Ascent is looking to fill a full-time position for a Wildfire Resilience Environmental Project Manager to join our environmental practice in any of our offices located in Sacramento, San Diego, Oakland, Lake Tahoe, or Orange County/Irvine.
Location: Multiple Locations
Salary: $90,000-$125,000/year
DOES THIS DESCRIBE YOU?
You are experienced in managing CEQA or NEPA compliance work and would like to apply your experience to improving wildfire resilience. You also relish collaboration with other natural resources professionals and agency staff to solve challenging resource problems. Recently, you’ve been wanting to apply your skills to manage more CEQA and NEPA reviews that lead to improved forest resilience in California. You are excited about the prospect of being on the leading edge of a state-wide effort to increase the pace and scale of projects that address California’s wildfire and climate crises. You are team-oriented and highly motivated to contribute to the development of vegetation management plans and projects requiring wildfire risk analysis, guide a project through the regulatory compliance process, and meet client objectives. Analytical thinking and writing quality are core skills. You believe strongly in the value of well-conceived, concise, and clearly written analysis, so that clients, regulators, and public agency officials have technically accurate, objective, and reliable information to support their decisions.
IN A TYPICAL WEEK AS AN ASCENT WILDFIRE RESILIENCE ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT MANAGER, YOU MIGHT:
Manage preparation of a CEQA document for a vegetation management project in cooperation with interdisciplinary staff and public agency clients.
Oversee preparation of a NEPA document that addresses fire fuel reduction and forest ecosystem restoration on National Forest, National Park, or Reclamation watershed lands.
Drive environmental review of park and open space, ecosystem restoration, or fish and wildlife management plans, in addition to wildfire resilience projects.
Collaborate with state or federal agency staff to identify the most appropriate strategy to comply with CEQA or NEPA, including streamlining innovations.
Contribute to a forest management plan or fire protection plan for a land conservancy, local government, or state agency.
Evaluate a proposed vegetation management project for consistency with the California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) or a similar programmatic environmental document.
Help prepare a scope of work and price estimate for new work to conduct an environmental review of a forest management plan, fire protection plan, or fuel reduction project.
Speak at a conference or in-house training about the latest strategies to increase the pace and scale of vegetation treatment to promote wildfire resilience or best practices in fire protection planning.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Strong interest in forest resilience and wildfire risk reduction
Located in California or Nevada
BS or MS in environmental studies, ecology, forestry, or a related field
A minimum of 4+ years of relevant experience
Excellent writing skills are important
Strong organizational skills for budget and schedule management
Knowledge of CEQA and/or NEPA is required.
