Principal Biologist - Environmental Scientist

About the role

Stantec is seeking a principal-level Environmental Scientist with at least 15 years of experience to join our southern California Natural Resources Assessment & Permitting Group by operating out of our Santa Barbara, California office.

Responsibilities

• Contribute and manage multi-disciplinary project teams across multiple sectors, including renewable energy, electric and gas transmission and distribution projects, and natural resource planning and management projects.
• Oversee and provide expertise in technical deliverables, regulatory strategy, CEQA/NEPA analysis, and permitting strategy.
• Manage tasks and projects according to approved scopes of work and deliver quality reports on schedule and within budget, while maintaining consistency with Stantec's Project Management Framework and International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-certified Integrated Management System (IMS).
• Provide senior technical peer reviews and independent reviews relating to natural resource science and biology on multidisciplinary projects.
• Assist in analyzing current and emerging technical issues, and implementing actions to proactively address market, business, regulatory, and/or economic issues.
• Champion Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) Policies, Procedures, Standards and Guidelines in the execution of all work.
• Supervise, train, technical direction and mentoring to more junior staff.
• Contribute to and lead business development activities, including proposals, pre-qualifications, scoping/budgeting, and relationship building with clients and prospective clients and industry colleagues.

Requirements

• Experience managing complex projects and/or programs in southern California as a Project Manager for multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience working on utility-related biological compliance projects, particularly with Southern California Edison (SCE) and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas).
• Familiarity with environmental permitting processes, biological monitoring protocols, and utility corridor operations.
• Experience working on other projects for other clients, including but not limited to: renewable energy, oil and gas, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and/or California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Department of Defense (DOD), water infrastructure, and community development.

Qualifications

• BS (MS degree preferred) in Biology, Environmental Science, Ecology, or a related field with minimum of 15 years of experience.
• Highly 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.
• Disciplined approach to project execution and technical excellence.
• Shows leadership in striving to continuously improve technical performance.
• Promotes new ideas and initiatives and creates an environment that supports creativity and innovation.
• Buils and maintains productive professional and personal networking relationships.
• Drives collaborative efforts within the region and beyond to deliver consistent, high quality and appropriately scoped technical work.
• Extensive experience in reviewing and analyzing scientific data, maps, and drawings with strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Extensive demonstrable background, knowledge, and experience with the flora, fauna, and vegetative communities of southern California; experience in other areas of California and elsewhere will be considered a plus.
• Familiarity with and/or extensive experience with survey requirements, impact assessment, permitting, agency negotiations, and mitigation for sensitive natural resources of the Central Coast of California, including but not limited to floristic botanical surveys, reconnaissance wildlife surveys, and species-specific protocol surveys.
• Experience with/permits for steelhead trout, tidewater goby, California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, burrowing owl, western snowy plover, California least tern, least Bell’s vireo, southwestern willow flycatcher, and/or coastal California gnatcatcher will be considered a plus.
• Extensive experience in preparing technical documentation including biological survey reports, technical memoranda, Biological Resources Technical Reports (BRTRs), jurisdictional waters delineations and Aquatic Resources Delineation Reports (ARDRs), and/or biological resources sections for CEQA/NEPA documents.
• Extensive knowledge of federal, state, and local environmental regulations and processes, particularly in southern California, such as: California Environmental Quality Act and National Environmental Policy Act (CEQA/NEPA), Federal and California Endangered Species Act (FESA/CESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (MBTA/BGEPA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Porter-Cologne Act, California Fish and Game Code (FGC), California Coastal Act and Local Coastal Programs (CCA/LCPs).
• Extensive experience in preparation of regulatory permit applications such as Clean Water Act Section 404/401, Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs), Fish and Game Code Section 1602 Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreements, and/or federal/state Incidental Take Permits (ITPs).
• Demonstrated experience leading environmental permitting of energy facilities, pipelines, and/or linear infrastructure projects in the western United States.
• Demonstrated technical competence and project experience in natural resource fields applicable to commercial (primarily conventional or renewable energy generation/transmission) siting and licensing or environmental permitting of other infrastructure projects.
• Experience in working on construction projects, compliance monitoring, environmental training, interpretation and application of regulatory requirements, and post-construction monitoring/reporting on small to large projects.
• Experience with using GPS/GIS technology to collect biological survey data, map vegetation communities, and/or delineate jurisdictional waters.
• Wetland delineation training certificate will be considered a plus.
• Must have ability to occasionally travel.
• Must have a valid driver’s license and good driving record.
• OSHA HAZWOPER 40-hour certification will be considered a plus.
• A medical physical and/or drug and alcohol screening may be required for some project assignments.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision plans.
• A wellness program.
• Health savings account.
• Flexible spending account.
• 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.
• Paid family leave.