Senior Environmental Scientist
At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we work to weave diversity, equity, and inclusion into our work and foster a sense of belonging throughout the company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?
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Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.
HDR is seeking a Senior Environmental Scientist to join our Washington Environmental Sciences & Planning group. The ideal candidate will engage with clients and regulatory agencies on strategy and lead project teams to deliver natural resources documentation, permit acquisition, and environmental review and compliance for a wide variety of projects, including water, power, transportation, solid waste, and industrial projects. The successful candidate will have the skills to provide support to project managers and lead terrestrial and aquatic wildlife related tasks in the regulatory and permitting arena.
This position requires a seasoned biologist who will design and conduct studies and resource analyses. The candidate should also have experience with regulatory compliance, agency coordination, coordinating with technical teams. The position also requires a complete and thorough understanding of federal, state, and local regulations pertaining to natural resource management in Washington State. The position will involve a combination of writing, task management and directing field work.
The successful candidate will be able to work independently and collaborate with environmental, regulatory, and technical staff from local and regional offices and subconsultants. We are looking for a candidate that is team oriented, client focused, and flexible.
Primary Responsibilities
- Design, oversee and lead wildlife surveys, habitat evaluations, wetland and stream delineations and functional assessments.
- Effectively collaborate with junior and mid-level environmental staff, project engineers, GIS specialists, planners, and clients to achieve regulatory compliance on a variety of projects.
- Oversee preparation of natural resources permitting applications at federal, state and local level and engage with regulatory agencies on behalf of clients to achieve regulatory compliance for projects. Project activities or permitting regimes may include:
- Endangered Species Act consultation
- Clean Water Act Permitting
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 10 and 404 permits
- State/local permitting in WA
- Contribute as an author and/or strategic advisor on environmental planning documents such as NEPA Environmental Impact Statements or Environmental Assessments, SEPA reviews, critical areas reports, biological evaluations/assessments, monitoring reports and develop mitigation plans and documents to address project impacts.
- Provide quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC) review of technical documents from disciplines noted above.
- Support project managers and other technical staff with client-agency communications.
- Develop proposals for biological-related tasks (preparing scopes, schedules, and budgets).
- Manage biology tasks (coordinating field logistics, overseeing surveys, and managing field staff).
- BA/BS degree in Environmental Science, Biology, Natural Resource management or relevant field of study. Master’s degree preferred, but BA/BS degree will be considered with demonstrated work experience at equivalent level.
- At least 10 years of experience of relevant environmental documentation and permitting experience is required, with at least 5 years of experience with environmental review and permitting projects in Washington.
- Field experience with wetland and wildlife species and habitats in Washington State.
- Applied knowledge of ecological assessment, environmental impact analysis, environmental due diligence studies, natural/biological resources management and habitat conservation planning.
- Proficiency in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Experience with GPS equipment and ArcGIS or similar mapping program is preferred.
- Ability to interpret and analyze data, proactively identify, and solve problems
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong organization skills and ability to work in a fast-paced work environment with changing deadlines and priorities.
- Demonstrable technical writing/editing ability, commitment to quality in both work processes and products and willingness to assume new roles are critical.
- A demonstrated commitment to safety and quality, and an attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture are essential.
- Candidates will need to travel for specific project assignments.
- Field data collection expertise in wildlife species, habitat, and wetlands and streams using GPS units
- Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS), Certified Environmental Professional, or Certified Wildlife Biologist.
- Experience with GIS software.
- Desire to participate in capture planning, client development, proposal development and interviews in collaboration with marketing and leadership teams.
- Local candidates preferred
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- Bachelor's degree in Environment Science or closely related field
- 10 years experience in complex environmental planning/compliance projects
- Demonstrated knowledge of the NEPA process
- Experience managing large, complex EIS documents for transportation, large facility, land management, or other infrastructure projects
- Technical expertise in the design, implementation, interpretation and presentation of data for environmental studies and investigations in specialized discipline
- Proficient with MS Office
- Self-starter with excellent writing and communication skills
- Strong conceptual, organizational, problem-solving and research abilities
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Staff management experience beneficial
- An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must
What We Believe
HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.
Our Commitment
As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.
Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.
