Principal Environmental Professional or Biologist

About Us

At Onterris, we build careers grounded in purpose, responsibility and real-world impact.

“For Planet and Progress” is our north star that guides everything we do. We believe environmental responsibility and human progress are interconnected, interwoven and international. Our scientists, engineers, field teams, consultants and professionals collaborate across disciplines and geographies, guiding industries and governments, ensuring that communities and environments thrive.

When you join us, you’re not just forging a career, you’re joining a movement. A movement for better thinking, smarter solutions and lasting impact.

Together, we will advance our way of life and protect the integrity of our environment every step of the way.

A Day in the Life

You will represent the firm with the highest level of professionalism when working with clients, staff, and teaming partners. You will act as a strategic leader, technical expert, and mentor—supporting project success, strengthening client relationships, and contributing to the firm’s long‑term growth. You will lead complex environmental compliance and permitting projects from early strategy through execution, ensuring that all deliverables are high quality, well organized, and ready for client delivery.

While the position may be performed remotely, the ideal candidate will be based in the Bay Area or Sacramento and will bring deep, Northern California–specific regulatory and environmental expertise.

The salary for this role ranges from $150,000 – $180,000, in addition to an annual bonus, commensurate with experience, skills, and geographic location 

To thrive in this role, you’ll be comfortable taking ownership of the following responsibilities:

Team Leadership & Staff Development 

• Lead multidisciplinary teams across multiple concurrent projects, ensuring scope, budget, and schedule alignment.

• Manage consultants’ workloads and align staffing with firmwide needs.

• Collaborate with biologists, archaeologists, GIS specialists, planners, regulatory specialists, engineers, and agency partners.

• Participate in recruiting efforts, including job announcements, resume review, interviews, and candidate follow‑up.

• Support staff retention by fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive work environment.

• Lead performance reviews and provide timely, constructive feedback.

• Ensure the operational effectiveness, productivity, and profitability of both your work and the team you lead.

Proposal Leadership and Business Development

• Play a key role in securing $1M–$2M in new annual work through competitive pursuits, sole‑source opportunities, on‑call contracts, and strategic teaming arrangements.

• Lead proposal efforts for projects of all sizes, including strategy development, teaming decisions, and win themes. 

• Guide proposal managers on proposal structure, approach narratives, cover letters, scopes of work, and qualifications sections. 

• Ensure proposal schedules, budgets, and deliverables are accurate, compliant, and submitted on time. 

• Lead and prepare teams for proposal interviews. 

• Support broader business development efforts by evaluating new leads and cultivating long‑term client and partner relationships.

Project Execution

• Oversee QA/QC for high‑volume programs and ensure all work meets the firm’s quality standards. 

• Delegate tasks effectively, provide direction, and ensure work stays within project constraints. 

• Organize and facilitate project meetings that achieve defined objectives and move work forward. 

• Stay current on industry trends, regulatory changes, and best practices. 

• Work both independently and collaboratively with the core leadership team. 

• Perform additional duties as needed to support project and company success.

Your Expertise and Skills

The Principal Scientist is a recognized technical authority and strategic leader, responsible for regulatory certainty, project success, and long-term client trust. These requirements reflect the knowledge, skills and abilities that help you do your best work here.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in biology, urban planning, environmental science, or related field (Master’s preferred).

• 15+ years of relevant professional consulting experience (12+ with a Master’s), including public sector experience.

• Proven consulting experience and success as a Project Manager overseeing completion of technical studies and documents within schedule and budget.

• Experience serving as Principal in Charge serving as the senior client representative and owning responsibility for all consulting products and services.

• Demonstrated success in proposal leadership, teaming for sole-source and competitive pursuits.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, ability to oversee and provide quality assurance for complex technical documents, as well as make presentations, including interviews for competitive proposals.

• Strong familiarity with California natural resources, CEQA compliance process, and State and local planning process and regulations.

• Experience leading regulatory permitting process with State/Federal agencies such as USACE, USFWS, BLM, USFS, CDFW, and RWQCB.

• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams while also operating independently.

• Willingness and ability to travel locally as needed.

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Onterris is a leading global environmental solutions company partnering with organizations to solve complex challenges where environmental pressures, regulatory expectations and operational risks intersect. Guided by our mission to advance the way of life without compromising the integrity of our environment, we believe environmental responsibility and human progress are fundamentally connected. Our scientists, engineers, field teams and consultants apply systems thinking that unites science, data and practical expertise to deliver solutions that strengthen our clients’ resilience, mitigate risk and protect the air, water and soil that sustain communities, while uncovering responsible paths forward for planet and progress. For more information, visit www.onterris.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We acknowledge that these experiences and perspectives help to enrich our teams and contribute to our ongoing success. We are committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in our employment for all applicants. For US residents, click here to learn more.