Senior Planning Team Lead

About the opportunity

SWCA seeks a Senior Planning Team Lead for Arizona to play a key leadership role within SWCA’s Planning Program, helping to shape and grow our presence across the state. This position combines strategic business development with hands on project leadership, client partnership, and team mentorship. The role supports office and regional goals by pursuing new opportunities, leading and delivering complex planning and permitting projects, and building strong, trusted relationships with clients and partners.

The ideal candidate brings experience with Arizona’s regulatory environment and planning landscape, along with the technical expertise to guide permitting strategies and the leadership skills to develop and inspire staff. This role offers the opportunity to influence program direction, support the growth of the planning practice, and contribute meaningfully to SWCA’s continued success supporting Arizona Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) projects, federal, state & local permits for renewable energy, transmission, mining and oil/gas projects.

This is a full time, regular status, salaried position reporting to the Arizona Planning Director. This position will work closely with leaders across Arizona, and potentially Nevada, New Mexico and beyond, to accomplish goals.

SWCA is proud to offer flexible work location arrangements. Work can be based in the office, in a hybrid work arrangement or distributed (= remote), for those located in the region.

To be considered, please submit a resume and cover letter describing your interest in the role and how you meet the required qualifications listed below.

Application deadline: Our team will begin reviewing applications immediately, and interviews will be scheduled with qualified candidates on a rolling basis. The application process will remain open until we have received a robust pool of qualified candidates. Once we have identified suitable individuals, we may close the application process without prior notice. We appreciate the time and effort invested by all applicants and will carefully consider each submission. 

What you will accomplish

The Senior Planning Team Lead for Arizona will develop business opportunities within the Arizona market and adjacent areas while growing and managing a locally based and distributed planning team. This will include working with the Arizona Planning Director, Senior Directors, and professional staff throughout the West region to further our team and regional goals by contributing to the following:

Client leadership

• Manage client relationships and conduct business development with new and existing clients.
• Identify and evaluate sales opportunities (prospects and proposals) and make recommendations to the team and leadership; lead proposal efforts.
• Support business line growth objectives and lead the development of planning and permitting documents including Federal, State, and local permitting for business lines that may include land use planning, generation, transmission, mining, and others.
• Network within industry organizations to expand the regional client base in line with the region’s strategic goals.
• Develop and foster teaming relationships that lead to business development.
• Take a leading role in the effort to diversify sales in the Arizona market, specifically by developing business in the planning discipline, also contributing to cross-specialty business in the cultural and natural resources, restoration, and multi-region and multidisciplinary pursuits.
• Participate in and lead strategic client capture efforts, in collaboration with Client Services Resources team and local/regional leadership.
• Manage the performance of individual projects and effectively coordinate with clients and agencies to produce technically excellent work that is on time and on budget.
• Identify and mitigate project challenges to avoid overruns and ensure profitability.

People Leadership

• Demonstrate excellent leadership behavior and professionalism while providing leadership at the project, team, and office level.
• Mentor and coach junior team members in business development and client services and in the development of skills in environmental analysis and document preparation.
• Advise the Arizona Planning Director on staff supervision, advancement, and course correction, as needed.
• Provide general support to the team relating to subject matter resources, training opportunities, regulatory and research updates, etc.
• Take a leading role in managing the schedule for the planning team, ensuring adequate coverage of project needs and appropriate assignments of staff to specific tasks, and identifying staffing shortfalls so that additional support can be sought either through subconsultants, staff from other offices, or hiring.
• Serve as the lead hiring manager for project- and staff-level positions. Take a leading role in identifying staffing needs, screening job candidates, conducting interviews, and making hiring recommendations to the Arizona Planning Director.
• Ensure team compliance with performance management and training requirements; support Arizona Planning Director in tracking progress and follow-up with individual supervisors and staff members.
• Drive compliance with safety policies and reporting requirements to ensure overall team safety.

