Planning Team Lead

About the opportunity

SWCA Environmental Consultants' Arizona Planning Team Lead is responsible for providing leadership within the Planning Program by supervising and mentoring staff, pursuing project opportunities and new business, and managing projects and clients. The successful candidate will have a depth of experience and familiarity with the business environment and planning needs in Arizona, as well as technical skills in planning and permitting processes and ability to provide direction to mid-level and junior staff.

This is a full time, regular status, salaried position reporting to the Arizona Planning Director. This position will work closely with leaders across Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico and beyond, to accomplish goals.

SWCA is proud to offer flexible work location arrangements. Work can be based in the office, in a hybrid work arrangement or distributed. We are open to remote candidates in any location, but highly prefer Arizona.

We will consider both levels of candidates for this position:

• Planning Team Lead: Min. (8) years of environmental planning/permitting experience.

• Senior Planning Team Lead: Min. (10) years of environmental planning/permitting experience.

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 Arizona Planning Team Lead will lead a team of planners through supervision, guidance, and mentoring to ensure team success with quality and timely consulting. The lead will collaborate across the organization to develop work plans, priorities, and balancing team and individual workloads while fostering business opportunities withing the Arizona market and adjacent areas. This will include working with the Northern Arizona and Southern Arizona Senior Directors, the Arizona Planning Director, and professional staff throughout the West region to further our team and regional goals by contributing to the following:

People Leadership

• Demonstrate excellent leadership behavior and professionalism while providing leadership at the project, team, and office level.

• Mentor and coach junior team members in business development and client services and in the development of the skills in environmental analysis and document preparation.

• Advise the Arizona Planning Director on staff supervision, advancement, and course correction, as needed.

• Provide general support to the team relating to subject matter resources, training opportunities, regulatory and research updates, etc.

• Take a leading role in managing the schedule for the planning team, ensuring adequate coverage of project needs and appropriate assignments of staff to specific tasks, and identifying staffing shortfalls so that additional support can be sought either through subconsultants, staff from other offices, or hiring.

• Serve as the lead hiring manager for project- and staff-level positions. Take a leading role in identifying staffing needs, screening job candidates, conducting interviews, and making hiring recommendations to the Arizona Planning Director.

• Ensure team compliance with performance management and training requirements; support the Arizona Planning Director and Senior Directors in tracking progress and follow-up with individual supervisors and staff members.

Technical Leadership

• Write and manage the preparation of environmental review documentation (e.g., EAs, EISs, state and local permitting, critical issue analysis) for a wide variety of projects, including renewable energy development, transmission, mining, etc. This position will help lead, write, and manage the preparation of environmental compliance documents related to projects managed by federal agencies or state and local governments.

• Assist teams by providing technical oversight and guidance for the preparation of key aspects of planning/permitting and NEPA documents, including 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.

• Support and oversee development of local land use and environmental permitting for County and State requirements including special use permits, certificates of environmental compatibility, and others.

Client leadership

• Manage client relationships and conduct business development with new and existing clients.

• Identify and evaluate sales opportunities (prospects and proposals) and make recommendations to the Arizona Planning Director and Senior Directors; lead proposal efforts.

• Network within industry organizations to expand the regional client base in line with the region's strategic goals.

• Develop and foster teaming relationships that lead to business development.

• Participate in strategic client capture efforts, in collaboration with Business Development Resources team and local/regional leadership.

• Manage the performance of individual projects and effectively coordinate with clients and agencies to produce technically excellent work that is on time and on budget.

• Identify and mitigate project challenges to avoid overruns and ensure profitability.

Experience and qualifications for success

We seek a team member who brings demonstrated experience in environmental planning project management, environmental analysis, and agency consultation. We seek the following specific qualities:

• Bachelor's degree in environmental planning, environmental science, or another planning or science-related field.

• A minimum of eight (8) years of planning/permitting or NEPA document preparation and experience in environmental consulting.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; interpersonal skills; attention to detail; and organization, schedule, and budget management skills.

• Experience supervising or leading a team of mid-level and/or junior staff, mentoring, and training.

• Experience on complex, multi-disciplinary projects; leading meetings with clients and agencies; directing project teams including subcontractors; preparing or directing staff in the preparation of technical studies and planning/NEPA documents; and setting and adhering to project budgets and delivery schedules.

• A working knowledge of federal and state environmental regulations including NEPA, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and the ability to develop project execution plans to satisfy regulatory compliance.

• A working understanding of agency internal processes and procedures such as the BLM, USFS, NPS, BOR, and/or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

• Familiarity with State, County, and Local permitting processes such as conditional/special use permits, plan amendments, and zoning.

• Proven experience with a subset of public lands, land use planning, natural and cultural resource issues, wind and solar projects, transportation projects, and or oil/gas projects in the western US.

Preferred qualifications:

• Ten (10) years of planning/permitting or NEPA document preparation and experience in environmental consulting.

• Master's degree in environmental planning, environmental science, or another planning or science-related field.

• Experience with supporting business development with federal agencies, RMPs, mining, oil and gas, and renewable energy developers or other non-federal applicants that seek permits or leases from federal agencies, and with private developers seeking State, County, and Local permits.

Additional Information:

• SWCA is proud to offer flexible work location arrangements. Fully remote, office-based, or hybrid candidates are welcome.

• While candidates who are in Arizona are preferred, candidates in nearby geographies will also be considered.

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.

A Planning Team Lead in this US-based position can expect an annual salary of:

• Planning Team Lead - $84,084.00 - $108,108.00
• Senior Planning Team Lead - $95,004.00 - $123,396.00

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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