Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist

WRA, Inc.; California; Remote; USD 108,000 - 146,000; Full time

Job summary

WRA, Inc. in California seeks a Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist to lead permitting strategies for infrastructure projects across California's Central Valley and Foothills. This remote role may require travel to field sites, client offices, and agency locations within the state.

You will guide cross-disciplinary teams, manage budgets, and coordinate with agencies on 401/404/LSAA and NMFS/USFWS consultations, with emphasis on delivering on schedule and within scope.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biological sciences, engineering, policy, or related field.
• 10+ years of professional experience in consulting.
• 6+ years: 401/404/1600 LSAA, USFWS/NMFS Section 7 or Section 10 consultations; CDFW 2081 ITPs.
• Proven ability to manage multidisciplinary teams.
• Proven supervisory or leadership experience.
• Experience in Transportation, Water, or Mine/Quarry markets.
• 5+ years of project management (scopes, budgets, change orders).
• 5+ years in California's Central Valley or Foothills.

Responsibilities

• Develop a permitting strategy, schedule, and budget reflecting client priorities.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams and oversee technical studies for permitting.
• Oversee or prepare permit applications.
• Proactively manage budgets and change orders.
• Identify and communicate project risks to principals.
• Mentor early career professionals in regulatory processes and project management.
• Engage in thought leadership through conferences, publications, or panels.

Skills

Regulatory permitting

Project management

Leadership

Communication

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's degree in biological sciences, engineering, policy, or related field

Job description

We're currently hiring a Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist in the Sacramento/Central Valley region. On Team 12, you will work closely with WRA's Principals, Directors, and executive leadership to develop, manage, and deliver multifaceted regulatory projects primarily throughout California's Central Valley and Foothills. As WRA continues to expand our presence in this region, this is a unique opportunity to join WRA at a pivotal point in our growth, helping build out our presence and practice in the Central Valley and Foothills from the ground up. In this role you will collaborate with clients, regulatory agencies, and interdisciplinary WRA teams to develop innovative solutions, lead complex consultation processes, and support successful project implementation. This is a remote position within the state of California; however, candidates residing in or near the greater Sacramento/Central Valley region will be prioritized throughout the process. We will consider candidates within the state of California who have established relationships in the region and are willing to travel regularly to field sites, client and agency offices, and WRA office locations as needed to support project work. This position reports to Rob Schell, Wildlife and Fisheries Director.

In this role, you will:

• Work with Principals as well as Director and Executive-level staff, including subject matter experts, engineers, attorneys, clients, prime or subconsultants to develop a project from idea, through planning and permit consultations in support of critical infrastructure and development in California's Central Valley and Foothills
• Merge technical expertise with regulatory experience to guide and advise clients on project due diligence, design, opportunities and constraints to develop and deliver a permitting strategy, schedule, and budget that reflects client priorities
• Coordinate, delegate, and oversee multidisciplinary teams, stakeholders, staff, and subconsultants on the preparation of technical studies necessary to support the permitting process
• Oversee or directly prepare permit applications
• Proactively manage budgets, prepare scopes of work and change orders.
• Identify and communicate project risks to Principal-level staff
• Oversee and mentor early career professionals on regulatory processes, project management, and professional development
• Participate in internal and external thought leadership at conferences or professional technical groups through publications, presentations, white papers, panel discussions, or similar

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• A bachelor's degree in biological sciences, engineering, policy, or related field
• At least 10 years of professional experience working in the consulting field
• At least 6 years of expertise preparing and consulting on 401, 404, 1600 LSAA, USFWS/NMFS Section 7 or Section 10 consultations, CDFW 2081 ITPs
• Proven experience building and managing across multidisciplinary teams
• Proven track record in a supervisory or leadership role
• Demonstrated experience in Transportation, Water, or Mine/Quarry Markets
• At least 5 years of project management experience, including preparing scopes of work, budgets and change orders
• At least 5 years working in California's Central Valley or Foothills regions
• A growth mindset
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present technical information to a lay audience
• A valid driver's license, reliable transportation (while WRA has fleet vehicles that can be reserved for field use, during busy field seasons a truck may not always be available) and willingness to travel to field sites and meetings
• The ability to walk, hike, and work outside for long periods of time

Desired but not required skills:

• Specialized expertise with Mitigation, SMARA, FERC
• Business Development experience
• Experience working on competitive proposals
• Strong leadership skills

The salary range for this position is $108,000 - $146,000 which represents 2 job levels that WRA is open to considering for this role. In your first conversation with our recruiter, you may discuss leveling and compensation to make sure that expectations are aligned. Additionally, while the position is being advertised as a Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist, based on leveling conversations, we may determine that Regulatory Permitting Specialist is the appropriate title for you. There will be opportunities to discuss this toward the end of the interview process; however, if you wish to discuss titles earlier in the interview process, please do so with your recruiter.

Who are we?

WRA's an employee-owned environmental consultancy. We are a tenacious team of planners, engineers, and scientists, and we aim to leave the lands we love better than we found them.

Our clients and partners hire us because we’re skilled at navigating through challenging projects involving wildlands, parks, community spaces, and infrastructure. We bring over four decades of expertise, long-standing relationships, and connections to our local communities to make sure that projects are pursued in responsible ways where both people and the environment thrive.

As an organization, we believe that independence and interdependence are not mutually exclusive. We invest in systems, processes, and employee programs to support our staff's collective engagement and success. At the same time, we encourage our employees to operate with an ownership mindset, taking responsibility for outcomes and being true to our commitments.

WRA's company vision is to cultivate a sustainable future where people and the environment thrive, and that effort starts first with our staff. We are committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment, and we have developed flexible policies, internal practices, and are investing in programs that prioritize learning and sustainability. We aim to create conditions that allow employees to prioritize their families, lead healthy and balanced lives, and to bring their authentic selves to work every day. We believe that by creating an exceptional workplace, our employees will be able to do their best work and be able to meaningfully contribute to the sustainability of the environment and the communities in which we live.

WRA is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating a diverse environment. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.