We are looking for a highly motivated Senior Planner in the Southern California area. We are looking for team members with 15+ years of related work experience, who can manage various environmental compliance and regulatory analyses, primarily relating to CEQA. We are seeking a solid client manager with proven business development experience. This opportunity places a high value on collaboration, delivery, and desire to learn and grow.

Who We Are

We are a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm that values diversity and inclusion and celebrates the differences that make each of us unique. Our culture is built on mutual respect, recognizing that our variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives leads to better solutions, which fosters our continued success for our employee-owners and clients.

Who You Are

You are an experienced Principal Planner with a minimum of 15 years of progressive experience leading the development of multifaceted community and environmental analysis projects throughout the western United States and in particular California. You enjoy leading, mentoring, and growing your team. You have the knowledge and proven ability to serve as project manager or director for highly complex and controversial environmental documents. You have expert knowledge of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and similar state/federal regulations and oversee large contracts for a variety of public agency and private development clients.

You have intellectual curiosity and thrive in collaborative environments that may require innovative solutions to problem-solving. Your experiences are varied enough to be creative and nimble in solving some of the most complex regulatory and development challenges for both public agency and private development clients. You are excited and motivated by the prospect of continuing to advance an established team of expert environmental professionals.

You are an effective leader who communicates proactively, identifies and contributes constructively to address broad project or team issues, and supervises and mentor's senior-level staff.

You have significant experience managing the overall project life cycle, from developing project proposals to overseeing day-to-day project assignments and tracking financial performance. You possess excellent communication skills and have the ability to speak persuasively about complex topics to individuals and groups. You know how to get things done and can demonstrate long-standing relationships with public sector or private development clients in southern California.

You cultivate clients through your work and through business development and marketing activities. You are a Thought Leader, both externally and internally, recognized for continually advancing solutions to the issues of greatest important and urgency for public and private stakeholders.

You hold a bachelor's degree with major coursework in environmental science or a related interdisciplinary field.

What You Will Do for ESA

As a Principal Planner, you will lead large, complex projects and tasks as well as serve as a technical specialist, leveraging your expertise to develop technical approaches and strategies to address project issues for a wide range of complex environmental planning studies, and interdisciplinary projects. You will demonstrate a clear understanding of project and client management principles and practices and be responsible for the development of technical documents and creative solutions in accordance with applicable guidelines and requirements while delivering assignments within budget and schedule.

You will provide mentorship and support for senior-level staff, including providing career development guidance while working on projects together and providing constructive feedback when reviewing reports for accuracy and clarity. You will participate in regional leadership and decision-making relating to the successful operation and growth of the firm.

You will represent and be a spokesperson for ESA in the marketplace-you will participate in and lead client meetings, and present at community workshops and public hearings, effectively presenting complex technical information clearly and concisely.

As a seller-doer, you will participate in marketing and business development efforts, primarily in a team environment, leveraging our extensive client and project base. Your participation will include contributing to pursuit decision-making, providing technical input to multi-disciplinary proposals and targeted marketing materials, performing strategic review of proposals, and participating in interviews.

ESA has established multiple pay ranges tailored to the economic factors in the geographies in which ESA staff reside. For this position, the range is $126,995- $190,493 annually based on our anticipated hiring location as noted in the above job details. Actual compensation is determined by several factors including but not limited to an individual's related experience, education, skills, and the city in which the applicant lives.

What's Special About ESA

Joining ESA means becoming part of a close-knit team of environmental professionals who contribute to outstanding projects, improve environmental stewardship, and advance a more sustainable and resilient future for our communities and wild places.

At ESA, we provide benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance (paid at 70% for you AND your family); annual allocations of company shares through our ESOP; a 401(k) plan with company match; and paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays, to name a few.

We also offer specific programs to support you when you want to further your technical expertise, sharpen your business acumen, or help lead the next generation of employee-owners. We want to support you in reaching your career goals through tuition reimbursement, professional development bonuses, and attendance at conferences.

What's Special About Our Community Development Team

Our Community Development team, which has built a legacy of success providing environmental compliance, clearance, and advancement, consists of our CEQA/NEPA, urban planning and air quality climate and acoustics technical experts. We combine our firm's technical depth in natural resources science and environmental planning with deep knowledge of regulatory practices and procedures, including the most current legislation and case law, to create value-added, cost-effective, and legally defensible solutions for our clients. ESA is unique in that we have a deep scientific, technical, and regulatory expertise, which we apply to our planning and environmental review projects. We keep project approval and implementation at the forefront, balancing long-term planning, community attributes, stakeholder objectives, and cost. In preparing these documents, our CEQA practitioners collaborate with our team of experts on biological resources and wetlands permitting; cultural resources and Assembly Bill 52 consultation; climate action and adaptation planning and design; acoustics and vibration; and aesthetics and visual resources analyses.

Our focus is on comprehensiveness and clarity, and the result is that our CEQA, NEPA, and planning documents are frequently recognized by professional organizations with awards for creative approach and quality. We provide environmental review and permitting direction to public and private developers as well as agencies and non-governmental organizations seeking to implement open space, land management, and environmental restoration plans.

ESA's Los Angeles, San Diego, Irvine, Pasadena, and Camarillo offices include planners, environmental scientists, biologists, natural resource land managers, archeologists, historians, air and noise specialists, and environmental hydrologists and engineers. While the office is made up of employees of a variety of backgrounds and career paths, the office shares a fun and caring office culture, complete with potlucks, lunch outings, and annual events, including camping trips.

We have worked on some exciting projects, including the Environmental Impact Report for the new Clippers Arena. To read about some more of the great projects ESA is working on in Southern California, check out these links: , , , and .

In accordance with ESA's duty and responsibility to provide and maintain a safe workplace that is free of known hazards and to minimize the exposure to potential hazards, any employee who works from an ESA office or conducts any other in-person ESA work-related activity is required to submit their proof of vaccination status or have received an approved exemption and accommodation.

ESA is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. (EOE M/V/F/D)