Senior/Principal-Level Environmental Planner - SWCA Environmental Consultants

About the opportunity:

SWCA Environmental Consultants is expanding our team and actively looking for dynamic individuals who are following their passion in delivering the highest-quality project work. Our Houston, TX team is looking for a self-motivated Senior or Principal-Level Environmental Planner with attention to detail, strong communication skills, and experience providing environmental planning support to a diversity of State and Federal agencies, across multiple client sectors.  Individuals need to be willing and able to work with peers across various offices and accomplish tasks associated with a variety of projects in any given week. The ability to work directly with clients is imperative. The interest in pursuing new business is also desirable. 

 

We are considering candidates at the below levels of positions, based on relevant years of experience to the role:

 

• Senior Environmental Planner – Typically with at least ten (10) years of relevant environmental industry experience and expertise
• Principal Environmental Planner – Typically with at least twelve (12) years of relevant experience environmental industry experience and expertise.

 

This is a permanent, full-time, salaried, regular (with full benefits) position, reporting to Houston’s Environmental Planning position.  The position will report into the Houston office with hybrid work environments readily available.  Highly qualified individuals from remote locations will also be seriously considered.

 

Application deadline: Our team will begin reviewing applications immediately, and interviews will be scheduled with qualified candidates on a rolling basis. The application process will remain open until we have received a robust pool of qualified candidates. Once we have identified suitable individuals, we may close the application process without prior notice. We appreciate the time and effort invested by all applicants and will carefully consider each submission.

What you will accomplish:

The Senior or Principal Environmental Planner will be responsible for performing and overseeing multi-disciplinary environmental impact analyses, permitting, facilitating public and agency outreach, and providing quality assurance and leadership during the development of EAs and EISs.  In addition, the individual in this position will be accountable for business development and lead complicated, multidisciplinary planning efforts, projects and teams across a diversity of industries (e.g., transportation, oil/gas pipelines, disaster relief) and State/Federal Agency requirements (e.g., Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Federal Emergency Management Act (FEMA), US Department of Energy).   Principal Environmental planners also help SWCA stay aligned in driving organizational priorities and ensure collaboration across functional business units.

 

Specific Responsibilities Include:

 

• Oversee multi-year and multi-disciplinary projects with clients across various industries.
• Manage projects that include biological resource assessments and constraints analyses, state and federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations, Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 and Section 401 permitting, state- and local-level siting permits, and cultural resources studies, and lead the preparation of EAs and EISs addressing the development for a wide variety of projects.
• Support business line growth objectives for business lines that may include oil/gas pipelines, transportation, disaster relief, generation, transmission, water, and others.
• Assist teams by providing technical oversight and guidance for the preparation of key aspects of diverse environmental planning efforts, including National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (e.g., NEPA documents and the NEPA process, including Pre-Notice of Intent (NOI) activities and project planning; development of the description of the proposed action and purpose and need; NEPA document structuring and content planning; public scoping; public comment review and response; and records of decisions and findings of no significant impact).
• Demonstrate excellent leadership behavior and professionalism while providing leadership at the project, team, and office level.
• Provide expertise to SWCA project managers on complex environmental planning projects.
• Provide enterprise-level support by contributing to business development pursuits and proposals, including scope and budget creation.
• Supervise and mentor early and mid-career staff in the development of the skills in a diverse array of environmental planning efforts, including FERC, NEPA analysis and document preparation, and potential others.
• Work with the South Central / Gulf Coast team to develop individual and collective environmental planning analysis and documentation skills.
• Drive compliance of safety policies and reporting requirements to ensure overall team safety, especially for the field components supporting environmental planning projects.

