Senior Paleontologist

Irvine, California, United States;
Los Angeles, California, United States;
Pasadena, California, United States;
Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States;
San Diego, California, United States;
Santa Barbara, California, United States;
Thousand Oaks, California, United States

Environmental Science Associates (ESA) is a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm. We plan, design, permit, mitigate, and restore for projects across our communities, infrastructure systems, open spaces, and wildlands. We are 50 years strong in 21 offices across California, the Pacific Northwest, and the southeastern United States.

ESA seeks a Senior Paleontologist in Southern CA
with
20+ years of experience performing paleontological monitoring, surveys, testing and fossil salvage, recordation of fossil localities, strat columns, and sensitive formations, curation, and preparing environmental permit applications and supporting documentation. Remote and hybrid options explored for the right candidate. Candidates with the capability to commute in and around the southern California area for field work as needed is preferred.

You are a highly qualified and experienced senior-level Paleontologist with
20+ years of experience in relevant scientific or environmental consulting environments. You can leadmulti-facetedpaleontologicalresource-related evaluations,research, and analyses for a growing group ofpaleontologistswithin our Cultural Resources Group statewide.

You have excellent field, writing, time/budget management, and organizational capabilities; agency coordination and client service experience; proficiency in the management of paleontological resources within the context of CEQA, experience with leading paleontological survey and salvage projects, documentation, evaluation, and treatment of fossil resources; and experience preparing EIR and MND sections and developing mitigation measures.

You hold a graduate degree in paleontology or a closely related field. You possess the ability to lead field crews and produce well-written and technically supported documents. You work collaboratively with clients and interdisciplinary teams to deliver projects on time and within budget in a fast-paced work environment. You have excellent organizational and strong problem-solving skills.

You demonstrate a clear understanding of project management principles and practices and are responsible for the delivery of high-quality work products. You have the ability and desire to mentor junior staff members, and to organize and develop a paleontological practice within the southern California cultural resources group.

You are confident working outside, in remote and rural settings, as well as in urban environments. Physical outdoor work may include, but may not be limited to, extensive field work and site visits in all types of weather, traversing uneven ground and sometimes steep terrain in forested environments, fields, arid lands, along stream banks, and in coastal/intertidal areas. You may be exposed to inclement weather and uncomfortable working conditions.

You will manage and carry out surveys and technical document preparation on a wide range of interesting projects throughout the region and practice and will be part of an interdisciplinary team that includes staff from our Biological, Energy, Community Development, Transportation, Water, and Airports practices.

You will manage and conduct archival research, paleontological resources assessments, development of historic and cultural contexts, paleontological survey and resource documentation, resource evaluations, and impacts analysis meeting CEQA, and other requirements.

You will serve as the primary author of paleontological resource assessment reports for MND and EIR sections. You will consistently demonstrate your solid writing skills and attentive listening skills. You will supervise project teams and participate in and/or lead client meetings. You will assist in preparing scopes of work and budgets, including providing technical input, contributing to proposal writing, and engaging with proposal/interview teams.

You will provide mentorship and support for junior staff, including reviewing their work for accuracy and clarity and providing constructive feedback and career development guidance while working on projects together. You will cross train qualified cultural resources staff to support field and monitoring projects to provide clients with efficient monitoring…