience in contract administration
• Experience serving on environmental advisory committees related to this position.

• Practical experience handling or supervising the application, storage, disposal, spill response and transfer of commercial or agricultural-use pesticides
• Experience serving on state hazardous waste contract advisory committees or administering pesticide disposal contracts/administration

Preferred Qualifications:

• HAZWOPER Certification: Current 40-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response training with active annual 8-hour refreshers.
• Certified Hazardous Materials Manager certification.
• In-depth knowledge of EPA Universal Waste standards, RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), DOT hazardous material transportation rules, or state-specific pesticide disposal requirements.
• A valid state Private or Commercial Pesticide Applicator’s License, or Qualified Supervisor credentials.
• Professional fluency in Spanish and English (or other prominent regional dialects) to effectively translate safety guidelines and communicate with diverse communities.
• Experience in comprehensive budget administration—specifically revenue forecasting, line-item allocation, and contractor expenditure monitoring.
• Previous employment experience working with the State of Colorado

• Must have and maintain an active Colorado driver's license. Must be able to pass the MVR background check.
• Must be a resident of the state of Colorado.
• Be willing to travel for frequent single-day trips to work sites throughout the assigned area and be willing to have overnight travel to other areas of Colorado.
• Must be willing to work outside of normal business hours including weekends.
• May need to work outdoors in adverse conditions such as rain, heat, and snow.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication and public speaking skills.
• Understand RCRA, EPA Universal Waste and FIFRA as they pertain to pesticides
• Knowledge of Pesticide Disposal labeling requirements and spill clean up procedures
• Experience managing budgets
• Experience creating educational materials
• Knowledge working with people and businesses on policy and regulations.
• Knowledge of the Pesticide Industry trends.
• Experience creating process improvements
• Knowledge of safety practices and requirements as they relate to pesticides.
• Detail oriented.
• Excellent communication skills; able to communicate effectively and articulately in writing and orally with diverse communities in all corners of the state.
• Work well under pressure.
• Strong relationship management skills and excellent representation of the department in community interactions.
• Ability to develop and maintain trusted relationships with stakeholders and industry experts.
• Excellent negotiation and consensus building skills.
• Proactive approaches to problem-solving and with strong decision-making capability.
• Highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to also be extremely effective independently.

• Online application (completed fully) describing how you meet the minimum qualifications
• OR If you are not able to submit an online application, a paper application is available at this link: PDF State Paper Application. Paper applications must be received (either by US mail or email to mary.hunt@state.co.us by the closing date and time of the application period listed on this announcement.
• DD214 (if applicable)
• Unofficial copy of transcripts (if applicable)

• Technical Competence – Technical experience as it relates to the duties outlined in this job announcement.
• Depth and Breadth of Experience – Experience that covers multiple areas outlined in this job announcement. Experience should be varied and not one dimensional and demonstrate a wide range of community involvement.
• Job Fit – Experience will be evaluated to determine how well your past experience aligns with and meets the business needs of this position. Current experience is preferred.