Project Geospatial Scientist

SWCA is seeking a Project GIS Specialist (HR Title = Project Geospatial Scientist) to support Environmental Consulting projects across SWCA's Southwest operations. In this role, you will take ownership of GIS solutions, collaborate with talented teams, and contribute to a variety of projects across the region and nationally.

This position is available for hybrid work arrangements in Arizona, with consideration for highly qualified remote candidates elsewhere in nearby locations. This is a salaried, exempt, regular (with benefits), position.

Application Deadline: Our team will begin reviewing applications immediately, and interviews will be scheduled with qualified candidates on a rolling basis. The application process will remain open until we have received a robust pool of qualified candidates. Once we have identified suitable individuals, we may close the application process without prior notice. We appreciate the time and effort invested by all applicants and will carefully consider each submission.

The Project Geospatial Scientist will serve as the primary point of contact for several large, complex projects at a time. They will be responsible for coordinating the GIS for multiple projects with different teams throughout the Southwest subregion. The applicant must have a demonstrated ability to critically evaluate changing client and project manager priorities and break down high-level projects into targeted deliverables. They must be comfortable working with different stakeholders and be open-minded to new and changing approaches to ensure the desired solution is achieved. Furthermore, they must be able to provide technical expertise and guidance to office leaders in support of project and proposal efforts.

Responsibilities include:

• Assist the Team Lead with sub-regional strategic planning for geospatial sciences.
• Lead large/complex projects/tasks from start to finish, with minimal guidance or supervision.
• Use experience and technical knowledge for moderately sized proposal efforts.
• Perform complex geoprocessing, modeling, or spatial analysis in coordination with subject matter experts and senior team members.
• Help ensure the overall quality of work is consistent with SWCA's standards and practices alongside other team members.
• Produce moderately complex cartographic quality maps adhering to SWCA or client mapping templates.
• Manage large, complex datasets.
• Design, create, maintain, and perform QA/QC of geospatial databases.
• Independently troubleshoot complex problems for resource teams.
• Be an active member in technical/industry organizations.
• Apply knowledge of environmental resources and regulations to the job.
• Demonstrate technical proficiency in geospatial sciences through continuing education, training, presentations, or accreditations.
• Comply with the safety plan.
• May supervise multiple junior staff or temporarily direct the work of others.
• May specialize in a particular application of GIS to environmental consulting.
• May lead/supervise a team of technical GIS experts in order to execute technical tasks through self and others on projects directly related to the area of specialized application of GIS to environmental consulting.

This role offers the opportunity to take responsibility for GIS deliverables, expand your technical expertise, and have a meaningful impact on natural and cultural resources management across the Southwest Subregion.

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Geography, Anthropology, Biology, Environmental Science, or related field with an emphasis in GIS (or GIS certificate)
• Seven (7) years of experience as a senior GIS analyst or similar position with demonstrated increasing levels of professional-level responsibility and leadership
• Experience in the design, development, implementation, and administration of GIS systems.
• Completed all GIS-related aspects of a project, from budget preparation/scoping to pre-field preparations, to geospatial analyses, to final report maps and calculations
• Demonstrated ability of data transfer, data analysis, data mining, and data inventory using software applications (e.g. Windows Explorer, Excel, Access, ESRI ArcGIS)
• Demonstrated experience with ArcGIS Pro 2.x and ArcMap 10.x as well as knowledge of cartography and computer mapping including design principles and understanding map creation procedures in ArcGIS required
• Experience with ArcGIS Online/Enterprise to manage and distribute spatial data
• General understanding of basic statistics, and geometric math computations (e.g., summary, distributions, frequency, min/max, range, angles, distance, slope, degrees, area)
• Prior knowledge and experience creating database schemas, domains, ArcServer/web applications, network analysis,

Preferred qualifications:

• Master's degree in Geography, Anthropology, Biology, Environmental Science, or related field with an emphasis in GIS (or GIS certificate)
• Previous experience as a GIS professional in the environmental industry highly preferred
• Experience managing large, complex databases, including designing schemas and domains.
• Supporting field operations using ArcGIS Field Maps, Survey123, or similar tools.
• GIS project management experience and the ability to work independently on complex tasks.
• QA/QC experience and familiarity with workflow automation using Python, SQL, or similar tools.
• Experience in environmental consulting projects involving regulatory compliance or federal land management agencies such as the BLM, USGS, USFWS, USACE, etc.
• Active involvement in technical or professional GIS organizations.

Why Work at SWCA:

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full-spectrum of environmental services. Our Vision (the North Star) is to make SWCA the best workplace and industry leader in sustainability, bringing sound science and creative solutions to global environmental challenges while maintaining a dedication to employee-ownership. We live our core values: we collaborate as #OneSWCA; we are #AlwaysLearning, we #NeverSettle, and we #GiveBack.

We are 100% employee-owned, and we build our success together. With offices across the United States, SWCA is one of the largest environmental compliance firms and ranks among Engineering News-Record's Top 200 Environmental Firms. We offer a supportive, team-oriented work environment and competitive wages and benefits, including an 100% employee stock ownership plan (retirement).

At SWCA, we support our team members in developing their careers to make them leaders in their industry. Our Career Landscape initiative is a process and guide designed to help develop chart rewarding career paths for employees at SWCA. We encourage professional conference attendance, internal and external professional development and training programs, education reimbursement, a Science and Leadership Program, and bonuses for publications meeting certain criteria. All regular status employees are eligible to participate in SWCA medical, dental, vision, employee assistance, wellness, life and disability plans, and are eligible to participate in the SWCA 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust.

If you need assistance accessing SWCA's website, completing the online application, or require accommodations at any point during the hiring process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@swca.com or call 1-480-581-5378. We're committed to providing an inclusive and supportive experience for all candidates. This contact information is specifically for accommodation requests; other inquiries will not receive a response.

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. At SWCA Environmental Consultants, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. We strongly encourage candidates from all backgrounds, including those with diverse experiences and veterans, to apply. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce enhances creativity, innovation, and overall organizational success.

SWCA is committed to salary equity and salary transparency for all its employees. In alignment with this commitment, SWCA posts good faith pay ranges in all its advertised job postings to promote pay equity and transparency.

An employee in this Phoenix, AZ-based position can expect a salary between $71,385.60 - $91,936.00, depending on experience, geographic locations, client requirements where applicable, and other factors permitted by law. Employees in this position are eligible for consideration for SWCA's annual bonus program, which provides awards based on individual and organizational performance. To review additional benefits associated with this position, click here: https://www.swca.com/careers/benefits

SWCA continues to invest deeply in career development programs, delivering our award-winning Career Landscape support resources to accelerate the growth of our staff. We recognize the valuable skills and experiences our internal team members bring to SWCA's continued success. Qualified internal candidates are encouraged to apply and will be seriously considered for this position. We believe in promoting from within, where possible, providing our existing employees with compelling opportunities to advance their careers.