Lead Project Manager - Utility Permitting

About The Opportunity

SWCA Environmental Consultants seeks a qualified Lead Project Manager - Utility Permitting with strong interpersonal skills and experience in utility project permitting and project management to join our team and primarily support oil and natural gas infrastructure projects. The position will directly support a regulated utility program based in Chicago, Illinois. This individual will provide strategic and technical leadership across all project phases, from early planning and permitting through construction, consulting with clients and internal teams to guide complex utility permitting efforts.

What You Will Accomplish

• Strategically consult on and lead multidisciplinary project teams to navigate complex permitting challenges, aligning technical approaches with client objectives and regulatory requirements.
• Manage projects that include compliance, biological resource assessments and constraints analyses, state and federal Endangered Species Act consultations, Clean Water Act Section 404 and Section 401 permitting, state-level permits, and local level permits.
• Lead and is accountable for high-complexity projects or program components, coordinating teams and resources, overseeing technical approach and QA/QC, and ensuring delivery on regulatory compliance, scope, schedule, and budget.
• Demonstrates strong skills in project planning, internal communication, and human relations, ensuring effective collaboration within the team.
• Guides complex projects, proactively identifying and resolving risks to project success, safety, quality, and performance through informed judgment, creative problem-solving, and strategic adjustments.
• Revises or recommends revisions to project scopes, schedules, budgets, and technical strategies as project conditions evolve to ensure successful outcomes.
• Takes initiative and anticipates/resolve issues to assure client needs are met effectively.
• Leads and advises on all aspects of project implementation, including the development of permitting strategies, provides QA/QC of work processes and deliverables, and leads or supports teams completing technical studies that support permitting efforts.
• Engages with SWCA’s Technical Director team to support quality initiatives, and development of policies & procedures in your areas of expertise.
• Engages with professional organizations, including attendance at conferences, trainings, and client-led events on behalf of SWCA.
• Supervises, mentors, and provides project technical support to junior staff.
• Drives compliance of safety policies and reporting requirements to ensure overall team safety.

Experience and qualifications for success

• Bachelor’s degree in biology, botany, wildlife management, or a closely related field.
• Six (6) years of natural resources consulting experience on a variety of project types, sizes, and regions that include: energy facility siting and constraints studies, federal, state, and local permitting, and agency interactions at all levels.
• Three (3) years of experience managing projects, including developing and implementing budgets, schedules, and scopes of work.
• Experience in Illinois and the Midwest Region.
• Demonstrated experience with state local agencies such as IEPA, IDNR, MWRD, DuPage, Cook, Lake, and McHenry Counties.
• Demonstrated experience with applicable environmental federal, state and county regulations.
• Demonstrated experience with federal agencies such as USFWS, EPA, and USACE.
• Prior primary report authorship and finalization for clients and agencies in a natural resource consulting context for a variety of project types and sizes, regions, and agencies.

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP Certification.
• Eight (8) years of natural resources consulting experience on a variety of project types, sizes, and regions that include: federal, state, and local permitting, compliance, and agency interactions at all levels.
• Four (4) years of experience managing projects, including developing and implementing budgets, schedules, and scopes of work.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple utility projects through permitting, construction, and closeout.
• Experience in more than one of the Midwest states.