Job Summary

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 environmental planning team prepares environmental documents that enable planning and 

development projects, vital public infrastructure, habitat restoration, climate resiliency, and public access projects to proceed.  We are looking for a Senior Environmental Planner who can bring their technical expertise on CEQA to provide outstanding results for our diverse mix of clients and project types. 

This role may be remote within the state of California. 

This role will have three areas of impact:

(1) Project management and execution

• Serve as a project manager and leader related to environmental planning and permitting projects

• Write and manage the preparation of complex CEQA / NEPA documents

• Work closely with other team leaders and project delivery teams to win and deliver projects

(2) CEQA technical expertise and leadership

• Provide technical guidance on technical work products, specifically providing support and expertise for environmental planning and permitting projects

• Mentor and train junior-level technical staff, and provide oversight of technical work products that include CEQA and NEPA documents  

• Interface with clients and make public presentations to agency decision-making bodies

(3) Business development

• Partner with colleagues across the firm on proposals to aid in the acquisition of new projects and new clients and to grow the company through regional recognition, publications, and presentations 

• Participate in strategic initiatives to grow and diversify our environmental planning practice

To be successful in this role, you will need: 

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in environmental studies, science, planning, or related field. 

• 8 to 10 years of relevant experience preparing CEQA and NEPA documents with a track record of increasing responsibility and the ability to manage increasingly complex projects.

• A solid understanding of current planning law and practice.

• A proven track record of building new client relationships and managing existing client relationships effectively

• Experience developing innovative paths to generate new work and opportunities. 

• Experience successfully mentoring junior staff.

The position location is flexible within the state of California with a strong preference near any of WRA’s northern California offices (San Rafael, Emeryville, or Petaluma). In this role you have the option to work in person, fully remote (within California), or in a hybrid capacity. Occasional travel may be required for site visits, meetings, public hearings, etc. 

WRA has an established internal leveling system for our staff that maps to salary bands that have been informed by market data. Our leveling system is dependent on years of relevant industry experience, education, and the level of responsibility and autonomy at which you’re expected to operate.

*The salary range for this position is $115,000 - $153,000 depending on experience which represents 2 job levels that WRA is open to considering for this role. In your first conversation with our recruiter, we will discuss leveling and compensation with you to make sure that expectations are aligned. 

Who are we?

WRA’s company vision is “cultivating a sustainable future where people and the environment thrive” and that starts 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.