Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist

We’re currently hiring a Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist in the Sacramento/Central Valley region. On Team 12, you will work closely with WRA’s Principals, Directors, and Executive-level leadership to develop, manage, and deliver multifaceted regulatory projects primarily in California’s Central Valley and Foothills region. WRA is committed to growing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and Foothills as a focus of our 2030 strategic plan, and this hire will support existing senior-level staff in that goal. 

In this role you will work collaboratively between clients, regulators, and an interdisciplinary WRA team to develop innovative approaches, lead interesting consultation processes, and support project implementation. This is a remote position within the state of California,: however, the person hired for this role will be expected to be at various on-site locations including field sites, client or agency offices in the greater Sacramento and Central Valley area. Occasional visits to WRA’s office locations are also expected as needed to meet project needs. This role reports to Rob Schell, Wildlife and Fisheries Director. 

In this role, you will: 

• Work with Principals as well as Director and Executive-level staff, including subject matter experts, engineers, attorneys, clients, prime or subconsultants to develop a project from idea, through planning and permit consultations in support of critical infrastructure and development in California’s Central Valley and Foothills
• Merge technical expertise with regulatory experience to guide and advise clients on project due diligence, design, opportunities and constraints to develop and deliver a permitting strategy, schedule, and budget that reflects client priorities
• Coordinate, delegate, and oversee multidisciplinary teams, stakeholders, staff, and subconsultants on the preparation of technical studies necessary to support the permitting process
• Oversee or directly prepare permit applications
• Proactively manage budgets, prepare scopes of work and change orders.
• Identify and communicate project risks to Principal-level staff
• Oversee and mentor early career professionals on regulatory processes, project management, and professional development
• Participate in internal and external thought leadership at conferences or professional technical groups through publications, presentations, white papers, panel discussions, or similar

To be successful in this role, you will need:  

• A bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, engineering, policy, or related field
• At least 10 years of professional experience working in the consulting field
• At least 6 years of expertise preparing and consulting on 401, 404, 1600 LSAA, USFWS/NMFS Section 7 or Section 10 consultations, CDFW 2081 ITPs
• Proven experience building and managing across multidisciplinary teams
• Proven track record in a supervisory or leadership role
• Demonstrated experience in Transportation, Water, or Mine/Quarry Markets
• At least 5 years of project management experience, including preparing scopes of work, budgets and change orders
• At least 5 years working in California’s Central Valley or Foothills regions
• A growth mindset
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present technical information to a lay audience
• A valid driver’s license, reliable transportation (while WRA has fleet vehicles that can be reserved for field use, during busy field seasons a truck may not always be available) and willingness to travel to field sites and meetings
• The ability to walk, hike, and work outside for long periods of time

Desired but not required skills: 

• Specialized expertise with Mitigation, SMARA, FERC
• Business Development experience
• Experience working on competitive proposals
• Strong leadership skills

WRA has an established internal leveling system for our staff that maps to salary bands that have been informed by market data. Our leveling system is dependent on years of relevant industry experience, education, and the level of responsibility and autonomy at which you’re expected to operate. 

The salary range for this position is $108,000 – $146,000 which represents 2 job levels that WRA is open to considering for this role. In your first conversation with our recruiter, you may discuss leveling and compensation to make sure that expectations are aligned. Additionally, while the position is being advertised as a Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist, based on leveling conversations, we may determine that Regulatory Permitting Specialist is the appropriate title for you. There will be opportunities to discuss this toward the end of the interview process; however, if you wish to discuss titles earlier in the interview process, please do so with your recruiter. 

Who are we? 

WRA’s an employee-owned environmental consultancy. We are a tenacious team of planners, engineers, and scientists, and we aim to leave the lands we love better than we found them.  

Our clients and partners hire us because we’re skilled at navigating through challenging projects involving wildlands, parks, community spaces, and infrastructure. We bring over four decades of expertise, long-standing relationships, and connections to our local communities to make sure that projects are pursued in responsible ways where both people and the environment thrive.  

As an organization, we believe that independence and interdependence are not mutually exclusive. We invest in systems, processes, and employee programs to support our staff’s collective engagement and success. At the same time, we encourage our employees to operate with an ownership mindset, taking responsibility for outcomes and being true to our commitments.  

WRA’s company vision is to cultivate a sustainable future where people and the environment thrive, and that effort starts first with our staff. We are committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment, and we have developed flexible policies, internal practices, and are investing in programs that prioritize learning and sustainability. We aim to create conditions that allow employees to prioritize their families, lead healthy and balanced lives, and to bring their authentic selves to work every day. We believe that by creating an exceptional workplace, our employees will be able to do their best work and be able to meaningfully contribute to the sustainability of the environment and the communities in which we live. 

WRA is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating a diverse environment. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.