Senior Staff Scientist - Natural Resources Group

Terracon; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Terracon seeks an experienced environmental professional in Pittsburgh to lead site testing and environmental surveys on medium to large projects. The role blends fieldwork with office collaboration and mentoring responsibilities, including regulatory interactions and client-focused deliverables.

Qualified candidates have a biology/environmental science background with 5+ years of related experience, willingness to travel overnight, and a valid driver's license.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Biology or environmental science (or 9+ years' related experience) is required.
• Experience includes wetland delineation, agency reviews, plant identification, permitting, and listed species surveys.
• Overnight travel may be frequent during field season.

Responsibilities

• Conduct wetland and habitat assessments; lead field tasks on projects.
• Prepare permit applications, risk assessments, and regulatory correspondence.
• Develop written proposals and provide quality control of client documents.

Skills

Wetland delineation

Field surveys

Project management

Client care

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Biology or environmental science

9 years related experience in lieu of degree

Job description

General Responsibilities:

Join a team where innovation meets impact — our Pittsburgh office, recently voted one of the best places to work in Pittsburgh, is seeking an individual ready to shape the future of environmental solutions. This dynamic role blends fieldwork with office-based collaboration, offering the chance to lead complex projects, mentor emerging talent, and contribute to meaningful outcomes both on-site and in the office. If you're passionate about making a difference, come explore with us!

Conduct assessments and surveys of wetlands and habitats. Identify, evaluate, and recommend risk and permitting strategies to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Prepare applicable permit applications, risk assessments, and technical documents including proposals, reports and regulatory agency correspondence. Lead tasks for the Natural Resources team on a multi-million dollar project to ensure that work is executed on time and in accordance with the client’s requirements and within company policies, procedures, and standards. Projects may include ecological and natural resource field surveys, impact assessments, environmental permitting, and mitigation.

Essential Roles and Responsibilities:

• Experienced scientific professional responsible for conducting site testing and making recommendations for systems design on medium to large sized projects with a variety of complexity.
• Follow safety rules, guidelines and standards for all projects. Participate in pre-task planning. Report any safety issues or concerns to management.
• Be responsible for maintaining quality standards on all projects.
• Participates with senior scientists/engineers on large, more complex projects.
• Performs assessments including wetland and listed species evaluations, stream assessments and benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and identification.
• Performs site visits, field observations and field data collection or assignments.
• Completes state and federal environmental permitting applications.
• Completes periodic stream and wetland monitoring activities.
• May attend client and regulatory agency meetings.
• Evaluates complex field data and assembles in written reports.
• Responsible for developing written proposals to clients for both small and large projects including quality control review of proposals written by others.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Biology or environmental science and a minimum of 5 years related experience or in lieu of a degree, 9 years of related experience minimum
• Additional skills include project management and client care.
• Will require overnight travel, which may be frequent during field season.
• Valid driver’s license with acceptable violation history.
• Experience must include wetland delineation, agency reviews, plant identification, environmental permitting, and listed species surveys and permitting

Preferred:

• USFWS permitted surveyor for listed plant/animal species a plus.
• Master’s Degree