Experience and qualifications for success:

Minimum qualifications:

 

• Bachelor's degree in environmental planning, environmental science, or another science-related field. 
• Ten (10) years of demonstrated experience in environmental planning, including writing technical documents, participating on project teams, preparing, or directing staff in the preparation of technical studies and/or setting and adhering to project budgets and delivery schedules.
• Three (3) years of private sector consulting experience.
• Experience with agencies such as: FEMA, FERC, US DOE, USACE, HUD, EPA, DOT and/or similar Texas or Louisiana state agencies. 
• A working knowledge of federal and state environmental regulations including those related to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and Environmental Justice Executive Orders.
• A working understanding of agency internal processes and procedures with federal land management and regulatory agencies.
• Applicants must have valid driver’s license and be able to meet SWCA’s driver requirements.

Preferred qualifications:

• Master’s degree in environmental planning, environmental science, or another science-related field. 
• Twelve (12) or more years of demonstrated experience in environmental planning.
• Seven (7) years of private consulting experience.
• Exposure to natural and cultural resource issues, transportation projects, oil/gas projects, wind projects, and/or renewables projects.
• Experience with scheduling and budget management.
• Ability to be recognized by clients and agencies as an environmental planning project manager that can lead the full life cycle of the environmental planning process, including with an EIS, EA, or related environmental planning documents and processes.
• Experience with business development with federal agencies, disaster recovery, oil and gas (pipelines), transportation, energy transmission, and/or renewable energy developers or other non-federal applicants that seek permits or leases from federal agencies in the Gulf Coast / South Central geography.

 

WHY WORK AT SWCA:

 

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full-spectrum of environmental services.  Our Vision (the North Star) is to make SWCA the best workplace and industry leader in sustainability, bringing sound science and creative solutions to global environmental challenges while maintaining a dedication to employee-ownership. We live our core values: we collaborate as #OneSWCA; we are #AlwaysLearning, we #NeverSettle, and we #GiveBack.

 

We are 100% employee-owned, and we build our success together. With offices across the United States, SWCA is one of the largest environmental compliance firms and ranks among Engineering News-Record’s Top 200 Environmental Firms. We offer a supportive, team-oriented work environment and competitive wages and benefits, including an 100% employee stock ownership plan (retirement).

 

At SWCA, we support our team members in developing their careers to make them leaders in their industry. Our Career Landscape initiative is a process and guide designed to help develop chart rewarding career paths for employees at SWCA. We encourage professional conference attendance, internal and external professional development and training programs, education reimbursement, a Science and Leadership Program, and bonuses for publications meeting certain criteria. All regular status employees are eligible to participate in SWCA medical, dental, vision, employee assistance, wellness, life and disability plans, and are eligible to participate in the SWCA 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust.

 

If you would like to contact SWCA regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the online application process due to a disability, please email accommodations@swca.com or call 1-480-581-5378. This contact information is for disability accommodation requests only. All other inquiries will not receive a response. 

 

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. At SWCA Environmental Consultants, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. We strongly encourage candidates from all backgrounds, including those with diverse experiences and veterans, to apply. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce enhances creativity, innovation, and overall organizational success.

 

SWCA is committed to salary equity and salary transparency for all its employees.  In alignment with this commitment, SWCA posts good faith pay ranges in all its advertised job postings to promote pay equity and transparency.

 

An employee in this Houston-based position can expect an annual salary of:

• Senior Environmental Planner: $100,704.24 - $130,799.76
• Principal Environmental Planner: $114,594.48 - $149,320.08

Actual pay within this range may depend on experience, qualifications, geographic location, client requirements where applicable, and other factors permitted by law.  Regular-status employees are also eligible for performance bonuses. Candidates are also encouraged to consider SWCA’s Total Rewards package, which includes a competitive Benefits package, forward-thinking workplace flexibility, outstanding corporate culture, award-winning career development, and more.

 

SWCA continues to invest deeply in career development programs, delivering our award-winning Career Landscape support resources to accelerate the growth of our staff. We recognize the valuable skills and experiences our internal team members bring to SWCA’s continued success. Qualified internal candidates are encouraged to apply and will be seriously considered for this position. We believe in promoting from within, where possible, providing our existing employees with compelling opportunities to advance their careers.

 

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