Business Group Director-Cultural Resources

Environmental Science Associates

Tampa (FL)

Hybrid

USD 180,000 - 260,000

Full time

4 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

ESOP ownership

401(k) plan with company match

Paid vacation

Tuition reimbursement

Professional development bonuses

Job summary

Environmental Science Associates (ESA) seeks a Business Group Director‑Cultural Resources to lead the Southeast cultural resources practice from Tampa, FL, with hybrid work options. The role focuses on developing client relationships, recruiting top talent, and delivering complex projects in transportation, energy, and infrastructure sectors.

Significant leadership, strategic planning, and regulatory coordination are required.

Qualifications

Proven track record in growing cultural resources services
Experience leading teams and managing complex projects
Strong knowledge of Section 106, NEPA and regulatory processes

Responsibilities

Lead development, operations, and financial performance of the Southeast cultural resources group.
Develop regional growth plan with client, market, staffing, and budget priorities.
Recruit, mentor, and develop local team; collaborate with ESA's national practice.
Serve as Project Director or senior technical advisor on strategic assignments and ensure delivery quality.

Skills

Leadership

Business development

Client relations

Mentoring

Strategic planning

Education

Graduate degree in anthropology/archaeology/architectural history/CRM or related field

Job description

Business Group Director‑Cultural Resources

Tampa, Florida, United States

Environmental Science Associates (ESA) is a 100% employee‑owned environmental consulting firm. We plan, design, permit, mitigate, and restore for projects across our communities, infrastructure systems, open spaces, and wildlands. We are 50 years strong in 21 offices across California, the Pacific Northwest, and the southeastern United States.

ESA is seeking an established cultural resources leader to build and grow our Southeast practice from the ground up. This senior leadership role offers the opportunity to set the direction, recruit a team, and develop a business that reflects your experience and ambition, with the support of a full‑service environmental consulting firm that is employee‑owned and has an established national cultural resources practice. The ideal candidate shall launch a regional cultural resources group as a near‑term priority in ESA’s South/East Growth Plan. Our clients and teaming partners already seek these services alongside our biological resources and environmental planning work. You will turn that demand into a regional practice, bring more cultural resources work into ESA, and develop new client relationships.

This practice will advance ESA’s broader growth in transportation and aviation, water and public infrastructure, energy, and coastal restoration and resilience. You will connect cultural resources expertise with environmental planning, permitting strategy, and natural resources services to help clients address complex projects. Building on our Florida foundation, you will help pursue opportunities in Georgia, the Carolinas, Texas, and the wider Gulf Coast.

You will work closely with the Regional Director, regional business group leaders, and ESA’s Cultural Resources Practice Leader to shape the growth plan and priorities for hiring. Collaboration with cultural resources colleagues across ESA will connect the new team to technical expertise and project delivery support as the Southeast practice develops. This role can be based in a hybrid arrangement from ESA’s Tampa, Orlando, Boynton Beach, Sarasota, or Pensacola offices. We are also open to remote candidates in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Who You Are

An entrepreneurial industry leader and technical expert who enjoys building a business and helping people succeed.
Translate client relationships and market knowledge into a focused pipeline of work, make sound hiring decisions, and stay involved in project delivery while a team takes shape.
Have excellent judgment to balance growth with technical quality, staff development, and financial performance.
Approachable and collaborative, with a record of earning trust among clients, colleagues, tribes, and agency partners. Flexible and creative and value enduring client relationships and understand that protecting ESA’s employee‑owner culture is central to successful growth.
Ability to mentor future leaders, welcome different perspectives, and create a respectful workplace where people can contribute and advance.
At least 15 years of relevant cultural resources consulting experience, with demonstrated success winning and retaining clients, leading teams, and managing complex projects and business performance.
A strong professional network in the Southeast, experience in Florida, and relationships across the Gulf or South Atlantic states are especially valuable.
A graduate degree in anthropology, archaeology, architectural history, cultural resources management, or a related field, and qualifications that meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards for Archaeology.
A track record of growing cultural resources services or expanding into new markets is especially valuable.
Experience directing cultural resources work in the Southeast, including archaeological investigations, historic architectural studies, resource evaluation, and treatment or mitigation planning, with the ability to assemble the right specialists for each assignment.
Strong working knowledge of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, NEPA, and applicable state and local requirements; experience integrating cultural resources analyses into environmental reviews and coordinating complex compliance efforts.
Experience working with federal, state, and local agencies, State Historic Preservation Offices, Tribal representatives, and land managers, with a respectful approach to supporting agency‑led Tribal consultation.
The ability to develop business and capture plans, lead proposals, negotiate scopes and budgets, and guide project managers through delivery, quality review, and financial management.

What You Will Do For ESA

You will lead the development, operations, and financial performance of the Southeast cultural resources group. Your responsibilities will evolve as the practice grows, with an initial emphasis on winning work, recruiting key people, and establishing a dependable delivery team.

Build the practice and win work

Develop and implement a regional growth plan with clear client, market, staffing, and financial priorities. Work with ESA’s regional and national leaders to align resources and the pace of hiring with the project pipeline.
Partner with ESA client managers to pursue cultural resources work on existing contracts and alongside biological resources services for architecture and engineering partners. Build relationships with public agencies, infrastructure clients, and teaming partners, lead priority pursuits, and grow a sustainable backlog.

Recruit and develop the team

Identify and recruit key talent, then build local field capacity and project management depth to match client needs. Coordinate with ESA’s national cultural resources practice to draw on expertise and staff as the regional team grows.
Mentor staff, align assignments with professional development goals, and build a culture of collaboration, inclusion, and employee ownership. Develop future project managers and practice leaders.

Deliver excellent work and a sound business

Serve as Project Director or senior technical advisor on strategic and complex assignments. Guide regulatory coordination and quality review and help multidisciplinary teams address cultural resources early in project planning.
Establish and manage the group’s annual business plan and budget. Monitor backlog, utilization, profitability, and project risk, and work with project managers to deliver on scope, schedule, and budget commitments.

What’s Special About ESA

medical, dental, and vision insurance (paid at 70% for you AND your family)
annual allocations of company share through our ESOP
401(k) plan with company match
paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays

tuition reimbursement
professional development bonuses
attendance at conferences

Who We Are

We are a 100% employee‑owned environmental consulting firm who values diversity and inclusion and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique. Our culture is built on mutual respect, recognizing that our variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives leads to better solutions, which fosters our continued success for our employee‑owners and clients.

In accordance with ESA’s duty and responsibility to provide and maintain a safe workplace that is free of known hazards and to minimize the exposure to potential hazards, any employee who works from an ESA office or conducts any other in‑person ESA work‑related activity is required to submit their proof of vaccination status or have received an approved exemption and accommodation in states which this applies.

Please note: We do NOT accept unsolicited resumes from agencies

If you are an applicant with a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability—or unable to use—the online application system and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact our Human Resources Department via email: humanresources@esassoc.com for assistance.

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