Technical Leadership

• Write and manage the preparation of environmental review documentation (e.g., state and local permitting, NEPA documents, and critical issue analyses) for a wide variety of projects, including renewable energy development, transmission, mining, etc.
• Manage teams on a variety of permitting processes, including EAs, EISs, CXs, plans of development, Arizona Certificates of Environmental Compatibility, county special use permits, zoning change applications, etc. This position will help lead, write, and manage the preparation of environmental compliance documents related to projects managed by federal agencies or state and local governments.
• Manage interdisciplinary projects that have planning and cultural and natural resource components. This position requires understanding and collaboration with a variety of resource experts.

Experience and qualifications for success

We seek a team member who brings demonstrated experience in environmental planning project management, environmental analysis, and agency consultation. We seek the following specific qualities: 

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental planning, environmental science, or another planning or science-related field. 
• A minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in planning and permitting and document preparation, preferably in environmental consulting.
• Demonstrated experience in supervising, mentoring, and providing leadership for other professionals.
• Proven project management experience managing complex, multi-disciplinary projects; leading meetings with clients and agencies; directing project teams including subcontractors; preparing or directing staff in the preparation of technical studies and planning/permitting documents; and setting and adhering to project budgets and delivery schedules.
• Experience working on permitting for federal, state, and local environmental regulations and the ability to develop project execution plans to satisfy regulatory compliance.
• Proven experience working with a diverse range of clients across one or more of the following sectors: public lands, land use planning, natural and cultural resources, electrical transmission, wind and solar energy, transportation infrastructure, and oil and gas projects in the western United States.

Preferred or Helpful Qualifications

• Ten (10) years of relevant experience is preferred; with experience managing others.
• Graduate or Master’s degree in environmental planning, environmental science, or another planning or science-related field.
• Arizona experience working on state and local environmental permitting processes.
• Experience with supporting business development with federal agencies, RMPs, mining, oil and gas, and renewable energy developers or other non-federal applicants that seek permits or leases from federal agencies.

Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence; attention to detail; and organization, schedule, and budget management skills.

Additional Information

• SWCA is proud to offer flexible work location arrangements. Fully remote, office-based, or hybrid candidates are welcome.
• While candidates who are located in the Phoenix, Flagstaff, or Tucson area are highly preferred, candidates in nearby geographies will also be considered.

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full spectrum of environmental services. With offices across the United States, SWCA is one of the largest environmental compliance firms and ranks among Engineering News-Record’s Top 200 Environmental Firms.

If you need assistance accessing SWCA’s website, completing the online application, or require accommodations at any point during the hiring process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@swca.com or call 1-480-581-5378. We’re committed to providing an inclusive and supportive experience for all candidates. This contact information is specifically for accommodation requests; other inquiries will not receive a response. 

SWCA is committed to salary equity and salary transparency for all its employees. In alignment with this commitment, SWCA posts good faith pay ranges in all its advertised job postings to promote pay equity and transparency. An employee in this Arizona based position can expect a salary of $95,910/year to $124,570/year. Actual pay within this range may depend on experience, qualifications, geographic location, client requirements where applicable, and other factors permitted by law.  Regular-status employees are also eligible for performance bonuses. Candidates are also encouraged to consider SWCA’s Total Rewards package, which includes a competitive benefits package (https://www.swca.com/careers/benefits-wellness/), forward-thinking workplace flexibility, outstanding corporate culture, award-winning career development, and more. 

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. At SWCA Environmental Consultants, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. We strongly encourage candidates from all backgrounds, including those with diverse experiences and veterans, to apply. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce enhances creativity, innovation, and overall organizational success.

SWCA continues to invest deeply in career development programs, delivering our award-winning Career Landscape support resources to accelerate the growth of our staff. We recognize the valuable skills and experiences our internal team members bring to SWCA’s continued success. Qualified internal candidates are encouraged to apply and will be seriously considered for this position. We believe in promoting from within, where possible, providing our existing employees with compelling opportunities to advance their careers.

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