Project Wildlife Biologist
About the opportunity SWCA Environmental Consultants is seeking a Project Wildlife Biologist to join our team in Half Moon Bay, California. This position is ideal for a wildlife professional with a strong background in California wildlife resources, biological surveys, habitat assessments, and environmental permitting who is eager to contribute to a diverse portfolio of projects throughout the Bay Area and coastal California. In this role, you will: - Manage natural resource projects and technical tasks, support business development efforts, conduct and oversee wildlife surveys, coordinate field teams, and mentor junior staff. - Collaborate with project managers, clients, regulatory agencies, and multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-quality biological and environmental compliance services. - Support a variety of projects for clients including utility providers, transportation agencies, water agencies, local and state governments, private developers, and conservation organizations. - Possess strong wildlife expertise and experience managing project budgets, schedules, and scopes of work. - Lead wildlife and habitat assessments, support permitting and compliance efforts, prepare technical reports and resource analyses, oversee field investigations, and provide technical guidance to project teams. - Benefit from opportunities for professional growth while helping expand SWCA’s wildlife and natural resources practice throughout coastal and Northern California. - Work in a full-time, regular (with benefits), salaried/exempt position that is distributed (=remote) based and eligible from our Half Moon Bay, California office. - Travel, including overnight stays, may be required. - Conduct fieldwork primarily throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, and other locations within California as project needs dictate. - Submit a cover letter along with your resume to be eligible for this position. Application deadline - Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, and interviews may be scheduled as qualified candidates are identified. - This position may close without prior notice once a strong candidate pool is established. About SWCA SWCA Environmental Consultants is a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm providing full spectrum environmental services across the United States. Our North Star is to be the best place to work and a leader in sustainability, delivering sound science and creative solutions to complex environmental challenges. We are guided by our core values every day. We collaborate as #OneSWCA, we are #AlwaysLearning, we #NeverSettle, and we #GiveBack to our communities. With offices nationwide, SWCA offers a collaborative, team focused environment where employees can build meaningful and long-term careers. What you will accomplish - Directs and participates in the collection, management, and summarization of field data and other best available information. Expected to ensure that information collected and applied to projects is accurate, complete, and verifiable. - Directs and performs simple descriptive data analysis and collaborates with GIS and Statistical teams on more complex tasks to analyze significance, identify trends, and make predictions applicable to project questions. - Directs and performs monitoring or management actions in the field to implement project requirements or regulatory terms and conditions. - Creates and maintains records of completed activities and conditions for the project record. - Directs and prepares certain technical resource reports and sections of others, including setting, objectives, methods, findings, and conclusions. - Collaborates with Technical Editors to ensure quality of written deliverables. - Provides technical guidance and mentorship to junior staff on resource science, methods and practices, regulatory requirements, and project or client insights. - Develops strategies for avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating project impacts and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. - Prepares planning and compliance documents for regulatory reviews and approval. - Leads conversations with teaming partners, experts, clients, landowners, and agency staff to present or solicit technical information. - Memorializes communications for project records and shares important insights, action items, or issues with project teams and supervisors. - Prepares and provides resource or regulatory updates to clients. - Follows applicable federal, Tribal, state, local, industry, contractual, and company regulations, standards, and specifications. - Performs related work as assigned. Additional Job-Specific Responsibilities - Manage and participate in biological field studies, including wildlife and vegetation surveys, habitat assessments, and biological evaluations. - Collect and manage field and desktop data using GPS, GIS, maps, aerial imagery, and other technical tools to support biological analyses and project decisions. - Manage focused natural resource projects, including project scopes, budgets, schedules, and delivery of high-quality work aligned with client objectives. - Uphold field safety standards, operate company vehicles as required, develop site-specific safety plans when applicable, and anticipate potential field hazards. Minimum Qualifications - Knowledge normally obtained through a bachelor's degree. - Four years of relevant, progressively responsible experience. - Seven years of related experience is preferred; or any equivalent combination of experience, performance, training, and/or education. Experience and qualifications for success - Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Ecology, Environmental Science, Natural Resource Management, or a related field. - Four (4) years of progressively responsible experience in biological consulting, natural resources consulting, environmental permitting, or related work, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. - Experience conducting biological surveys, habitat assessments, biological monitoring,