Senior Planning Technical Director

SWCA Environmental Consultants is seeking a Senior Technical Director for Planning to lead the continued growth, innovation, and technical excellence of our planning practice. SWCA's planning practice is comprehensive and encompasses federal, state, and local planning and permitting. Broad categories include the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), state environmental policy acts and permitting and local and county planning and permitting. Specific planning examples include (but are not limited to) federal land use plans, recreation plans, open-space plans, master development plans, and community wildfire plans. SWCA's planning program is expanding to comprehensively meet the increased demand for streamlined and effective planning and permitting in all land use management sectors.

The Senior Technical Director for Planning will provide enterprise-level leadership in advancing SWCA's planning practice, including identifying and mentoring SWCA's future planning leaders, establishing a program for staff development and delivery excellence, and supporting strategic growth in planning work across our offices, clients, and business lines. This position will ensure exemplary technical quality, foster innovation in methodologies and tools, and position SWCA as an industry leader in planning services.

The selected individual will be an experienced leader with:

• recognized project planning and permitting expertise involving regulatory compliance and associated interdisciplinary analysis and disclosure
• demonstrated experience developing innovative permitting strategies, processes, technologies, etc. that result in continually improving permitting and planning practices

The Director will report to one of SWCA's Vice Presidents of Scientific and Technical Services. This is a full-time, regular status, salaried position, eligibleto work in any of our offices, or 100% distributed in the domestic US. It is expec ted that travel will be between 10-20% of the time.

Application deadline: The position will close on 2.26.2026 at 5:00 PM PST.

SWCA is a growing, 1,800 staff, employee-owned firm, providing a full-spectrum of environmental services. Our Vision (the North Star)isto makeSWCA 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;weare#AlwaysLearning, we#NeverSettle,and we#GiveBack.

Responsibilities

Strategic Technical Leadership (60%)

• Lead long-range strategic planning and implementation for the national planning practice, developing enterprise-level initiatives that expand, diversify, and innovate technical service offerings.
• Identify and leverage emerging scientific, regulatory, and technological trends to position SWCA as an industry leader in federal, state and local planning; build and participate in external scientific/professional networks and ensure continuous internal dissemination of new knowledge.
• Serve as the enterprise technical leader and mentor for the national planning practice, setting the standard for excellence, innovation, and state-of-the art methodologies and tools.
• Drive consistency, scalability, and integration of technical approaches across geographies; lead cross-company initiatives in partnership with regional and technical leaders.
• Build and elevate the next tier of technical leadership by delegating planning practice group functions (e.g., resource hubs, tools, communications) to regional planning directors and planning practice leads.
• Align practice strategies with other company leaders including operations, client services, talent acquisition, and technology leaders to develop shared key performance indicators (KPIs) and integrated solutions that support enterprise objectives.
• Partner with the Senior Quality Director to establish discipline-specific quality standards and partner with operational leaders to ensure consistent adoption across the company.
• Work with leaders in operations and recruiting to anticipate future needs and to implement a scalable technical talent pipeline to meet those needs. This will include working with operations to identify and mentor internal staff for career progression, as well as working with talent acquisition to recruit external staff that best integrate with SWCA's mission and culture.
• Serve as an ambassador for SWCA's Safety Culture and implementation.

Strategic Project Work (20%) & Business Development (20%)

• Be forward-looking in identifying market trends, changing regulatory environment, and effective tools for capturing and executing on projects. Anticipate how the planning program will market and deliver in the upcoming 3-5 years or beyond as appropriate.
• Lead or oversee planning projects of regional or national importance, providing technical direction and mentoring to strengthen project teams and practice capabilities.
• Partner with leaders across SWCA to ensure enterprise-level quality, consistency of technical approaches, and integration of best practices into project deliverables.
• Serve as a senior subject matter expert on strategic, complex, and innovative planning and/or permitting projects across multiple geographies, ensuring technical excellence, regulatory alignment, and enterprise value.
• Represent SWCA as a thought leader at industry professional forums and client meetings to strengthen visibility, influence, and strategic partnerships.
• Collaborate closely with Client Services and other business development leaders within SWCA to grow, diversify, and expand planning services in target markets and geographies, ensuring alignment between client needs, practice strategy, and enterprise priorities.
• Identify and capitalize on market, regulatory, scientific, and technological trends to shape new planning resource service offerings and guide technical approach for high-value pursuits.
• Serve as Technical Client Manager for key accounts to foster a client-focused environment.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or above (or equivalent experience) in engineering, biology, ecology, environmental science, land use planning, or a related natural or human resource discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive responsible experience in environmental consulting, resource management, and/or interdisciplinary projects with a strong focus on planning and/or permitting, including increasing technical leadership and project and technical practice management.
• Demonstrated success addressing complex interdisciplinary issues across multiple agencies, geographies, and sectors.
• Diverse experience with one or more of the following: NEPA, state environmental policy acts (CEQA, MEPA, etc.), or state, or local permitting.
• Proven ability to identify and capitalize on market, regulatory, and technological trends; demonstrated success in developing new business and leading high-value pursuits.
• Strong financial and project management skills, including the ability to manage complex, interdisciplinary projects.
• Recognized mentor with a track record of developing practitioners and supporting organizational succession planning.

• Experience in collaborating with staff in strategic marketing and market expansion.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Prior experience working collaboratively across offices, regions, and cross-disciplinary teams at all levels of the organization.
• Broad understanding of planning regulatory frameworks, technical methodologies, and emerging technologies.
• Strong client-facing skills, including communication, relationship building, and strategic problem-solving.
• Demonstrated experience communicating highly technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to influence outcomes and lead through collaboration.

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 a 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 USA-based position can expect a salary of $141,107/year to $185,200/year. Actual pay within this range may depend on experience, qualifications, geographic location, client requirements, where applicable, and other factors permitted by law. Regular-status employees are also eligible for performance bonuses. Candidates are also encouraged to consider SWCA's Total Rewards package, which includes a competitive benefits package (https://www.swca.com/careers/benefits-wellness/), forward-thinking workplace flexibility, outstanding corporate culture, award-winning career development, and more.

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 experience 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.