Principal Biologist - Environmental Scientist

Stantec; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 165,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Stantec is seeking a Principal Environmental Scientist to join our Santa Barbara, CA office. You will lead multi-disciplinary teams, manage complex environmental projects, and guide regulatory strategy across CEQA/NEPA, permitting, and compliance.

The role emphasizes mentorship, client engagement, and delivering high-quality work with standard ISO-aligned processes. The position involves office work with some travel, collaborating with biologists, planners, and engineers to support renewable

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive responsibility in environmental projects and leadership.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and mentoring junior staff.
• Proven ability to manage client relationships, scope, and budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor multidisciplinary teams on environmental projects in southern California.
• Oversee regulatory strategy, CEQA/NEPA analyses, and permitting.
• Drive business development, proposals, and client engagement.
• Coordinate with regulators, clients, and staff to deliver quality reports on time and within budget.
• Travel as needed for project work in the western U.S.

Skills

Project management

Mentorship

Client liaison

Regulatory compliance

Biology expertise

Environmental planning

Leadership

Business development

Job description

Grounded in safety, quality, and ethics, our experts lead their fields with dedication, a creative spirit, and a vision for growth. We draw from more than 20 technical specialties worldwide and are devoted to fostering a community of diverse talents, backgrounds, and expertise. Here, you can apply your passion and collaborate with top environmental professionals on work that’s vital to our clients and the communities they serve.

Join a team that’s naturally committed to the environment.

Your Opportunity

Stantec is seeking a principal-level Environmental Scientist with at least 15 years of experience to join our southern California Natural Resources Assessment & Permitting Group by operating out of our Santa Barbara, California office. We welcome a talented and collaborative team member with demonstrable experience in southern California and elsewhere. As a Principal Environmental Scientist with Stantec, you will work in a highly dynamic team environment with biologists, environmental scientists, environmental planners, and water resources specialists, as well as wider multidisciplinary teams. This will be a leadership role providing direction and mentorship for junior team members, project management, and responsibility for driving business development. This position will primarily entail office work but may include limited opportunities for field work.

In this position, you will be responsible for the contribution and management of multi-disciplinary project teams across multiple sectors, including, but not limited to renewable energy, electric and gas transmission and distribution projects, and natural resource planning and management projects. As a Principal Environmental Scientist, you will oversee and provide expertise in technical deliverables, regulatory strategy, CEQA/NEPA analysis, and permitting strategy. Specific background and expertise should consist of expertise with regulatory compliance and permitting, and proven success in project and client management. This position requires extensive coordination with clients, resource agencies, and environmental and technical staff. The ideal Santa Barbara, California candidate will also have the following qualifications:

• Experience managing complex projects and/or programs in southern California as a Project Manager for multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience working on utility-related biological compliance projects, particularly with Southern California Edison (SCE) and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with environmental permitting processes, biological monitoring protocols, and utility corridor operations is considered a strong asset.
• Experience working on other projects for other clients, including but not limited to:
  • Renewable energy such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
  • Oil and Gas (O&G).
  • Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and/or California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
  • Department of Defense (DOD).
  • Water infrastructure.
  • Community development.

What You Will Do for Stantec

As a Principal Environmental Scientist

• Your assignments/projects will be advanced in nature and require the application of experience and strategy.
• You will frequently interact and interface with environmental regulators and clients; proactively assessing and resolving concerns.
• You will be responsible for independently planning, strategizing, implementing, and orchestrating the team to deliver complicated projects related to natural resources, wetlands, biophysical impact assessments, environmental assessments, and regulatory approvals.
• You will manage tasks and projects according to approved scopes of work and deliver quality reports on schedule and within budget, while maintaining consistency with Stantec’s Project Management Framework and International Organization for Standardization (ISO)-certified Integrated Management System (IMS).
• You will provide senior technical peer reviews and independent reviews relating to natural resource science and biology on multidisciplinary projects.
• You will apply technical and business knowledge and methods to develop creative, effective, and economical solutions to address current and potential project issues.
• You will assist in analyzing current and emerging technical issues, and implementing actions to proactively address market, business, regulatory, and/or economic issues.
• You will champion Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSSE) Policies, Procedures, Standards and Guidelines in the execution of all work.
• You will provide supervision, training, technical direction and mentoring to more junior staff.
• You will contribute to and lead business development activities, including proposals, pre-qualifications, scoping/budgeting, and relationship building with clients and prospective clients and industry colleagues.
• The role has a target 65-75% direct project utilization goal.
• Occasional overnight travel may be required within and outside of southern California.

