Principal Biologist

Stantec•Monrovia, CA

About The Position

Grounded in safety, quality, and ethics, Stantec brings together more than 35,000 professionals worldwide who are passionate about solving complex environmental, engineering and design challenges and shaping resilient communities. We believe the best solutions emerge when technical excellence, creativity, diversity, and collaboration come together—and when experienced leaders are empowered to make a lasting impact in the communities they serve. Stantec is seeking a Principal level Biologist to play a key leadership role in the continued growth of our Los Angeles Metropolitan Market. This is an opportunity for an accomplished consulting biologist to help shape market strategy, expand client relationships, mentor future leaders, and influence how our Natural Resources Assessment and Permitting services are delivered across Southern California. This role is ideal for someone energized by the opportunity to lead from the front —building teams, strengthening client partnerships, and contributing to some of the region’s most visible and impactful utility, energy, infrastructure, and public sector programs. Why This Role at Stantec As a Principal Biologist, you will join a highly collaborative, multidisciplinary team and serve as both a technical leader and market champion. You will have the opportunity to: Help grow and shape the Los Angeles Metropolitan Market, aligning technical excellence with strategic business growth. Work alongside experts across environmental sciences, engineering, planning, and design on complex, high profile projects. Recruit, mentor and develop talent, helping build a strong and sustainable Natural Resources practice. Continue to learn, innovate, and expand your professional influence, supported by regional and global networks of expertise. This role offers a platform for leadership, growth, and impact, with the ability to shape not only projects—but people, programs, and the future of our Southern California practice.

Requirements

You are an accomplished consulting biologist and leader with 15+ years of progressive experience delivering complex projects and guiding teams, clients, and regulatory processes.
You bring a balance of technical depth, strategic thinking, and relationship building, and are motivated by opportunities to grow people, programs, and markets.
Demonstrated excellence in client engagement, including building trusted advisor relationships, understanding client business drivers, project risks, and delivering strategic, technically sound solutions that support long term programs.
Strong communication skills with clients, regulators, technical teams, and the public.
Proven leadership in project delivery, collaboration, technical performance, and continuous improvement.
Advanced analytical skills, including interpretation of scientific data and technical documentation.
Extensive knowledge of Southern California flora, fauna, and regulatory frameworks, with broader regional experience a plus.
Significant experience preparing and overseeing biological technical reports and supporting CEQA/NEPA compliance.
Deep familiarity with federal, state, and local environmental regulations and permitting processes.
Demonstrated experience leading environmental permitting for energy, pipeline, and linear infrastructure projects.
Experience supporting construction activities, compliance monitoring, environmental training, and post construction reporting.
Ability to travel occasionally, hold a valid driver’s license with a good driving record, and meet project specific medical and drug/alcohol screening requirements, as applicable.
BS (MS preferred) in Biology or a related field.
Ability to travel occasionally within and outside Southern California.
Valid driver’s license and good driving record.
Ability to work in both office and field environments, including occasional exposure to inclement weather.

Nice To Haves

Preferred qualifications include experience working with utility clients such as SCE and SoCalGas, possession of relevant permits (e.g., Scientific Collecting Permit), and OSHA HAZWOPER 40 hour certification.

Responsibilities

Providing strategic and technical leadership to multidisciplinary teams delivering natural resource, permitting, and environmental compliance projects.
Serving as a trusted advisor to staff, clients and regulatory agencies, proactively identifying risks, mitigation, opportunities, and solutions.
Shaping and expanding key client programs, particularly within utility, energy, infrastructure, and public sector markets.
Anticipating emerging technical and regulatory challenges and translating insight into proactive strategies that address evolving market, business, regulatory, risk, and economic drivers.
Promoting new ideas and initiatives, fostering an environment that encourages creativity, innovation, and continuous improvement across teams, projects and programs.
Leading and contributing to business development efforts, including networking, proposal development, scoping, budgeting, risk management, and relationship building.
Mentoring and supporting staff through technical guidance, professional development, recruitment, and succession planning.
Overseeing biological fieldwork, regulatory strategy, and CEQA/NEPA analyses, ensuring high quality, defensible deliverables.
Collaborating across teams to share best practices, innovate delivery approaches, and support continuous improvement.
Manage tasks and projects in accordance with approved scopes of work, delivering high quality reports on schedule and within budget, while ensuring consistency with Stantec’s Project Management Framework and ISO certified Integrated Management System (IMS).
Championing Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) policies and fostering a culture of safety, support, and accountability.