Vegetation Management & Forestry, Senior Specialist

Southern California Edison•Santa Monica, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vegetation Management & Forestry, Senior Specialist helps ensure Southern California Edison’s Utility Vegetation Management program is safely and successfully implemented. The role engages with customers, contractors, public agencies, and internal and external stakeholders to support wildfire risk reduction, customer service, regulatory compliance, and reliable utility operations. The position serves as a subject matter expert and primary point of contact for utility vegetation management programs and regulations, representing SCE with operating-unit partners, the public, homeowners, and government agencies. The specialist conducts contractor safety and environmental observations, reinforces applicable requirements, provides performance feedback, and identifies corrective actions. The role also verifies completed pre-inspection and tree-trimming work, assigns rework when quality expectations are not met, investigates tree-related outages, and documents findings. Additional duties include contributing to annual work plans, coordinating schedules and contract resources, monitoring contractor costs and performance, reviewing safety and billing documentation, and supporting the development and implementation of vegetation management methods and program strategies. This is a hybrid position based primarily in Santa Monica, California. Employees report to an SCE facility for a set number of days and may work remotely on remaining days; the work mode may change based on business needs. The role requires up to 70% travel and field work throughout SCE’s service territory. Employees are generally required to work and reside in California. The position is represented by IBEW Local 47 as of September 2, 2025; employment terms may be affected by the collective bargaining agreement under negotiation. A location-based incentive may be available for a commitment to work on-site and remain in the specified location for an agreed timeframe.

Requirements

Five or more years of experience in vegetation management.
ISA Certified Arborist certification.
Valid Class C Driver’s License.
Pass a verbal and field practical Personnel Qualification Standard before performing the specified duties.
Ability to travel and work in the field up to 70% of the time throughout SCE’s service territory.

Nice To Haves

ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ).
ISA Utility Specialist certification.
Bachelor’s degree in forestry, arboriculture, or business.
Effective communication and customer service skills.
Eight years managing a Utility Vegetation Management program.

Responsibilities

Perform contractor field safety observations on Safety Tier 1 High Risk, Safety Tier 1, and Safety Tier 2 contract partners.
Enforce contractor adherence to Life-Saving Compliance Tree Trimming Critical Observable Actions (COAs).
Provide ongoing feedback on contractor safety performance and corrective actions.
Establish success criteria, KPIs, and monitoring goals for new programs; examine plans and specifications to determine work procedures and costs.
Perform contractor field environmental observations and enforce standard and site-specific environmental requirements.
Facilitate contractor field calibration and orientation sessions to review SCE expectations and priorities related to wildfire risk reduction and customer service; identify quality trends and corrective actions.
Perform Post Work Verification on pre-inspection and tree-trimming work and assign contractor rework when expectations are not met.
Pass a verbal and field practical Personnel Qualification Standard before performing these duties.
Provide input to annual work plans to optimize work execution and identify contract resource needs; partner with RPPM to support schedule adherence for planned and emergent work.
Investigate tree-related outages to determine root causes.
Document and communicate observations and investigation results to first-line supervision using standardized templates and forms.
Serve as a primary point of contact and subject matter expert on utility vegetation management programs and regulations, representing SCE to operating-unit partners, the public, homeowners, and county, city, and state or federal agencies.
Monitor and evaluate contractor operational costs and performance; review and approve contractor safety and billing documentation for accuracy.
Support the development, evaluation, and implementation of line-clearance and vegetation-management methods that comply with applicable regulations, standards, and company objectives.
Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to set project goals, prioritize initiatives and programs, and maintain a documented vegetation-management program strategy.
Protect company physical, financial, and cybersecurity assets and properly access and manage private customer data, proprietary information, confidential medical records, and other sensitive information with integrity.