Senior Fisheries Scientist

ESA seeks a highly motivated Senior Fish Scientist who is a technical leaderand has proven initiative to help drive the growth of our dynamic team of fish and aquatic scientists in Northern California. We are looking for a dedicated and passionate team member witha minimum of 20 years of fish science experiencewho would provide expertise for a variety of state, federal, and private clients primarily in the Water and Natural Resource markets. The position will be focused on technical leadership, marketing our existing contracts, and strengthening client connections while providing mentoring and guidance to our junior technical staff. This opportunity is focused oncollaboration,ensuringoutstanding client service,managing projects and overseeing work, ensuring the production ofquality work products, andbeing part of a team with a passion to do great work and have fun together.

What You Will Do for ESA

• Develop new work, generating work for yourself and NorCal Fish and Aquatic Sciences (FAS) staff. You are interested in business development and have experience acquiring work through your existing network. You will lead the preparation of proposals with an aquatic biology focus for contract and project pursuits including providing technical input, contributing to proposal writing, identifying opportunities, and engaging with proposal/interview teams. These efforts will include having the responsibility for preparing scopes of work and budgets and reviewing scopes and budgets prepared by your staff. You will also lead and direct marketing and business development pursuits including developing capture strategies. You possess excellent oral and presentation skills.

• Serve as a Project Manager. You will demonstrate a clear understanding of project management principles and practices and be able to develop your staff's skills in the preparation of environmental permitting documents and planning and implementation of special study investigations in accordance with applicable guidelines and requirements. You will balance the workloads of yourself and the staff and ensure that client expectations, quality, budget, and schedules are met.

• Provide mentorship and support for junior staff, including reviewing their work for accuracy and clarity and providing constructive feedback and career development guidance while working on projects together. You will help foster an inclusive team environment where all employee-owners are valued, respected, and enabled to work at their highest level.

• As a part of ESA's FAS Group, you will apply critical thinking and problem-solving to select and apply standard techniques, methods, and procedures for a wide range of fish, hydrologic, and water quality studies. You may lead the collection, interpretation, and analysis of field survey data and may serve as a technical/resource specialist. You will serve as a lead author or a contributing author of environmental documents potentially including technical reports, biological assessments/evaluations, adaptive management plans, scientific publications and other documents. You will prepare technical draft documents that are clear, concise, well-written, and supported.

Who You Are

• Preferably have a master's degree or PhD with major coursework in fish biology, aquatic ecology, environmental science, chemistry, natural resources management, water quality/limnology, climatology, and/or similar natural resource-related disciplines from an accredited institution.

• Minimum of20 years of experiencein leading or directing projects and the development of high-quality environmental analyses.

• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory skills.

• Experienced project manager and business development leader.

• Experience developing and managing scopes of work, project budgets, and schedules.

• Experience with contributing to proposal writing and preparation of proposal budgets.

• Experienced working on numerous project types, such as: water infrastructure and water diversions; fish passage; fish habitat restoration; transportation and energy; dam removal; Federal and California ESA consultations; CEQA/NEPA; various fisheries and water quality special studies.

• You are known for preparing documents that are clear, concise, well-written, and supported, and for your ability to present information understandably and speak persuasively about complex topics to colleagues, clients, agency staff, teaming partners, other project stakeholders, and the general public.

• Have a strong understanding of regulatory permitting and the ability to lead the preparation of complex environmental permit applications and provide strategic permitting expertise to clients.

• You work collaboratively with clients and interdisciplinary teams to deliver your projects on time and within budget and have developed and tracked scope, schedules, and budgets.

• Thrive in a fast-paced, exciting, and challenging environment and be able to manage multiple responsibilities and deadlines while working on a team or independently.

What's Special About ESA

Joining ESA means becoming part of a close-knit team of environmental professionals who contribute to outstanding projects, improve environmental stewardship, and advance a more sustainable and resilient future for our communities and wild places.

At ESA, we provide benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance (paid at 70% for you and your family); annual allocations of company shares through our ESOP; a 401(k) plan with company match; and paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays.

We also offer specific programs to support you when you want to further your technical expertise, sharpen your business acumen, or help lead the next generation of employee-owners. We want to support you in reaching your career goals through tuition reimbursement, professional development bonuses, and attendance at conferences.

What's Special About Our Fish and Aquatic Sciences team in NorCal

OurFish and Aquatic Sciences team provides creative and comprehensive fisheries and aquatic science services to help solve some of the most complex scientific and regulatory challenges in Northern California and throughout the nation. The ESA fisheries and aquatic science practice functionsacross the entire project life cycle-from strategic planning and permitting, to study design and field implementation, all the way through to analysis, reporting, and public outreach.