Wildlife Biologist, Compliance Specialist

WRA’s Compliance Monitoring Team was founded in 2019. We work on approximately 50 projects per year throughout Northern California. Our projects are very diverse and include wetland and marsh restoration, riparian restoration, and various marine projects throughout the San Francisco Bay. We are seeking a full-time Wildlife Biologist to join our team.  

As a Wildlife Biologist on the Compliance Monitoring Team at WRA, your primary  responsibility is to lead and manage a team of individuals in support of construction projects throughout permit implementation. Your role will involve managing field staff, training, mentoring junior biologists, and collaborating with interdisciplinary teams. In addition, you will be supporting with bidding on projects in the construction phase and coordinating directly with internal project managers and principals as well as external clients. 

To be considered for this role, candidates must reside within approximately 45 minutes of one of our Northern California offices (San Rafael, Petaluma, or Emeryville). This position requires you to work at least part-time at one of WRA’s Bay Area offices, though you will not be required to be in the office every day. Additionally, a portion of your job is seasonally field-based, and you will be expected to be on-site throughout Northern California at varying times of day for compliance monitoring, field surveys, and client and regulatory agency meetings. 

Peak construction occurs roughly between June and November each year. During the busy season, usually two to three days of field work will be required, with the potential for night and/or weekend work. Additional flexibility with scheduling is available between December and April.

• Managing the compliance monitoring stage of multiple projects concurrently, including managing compliance monitoring staff, their schedules, duties, and project reporting. 
• Working with WRA team leaders, project managers, and field staff to maintain, document, and report on permit compliance through project implementation.
• Work directly with clients to strategically navigate permit compliance requirements during project implementation. 
• Training and mentoring field staff on natural resource protection means and measures based on best available science.
• Lead and report on surveys for various species and sensitive habitats during various project phases, including project implementation.
• Author, conduct, and maintain records for awareness training on species, safety, and compliance monitoring for biologists and project personnel. 
• Providing creative strategies and recommendations for avoiding and minimizing project effects on sensitive wildlife and habitats. 
• Preparing scopes of work and supporting competitive proposal efforts.  
• Working collaboratively on sustainable business practices that align with firm Mission and Vision. 
•  Other duties as assigned.

• Degree in wildlife biology, ecology, or a related field.
• 5-8 years of professional experience in wildlife biology, ecological consulting, and compliance monitoring on construction projects.
• Extensive knowledge of California's wildlife species, habitats, and applicable state and federal regulations.
• Proven experience with project implementation, including fieldwork, staff management, and reporting.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate technical information effectively to a lay audience.
• Project and/or task management experience, including staffing and maintaining project schedules and budgets. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate within interdisciplinary teams throughout the firm.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and ability to learn new project management and field data systems quickly.
• Experience using or managing tasks in project tracking and communication platforms such as VantagePoint, Asana, or similar tools. 
• Willingness and availability to accept field shifts when other staff are unavailable, including nights and weekends. 
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, especially when managing multiple projects with shifting field logistics and deadlines. 
• Demonstrated commitment to health and safety, with experience preparing Activity Hazard Analyses (AHAs), conducting safety briefings, and contributing to incident reporting and investigations as needed. 
• Scientific curiosity and wonder for the natural world.
• Analytical mindset and ability to find creative solutions.
• Strong leadership skills.
• A valid driver’s license, reliable transportation (while WRA has fleet vehicles that can be reserved for field use, during busy field seasons a truck may not always be available) and willingness to travel to field sites and meetings.
• The ability to walk, hike, and work outside for long periods of time.

• Federal Recovery permit, and/or State MOU, or equivalent experience.   
• Previous agency approvals as CDFW Designated Biologist, or USFWS Approved Biologist.
• Command of environmental permitting processed including USFWS, CDFW, and CEQA
• Published research or contributions to scientific literature in the field of wildlife biology

WRA has an established internal leveling system for our staff that maps salary bands and is 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 $95,000-$122,500 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 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 more than 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 company vision is to cultivate a sustainable future where people and the environment thrive, and that effort starts first 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.