Diversity In Action

SFWMD wants good people with a passion for water

Diversity is important at the South Florida Water Management District. Employee diversity mirrors the area’s multicultural population

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is the oldest and largest of five such agencies in Florida. It covers sixteen counties from Orlando to the Keys. Its territory includes the environmentally complex Everglades region and the unprecedented efforts to carry out the largest environmental restoration project
in the nation’s history. SFWMD also manages water quality, flood control and water supply for the heavily populated area.

The district employs about 1,800 people including professional engineers, IT pros and a wide variety of scientists, says Lourdes Ramos, director of HR solutions. About 40 percent are female and 29 percent are minorities.

Many of the techies do modeling to determine past, present and projected water needs and weather-related impacts, while others work directly with civil engineering projects intended to improve water quality and restore more natural water flow in South Florida, Ramos says. The IT staff includes 130 people who support the large agency; Ramos notes that the group is proud of its “extremely credentialed and knowledgeable IT department.”

The agency has been in existence since 1949 and its roles and responsibilities have broadened and evolved over time. Today, many of its projects take place in the Everglades, where MEs, structural and environmental scientists, geologists and project managers for both the engineering and IT side are at work. There’s always plenty to do: the district includes 2,000 miles of canals and levees, sixty pumping stations, 500 major water-control structures and some 1,700 smaller ones.

Most of the district’s current hiring is focused on operational maintenance. Ramos is looking for structural technicians, operations and maintenance folks to build and maintain structures, and more. Water resource engineers and scientists are also needed to support the Everglades restoration projects, as are some technical and IT staff. There are usually about a hundred vacancies at the SFWMD overall.

Currently the district continues to face the challenges of a multi-year water shortage. The district is responsible for protecting water supplies for both people and the environment, so the ongoing handling of the drought has put the agency’s work in the spotlight.

Minority representation in the agency’s technical workforce mirrors the region’s minority population, Ramos notes. The agency’s interview panels are always diverse: “We want our candidates to feel comfortable.”

Once employed at SFWMD, people often move within the organization according to their talents and preferences. Many engineers wind up working in several different areas in their careers, but “If they want to stay in one area and are providing value there, we certainly want to keep them there,” Ramos says. She finds that younger techies tend to be interested in a broader scope, and the agency tries to give them those opportunities.

The SFWMD has a mentoring program in place, as well as a succession planning process for key positions. A new engineer coming in may well be paired with someone slated to retire in the next few years. “Creativity is important to us, and we want to encourage fresh ideas,” Ramos says. “After all, we do the coolest work on the planet!”

To let the rest of the world know just how cool its work can be, the agency sponsors two educational curricula with South Florida schools. “The Everglades: an American treasure” is a partnership with the “Newspapers in Education” program. “The great water odyssey” is an interactive, computer-based program. The agency facilitates teacher training for both initiatives.

The SFWMD also works with science fairs and environmental education programs. “We like to partner with community organizations and school districts to help support events. We are very community-minded,” Ramos says.

The district is especially interested in experienced techies because of the complexity of the work it does, but of course it also brings in people at entry level who can grow at the organization. “That’s very important to the health of any organization,” Ramos declares.

D/C