Environmental Project Manager/Assistant Project Manager

Job Description
Description:

Does This Describe You?

CEQA and NEPA are exciting environmental laws to you. You might even dub yourself a CEQA Geek or NEPA Nerd. You love helping clients anticipate issues, avoid or solve problems, and define environmental compliance strategies. You are experienced in effectively managing or assisting with managing environmental compliance and planning projects. Recently, you've had the chance to manage a project or a small team and you enjoyed it; or, owning the responsibility for medium to large, complex environmental documents is in your comfort zone, including quality assurance, client management, schedule and budget management, and team coordination. To keep up with CEQA and NEPA, you follow court decisions and participate regularly in legal and practice updates. Your personal copy of the CEQA statute and guidelines is dog-eared and coffee-stained and the CEQ NEPA link is pinned to your desktop. You enjoy keeping up on environmental issues, like innovative urban planning, sustainable transportation, water, energy, biodiversity, or climate change. Your skills are excellent for analytical thinking, writing, relationship building, and translating technical material into forms suitable for decision-makers and the public. Your past success may also include business development, proposal writing, and networking with prospective clients. Your attitude is positive, and your personality is caring.

Would You Enjoy This?

In a typical week in the life of an Ascent Environmental Project Manager/Assistant Project Manager you may:

• Work with clients on their most important, often complex, and challenging environmental planning documents
• Collaborate closely with Ascent principals, who support you in carrying out projects
• Team up, shoulder-to-shoulder, with a knowledgeable, interdisciplinary group of Ascent professionals in the San Diego, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, and Bay Area.
• Communicate directly with clients, regulatory agencies, sub-consultants, and stakeholders to understand and address a broad range of perspectives
• Prepare budgets and schedules, and carry out project work within agreed time frames and contract price
• Create, with your team, high-quality environmental and planning documents
• Support your project team members by brainstorming environmental issues together
• Coordinate closely with your team to keep the project well organized and moving forward
• Continue to develop a strong working knowledge of CEQA and NEPA
• Provide a quality review of documents, with attention to completeness, legal adequacy, technical accuracy, and readability
• Work collaboratively with and receive mentoring from recognized experts in the environmental planning field
• Visit project sites in northern California, the Sierra Nevada, and the Central Valley, and potentially elsewhere in California and the west
• Receive training and support to advance your environmental career

Here are some other things you may do:

• Represent Ascent and our clients at public meetings, workshops, and open houses
• Contribute to and lead business development activities, including proposal preparation and relationship building with existing and prospective clients
• Participate in professional associations, such as speaking at conferences
• Help with mentoring and skill development of more junior staff
• Enjoy social and community service events, and the camaraderie of being an Ascentian

.Requirements:
We are seeking candidates who enjoy environmental planning and impact analysis with the project manager or assistant project management experience and have a BS/MS in planning, environmental studies, geography, natural resources, physical sciences, or related fields, along with 3 to 5 or more years of applicable experience. Professional qualifications include CEQA/NEPA compliance, writing, and analytical skills, computer skills, and engaging interpersonal skills.

Ascent provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.