Program Assistant Jobs in Santa Barbara, CA (NOW HIRING)

Wood has built strong relationships with local agencies in Southern California and the Central Coast with a robust backlog of projects. In response to this success, Wood is seeking a CEQA/California Planning Program Manager to serve as a key member of our California-based Environmental Planning Group, headquartered in Santa Barbara.

Our team specializes in high-profile urban development, long-range planning, coastal planning, recreation and trails, climate change adaptation, resiliency, agricultural land use, renewable energy, and hazard mitigation projects. Our in-house staff provides planning and permitting services, high-quality environmental documentation compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and mitigation monitoring and reporting services. Our award-winning documents showcase our team's commitment to excellence in both technical analysis and presentation. We have also been particularly successful with grant preparation and management services for our agency customers. This success supports a growing environmental planning practice and a need for talented and driven project management, environmental analysis, and business development roles on our team.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an individual who has 15+ years of project management within California, who is motivated by managing a team of technical experts, and is excited about leading our program into the future.

In this role, you will:

• Manage and/or review preparation of CEQA documents for municipal customers in the central coast and Southern California
• Provide leadership in technical, business development, financial and administrative aspects of the consulting business to sustain and expand a successful environmental practice while growing additional, related disciplines
• Directly interact with agency customers, provide technical direction and editing of environmental impact analyses, and manage and mentor technical teams to complete projects within budget and schedule expectations
• Serve as senior project manager and/or project expert on specific tasks or projects
• Manage a variety of professional consulting assignments in one or more specialized areas of environmental and facilities projects
• Coordinate with other units across the West U.S. and the Company
• Develop strategic plans and financial budgets for the group
• Lead business development for the group
• Communicate effectively with clients, staff, and Wood leadership
• Develop existing staff and identify and recruit new prospects for future growth
• Facilitate project meetings, hearings, and workshops, including some regional travel
• Help grow the practice with proposal support and strategic marketing outreach
• Be a member of a small, collaborative leadership team for a dedicated and hard-working group of environmental planners, technical specialists, and professional writers

The ideal candidate will have the following minimum qualifications:

• A BS/BA with at least 15 years of experience in environmental planning, urban planning, natural resources, or related field
• Expert knowledge of CEQA and California planning
• Substantial project management experience
• Exceptional technical writing and editing skills, demonstrated by writing samples
• A demonstrated commitment to high-quality technical analysis and critical thinking in the environmental review process
• A tenacious interest in business development with new and existing clients, including experience and/or interest in writing proposals
• Initiative and confidence working in a collaborative and communicative team
• Leadership qualities, including interest in mentoring junior staff
• Ability to maintain client and team relationships and identify risks/liabilities early and often
• Preferably, experience working with public and private clients in a private consulting firm and/or local agency work experience

Wood is a global leader in engineering and consultancy across energy and the built environment, helping to unlock solutions to some of the world's most critical challenges. We provide consulting, projects and operations solutions in more than 60 countries, employing around 40,000 people. www.woodplc.com

We are an equal opportunity employer that recognises the value of a diverse workforce. All suitably qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment on the basis of objective criteria and without regard to the following (which is a non-exhaustive list): race, colour, age, religion, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or other characteristics in accordance with the relevant governing laws.