Cultural Resources Team Lead/Principal Investigator

About the opportunity

SWCA Environmental Consultants is looking for a Cultural Resources Lead/Principal Investigator to join our growing Bismarck, ND and Minneapolis, Minnesota (and surrounding area) business. The selected individual will lead and grow a developing team and support various projects in Minnesota and potential neighboring states (e.g., Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan). We work to support our client’s needs across multiple service areas including renewable generation, oil and gas, transportation, site development, transmission, and ecological restoration.

This is a permanent, full-time position. The successful applicant will serve as a Principal Investigator to ensure technical rigor and Section 106 Compliance. This position will be instrumental in leading and growing a robust cultural resources program that includes supporting existing clients and projects, capturing new work and clients, supervising and mentoring junior staff, encouraging teamwork and cooperation, working with other offices, and driving overall scientific and business excellence.

This position will be a hybrid based in Bismarck, ND or Minneapolis, MN.  Remote candidates will also be considered.

Our Vision (the North Star), Core Values, and Purpose:  Help drive SWCA to be 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 are #OneSWCA and collaborate across all our offices, programs, and disciplines. We are #AlwaysLearning, we #NeverSettle and we #GiveBack. We are 100% employee-owned, and we build our success together. It is imperative for the successful candidate to fit SWCA's unique culture. Do you appreciate sustainability and environmental awareness? Is giving back to your community a priority? SWCA is a team of scientists, planners, technical experts, and corporate services professionals that are committed to our culture.

Our company purpose is to preserve natural and cultural resources for tomorrow while enabling projects that benefit people today. You are invited to be a part of our success story.

What you will accomplish

Clients and Sales Leadership

• Manage client relationships and conduct business development with new and existing clients.
• Network within agencies and industry organizations to establish and expand our state and regional client base and revenue in the areas of archaeology, historic architecture, permitting, and broad-based cultural resources services.
• Identify and qualify sales opportunities (prospects and proposals), manage opportunities, write technical sections of proposals and help price work competitively and profitably, and make recommendations to the Office Director.

Staff Leadership

• Supervise, instruct, mentor, and facilitate professional growth and development of all cultural resources personnel, in accordance to SWCA’s Career Landscape.
• Assist in hiring new staff as required in partnership with senior leaders and the Talent Acquisition organization.
• Assign staff to appropriate projects to ensure high quality completion of projects and staff development/engagement.

Technical and Project Leadership

• Take initiative and resolve problems to ensure tasks are completed in the most efficient manner.
• Oversee all aspects of field research, data collection, inventory, analysis, and final report production to ensure compliance with SWCA's high quality standards for technical work, survey plan development, agency requirements and guidelines, and general standards of scientific quality.
• Serve as the primary author and subject matter expert on large technical reports, research designs, treatment plans, and other technical documents.
• Manage the technical execution and financial performance of individual cultural resources projects and effectively coordinate with and manage clients and agencies.
• Ensure project financial metrics are attained or exceeded.
• Help build SWCA professional reputation and client base in the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and associated services.

Experience and qualifications for success

• Master’s degree in Archaeology, Anthropology, or a related field.
• Eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience with cultural resources projects, including fieldwork, consulting, technical QC, and developing/managing scopes of work from pre-field tasks to final report preparation.
• Meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards for archaeology and/or architectural history.
• Emphasis in Northern Plains archaeology, with experience conducting and leading archaeological projects in this geography.
• Experience preparing NEPA documents to support Section 106 consultation for a variety of federal agencies.
• Possess advanced skills and knowledge in one or more specialty scientific areas (e.g., lithic, ceramic, or faunal analysis; osteology; historical archaeology).
• Demonstrated experience in supervising, mentoring, and providing leadership for other cultural resources professionals.
• Excellent technical writing skills with a record of completing technical reports in a timely fashion. Must include experience with primary report authorship in a CRM context for a variety of project types and sizes, regions, and agencies
• Involvement with regional and national professional historic or archaeological societies.
• Strong interest in developing business development skills as a “seller/doer” to develop productive business relationships with agency, client, and industry contacts.

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full spectrum of environmental services. With offices across the United States, SWCA is one of the largest cultural and environmental compliance firms and ranks among Engineering News-Record’s Top 200 Environmental Firms.

If you would like to contact SWCA regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the online application process due to a disability, please email accommodations@swca.com or call 1-480-581-5378. This contact information is for disability accommodation requests only. All other inquiries will not receive a response.

SWCA is fully committed to pay transparency and pay equity for all its employees.

An employee for this Bismarck, ND position can expect a salary of $80,000.00/Year and $90,000.00/Year.  Actual pay with this range may depend upon experience, qualifications, geographic location, client requirements where applicable, and other factors permitted by law.  Regular SWCA benefits can be found here:  https://www.swca.com/careers/totalrewards/benefits

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply

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