Senior Regulatory Waters Permitting Specialist

Stantec Inc.•Petaluma, CA

44d•$112,200 - $192,800•Hybrid

About The Position

Grounded in safety, quality, and ethics, our experts lead their fields with dedication, a creative spirit, and a vision for growth. We draw from more than 20 technical specialties worldwide and are devoted to fostering a community of diverse talents, backgrounds, and expertise. Here, you can apply your passion and collaborate with top environmental professionals on work that's vital to our clients and the communities they serve. Join a team that's naturally committed to the environment. Your Opportunity Stantec's Northern California Region (serving Northern California and parts of Nevada) is seeking a Senior Regulatory Waters Permitting Specialist with at least 10 years of experience leading and preparing environmental permits for State and Federal agencies within California. The position is to be based out of either our San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Petaluma, or San Jose office; geographic alignment with other Stantec offices will be considered based on experience. Stantec provides for a flexible working arrangement include a hybrid model (i.e., a combination of office and remote working) and robust benefits package. As a Senior Regulatory Waters Permitting Specialist, you will provide preparation, negotiation, and oversight of waters resources across a variety of projects for a diverse range of industries and clients, including federal, state, and local projects. This could include leading and providing senior technical review and assistance with the preparation of water quality technical studies and environmental documents under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 404 wetland permitting, California Department of Fish and Wildlife 1600 Agreements, RWQCB and SWRCB 401 certifications, review of baseline reporting, incidental and/or disturbance take permits, preparation of mitigation plans, and other work. Our regulatory permitting work involves: Water infrastructure and generation (hydroelectric licensing), renewables projects (photovoltaic solar, battery energy storage, transmission, and terrestrial wind projects), transportation, utility, community development and other sectors. Some projects trigger NEPA analysis when they cross public lands (e.g., Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Based on your interest, you will be afforded the opportunity to participate on other projects ranging from private redevelopment initiatives to long-range policy plans - we allow our team to pursue their individual passion. We have deep staff resources to assist you with your work. Successful candidates will be comfortable handling project development, management, and technical responsibility of environmental compliance and natural resources projects. As a Senior Regulatory Waters Permitting Specialist, you will have a strong understanding of California regulatory water permitting as the focus - including impact determinations and demonstrated ability to lead preparation of documents under these environmental regulatory processes. Primary duties will focus on managing technical staff and QA/QC review of analytical sections of environmental documents and technical reports and surveys.

Requirements

At least 10 years of experience successfully executing technical aspects of complex projects related to federal and state resources impact analysis and regulatory permitting in California.
Skilled in communications and technical information exchange with clients, engineers and scientists, government regulators and agencies, and academia, as well as non-technical communication to the public.
Demonstrated preparation, oversight, and negotiation of high-level permit applications with resources agencies including the USACE, EPA, CDFW, Regional Water Quality Control Boards, State Water Board, and California Coastal Commission.
Demonstrated knowledge of CEQA and NEPA analyses.
Demonstrated experience with development and implementation of water quality studies.
Team oriented with strong capability to motivate others.
Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills (i.e., strong writer)
Demonstrated experience with leading planning projects and ability to motivate self and others to overcome obstacles and achieve goals.
Demonstrated ability to work well under pressure and to prioritize and balance sometimes heavy workloads to achieve goals while keeping up with a highly mobile and changing environment.
Experience and ability in collaborative problem solving, with teammates, stakeholders, and clients.
Must be proficient in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Ability to work independently and successfully lead development of specialized resource documents.
Experience with California state waters and federal waters permitting.
Bachelor's degree in environmental science, environmental policy, environmental planning, or related field, and at least 10 years of related experience.
At least 10 years of experience, preferably in environmental consulting, or working for a federal/state environmental agency. Experience with additional regulatory requirements and state resource permit processes a plus.
Demonstrated experience with various environmental regulatory policies.
Experience with project leadership.
Experience writing technical reports.
Understanding of State and Federal environmental laws, rules, and review procedures.

Nice To Haves

Experience with California Coastal Commission and preferred.
Excellent ability to facilitate decision making and issue resolution processes

Responsibilities

Conduct completeness reviews of technical documentation and prepare impact analyses across a variety of natural resources and work to ensure the team and project efficiency and success.
Lead, author and assemble technical reports including writing narratives, providing code/policy conducting analysis, achieving analytical findings, producing exhibits, and providing potential recommendations. Assignments/projects are advanced in nature and require the application of experience and strategy.
Interact and interface with environmental regulators and clients; proactively assess and resolve concerns.
Responsible for independently planning, strategizing, implementing, and orchestrating the team to deliver complicated projects related to natural resources, wetlands, biophysical impact assessments, environmental assessments, and regulatory approvals.
Manage tasks and projects according to approved scopes of work and deliver quality reports on schedule and within budget.
Provide senior technical reviews relating to natural resource science and biology on multidisciplinary projects.
Apply technical and business knowledge and methods to develop creative, effective, and economical solutions to address current and potential project issues.
Assist in analyzing current and emerging technical issues, and implementing actions to proactively address market, business, regulatory, and/or economic issues.
Champion Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Policies, Procedures, Standards and Guidelines in the execution of all work.
Provide supervision, training, technical direction and mentoring to more junior staff.
Contribute to and lead business development activities, including proposals, pre-qualifications, and relationship building with clients and prospective clients and industry colleagues.

Benefits

Regular full-time and part-time employees (working at least 20 hours per week) have access to medical, dental, and vision plans, a wellness program, health saving accounts, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) plan, employee stock purchase program, life and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) insurance, short-term/long-term disability plans, emergency travel benefits, tuition reimbursement, professional membership fee coverage and paid family leave.
Regular full-time and part-time employees will receive ten paid holidays in each calendar year.
In addition, employees will be eligible to accrue vacation between 10 and 20 days per year and eligible for paid sick leave (and if more generous, in accordance with state and local law).
Temporary/casual employees have access to 401(k) plans, employee stock purchase program, and paid leave, in accordance with state and local law.

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