Senior Project Manager - Natural Resources

About the opportunity

SWCA is seeking a Lead or Senior Project Manager - Natural Resources in in our New Mexico/Four Corners subregion to support projects in Albuquerque, NM and surrounding areas. This position will support office goals by pursuing project opportunities, managing projects and clients, directing biological field studies, and supervising and mentoring staff.

This position can be hired at the following levels: 

• Senior Project Manager – Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience and expertise.
• Lead Project Manager – Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience and expertise.

You will primarily assist clients with projects related to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and other federal, state, and local environmental regulations. SWCA’s New Mexico/Four Corners operation supports Oil & Gas, Renewable Energy, Water, Generation, Transmission, Land Development, Mining, and State & Local industries. 

This is a full-time, exempt position with hybrid and/or remote work options, based out of either our Albuquerque, NM or Durango, CO office.

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

• Manage client relationships and conduct business development with new and existing clients.
• Network within agencies and industry organizations to establish and expand our state and regional client base and revenue in the areas of environmental planning, permitting, and broad-based natural resources services.
• Identify and qualify sales opportunities (prospects and proposals), manage opportunities, and make recommendations to the Natural Resources Director.
• Serve as project manager and technical lead on a variety of natural resources and wildlife biology focused and multi-disciplinary projects.  As a project manager, you will maintain budgets, schedule, quality of service, and staff safety.
• Productively monitor team utilization and manage staff under/over utilization to maintain productivity. 
• Work closely with SWCA’s other leads in both natural and cultural resources in the New Mexico/Four Corners subregion and throughout the company to promote the Albuquerque office by extension, SWCA’s business interests in adherence to its mission, vision, and values.
• Manage the technical execution and financial performance of individual natural resources projects and effectively coordinate with and manage clients and agencies.
• Proactively manage projects (personal and within the team) to avoid overruns.
• Prepare and provide technical oversight for biological resources reports, biological assessments, wetland reports, NEPA documentation, and other natural resources project deliverables related to Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and other regulatory/permitting/compliance requirements.
• Prepare protocols and supervise surveys for sensitive habitats and species; including general surveys for report writing, focused or protocol-level surveys, and pre-construction surveys.
• Develop recommendations for mitigation measures, monitoring, and permitting specific to biological resources.
• Drive compliance of safety policies and reporting requirements to ensure overall team safety.

Experience and qualifications for success

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Biology, Environmental Science, Fish and Wildlife Science, Ecology, or related field.
• Eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in business development, managing projects, QA/QC, developing and implementing budgets, schedules, and scopes of work from pre-field tasks to final report preparation.
• Three (3) years of project management experience working within natural resources.
• Experience working within an environmental consulting firm.
• Experience with environmental surveys, permitting, and field implementation on a variety of projects.
• Extensive working knowledge of federal and state laws (e.g., NEPA, NHPA, CWA, and ESA) governing natural resource management as well as specific regulations related to renewable energy development.
• Demonstrated experience with federal agencies such as US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), US Forest Service (USFS), and/or US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and other state/local agencies.
• Experience with staff and project team supervision.
• Strong business development skills as a “seller/doer” to develop productive business relationships with agency, client, and industry contacts.
• Applicants must have valid driver’s license and be able to meet SWCA’s driver requirements.
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Preferred qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Natural Resource Management, Biology, Environmental Science, Fish and Wildlife Science, Ecology, or related field.
• Ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in business development, managing projects, QA/QC, developing and implementing budgets, schedules, and scopes of work from pre-field tasks to final report preparation.
• Five (5) years of project management experience working within natural resources.
• Restoration/reclamation project experience.
• Existing client base of established clients.
• Prior Natural Resource related work experience in the state of New Mexico

Why Work at SWCA:

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full-spectrum of environmental services.  Our Vision (the North Star) is to make SWCA the best workplace and industry leader in sustainability, bringing sound science and creative solutions to global environmental challenges while maintaining a dedication to employee-ownership. We live our core values: we collaborate as #OneSWCA; we are #AlwaysLearning, we #NeverSettle, and we #GiveBack.

We are 100% employee-owned, and we build our success together. 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. We offer a supportive, team-oriented work environment and competitive wages and benefits, including an 100% employee stock ownership plan (retirement).

At SWCA, we support our team members in developing their careers to make them leaders in their industry. Our Career Landscape initiative is a process and guide designed to help develop chart rewarding career paths for employees at SWCA. We encourage professional conference attendance, internal and external professional development and training programs, education reimbursement, a Science and Leadership Program, and bonuses for publications meeting certain criteria. All regular status employees are eligible to participate in SWCA medical, dental, vision, employee assistance, wellness, life and disability plans, and are eligible to participate in the SWCA 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust.

If you would like to contact SWCA regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the online application process due to a disability, please email accommodations@swca.com or call 1-480-581-5378. This contact information is for disability accommodation requests only. All other inquiries will not receive a response. 

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 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 Albuquerque, NM-based position can expect an annual salary of:

Senior Project Manager = $95,004.00 - $126,672.00

Lead Project Manager = $82,992.00 - $109.200.00

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, forward-thinking workplace flexibility, outstanding corporate culture, award-winning career development, and more.

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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