Your Capabilities and Credentials

You are an environmental scientist, environmental planner, and/or natural resources management specialist and have a minimum 15 years of related experience demonstrating increasing levels of responsibility in business development, project management, executing technical aspects of complex projects, and mentorship. Your skills should include:

• Highly skilled in communications and technical information exchange with clients, engineers and scientists, government regulators and agencies, and academia, as well as non-technical communication to the public.
• Disciplined approach to project execution and technical excellence.
• Shows leadership in striving to continuously improve technical performance.
• Promotes new ideas and initiatives and creates an environment that supports creativity and innovation.
• Builds and maintains productive professional and personal networking relationships.
• Drives collaborative efforts within the region and beyond to deliver consistent, high quality and appropriately scoped technical work.
• Proficient in and consistently demonstrates and promotes policies and procedures for HSE, including client-specific training (if applicable).
• Extensive experience in reviewing and analyzing scientific data, maps, and drawings with strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Extensive demonstrable background, knowledge, and experience with the flora, fauna, and vegetative communities of southern California; experience in other areas of California and elsewhere will be considered a plus.
• Familiarity with and/orextensive experience with survey requirements,impact assessment, permitting,agency negotiations, and mitigation forsensitive natural resources of the Central Coast of California,including but not limited tofloristic botanical surveys, reconnaissance wildlife surveys, and species-specific protocol surveys. Experience with/permits for steelhead trout, tidewater goby, California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, burrowing owl, western snowy plover, California least tern, least Bell’s vireo, southwestern willow flycatcher, and/or coastal California gnatcatcher will be considered a plus.
• Extensive experience in preparing technical documentation including biological survey reports, technical memoranda, Biological Resources Technical Reports (BRTRs), jurisdictional waters delineations and Aquatic Resources Delineation Reports (ARDRs), and/or biological resources sections for CEQA/NEPA documents.
• Extensive knowledge of federal, state, and local environmental regulations and processes, particularly in southern California, such as: California Environmental Quality Act and National Environmental Policy Act (CEQA/NEPA).
• Federal and California Endangered Species Act (FESA/CESA).
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (MBTA/BGEPA).
• Clean Water Act (CWA).
• Porter-Cologne Act.
• California Fish and Game Code (FGC).
• California Coastal Act and Local Coastal Programs (CCA/LCPs).
• Extensive experience in preparation of regulatory permit applications such as Clean Water Act Section 404/401, Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs), Fish and Game Code Section 1602 Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreements, and/or federal/state Incidental Take Permits (ITPs).
• Demonstrated experience leading environmental permitting of energy facilities, pipelines, and/or linear infrastructure projects in the western United States.
• Demonstrated technical competence and project experience in natural resource fields applicable to commercial (primarily conventional or renewable energy generation/transmission) siting and licensing or environmental permitting of other infrastructure projects.
• Experience in working on construction projects, compliance monitoring, environmental training, interpretation and application of regulatory requirements, and post-construction monitoring/reporting on small to large projects.
• Experience with using GPS/GIS technology to collect biological survey data, map vegetation communities, and/or delineate jurisdictional waters.
• Wetland delineation training certificate will be considered a plus.
• Must have ability to occasionally travel.
• Must have a valid driver’s license and good driving record.
• OSHA HAZWOPER 40-hour certification will be considered a plus.
• A medical physical and/or drug and alcohol screening may be required for some project assignments.