Water Quality Strategy & Grants Program Manager

State of Iowa; Des Moines (IA); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid telework

Professional training opportunities

IPERS retirement with employer match

Flexible work schedules

Job summary

State of Iowa is seeking a proactive Management Analyst 3 to lead financial modeling, grant administration, and policy analytics within the Water Quality Bureau. The role combines cross-functional project leadership with compliance oversight and stakeholder engagement.

You will guide multi-year budgets, analyze statutory rules, and oversee complex statewide initiatives, including federal grants. The position emphasizes collaboration, process improvement, and regulatory capability development,

Qualifications

• Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a degree in any field, and experience equal to three years of full-time work in project management; management analysis; data science; business systems analysis; or professional-level program administration, development, or operations.
• Three years of full-time work experience in project management; management analysis; data science; business systems analysis; or professional-level program administration, development, or operations; and a total of four years of education and/or full-time experience, etc.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate, design, and maintain financial tracking and multi-year budget models across 20+ bureau funding sources and fee programs.
• Analyze Iowa Code and Administrative Rules to advise leadership on fee structures, statutory spending limits, and long-term financial strategy.
• Establish annual spending procedures, track federal grant cycles, and conduct financial analyses to recommend policy adjustments.
• Lead cross-functional project management for statewide Water Quality Bureau initiatives and continuous process improvement efforts.
• Manage the full lifecycle of complex projects—defining scope, tracking milestones, managing risks, and ensuring deliverables are met.
• Oversee federal grants and contracts from proposal writing through service delivery and workflow design.
• Coordinate the administrative rulemaking process across six bureau sections in partnership with program leads and legal counsel.
• Coach program staff on rule-drafting standards to build regulatory capacity across the bureau.
• Lead stakeholder engagement strategies to gather public feedback and develop staff training on updated regulations.
• Serve as primary operational liaison for bureau-wide initiatives, tracking progress and budget impacts to advise leadership on resource needs.
• Manage bureau-wide digital records archiving and coordinate public records request compliance.
• Direct the bureau’s EPA Quality Management Plan (QMP), overseeing Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs), SOPs, QA/QC audits, and data governance.

Skills

Accountability and integrity

High productivity

Team player

Communication skills

Customer focus

Interpersonal skills

Self-management

Computer skills

Budget & grant administration

Collaborative facilitation

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Job description

State of Iowa is seeking a proactive Management Analyst 3 to lead financial modeling, grant administration, and policy analytics within the Water Quality Bureau. The role combines cross-functional project leadership with compliance oversight and stakeholder engagement.

You will guide multi-year budgets, analyze statutory rules, and oversee complex statewide initiatives, including federal grants. The position emphasizes collaboration, process improvement, and regulatory capability development,