Location: California

Aspen Environmental Group is seeking an experienced and motivated environmental planning professional to support our growing environmental practice in our four major offices in Southern California, Bay Area, and Sacramento.

Education and Experience

• 8+ years of professional experience as a land use or environmental planner with proven and strong analytical and writing skills, and a good working knowledge of both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

• Requires a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in urban planning, public policy, public administration, or related field; a Master’s degree is preferred.

• Extremely strong writing and communication skills, as the bulk of the work is focused on analytical report writing for technical studies and NEPA/CEQA documents.

Key Responsibilities

• Support Aspen’s Planning and Public Policy Group by conducting land use, agriculture, recreation, socioeconomics, environmental justice, and policy consistency analyses for technical studies and NEPA/CEQA documents, including leading up and writing sections of Initial Studies, Negative Declarations, Environmental Impact Reports, Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements, and justifications for categorical exemptions and exclusions

• Act as deputy Project Manager, Task Leader, or manage smaller projects and associated project environmental documents.

• Conduct desktop research and field work (as necessary) to complete technical studies, prepare planning and policy documents, or permitting applications/packets for specific projects as assigned.

• Effectively manage writing tasks and/or projects and interact/collaborate with teams of staff, subconsultants, and clients.

• Support the preparation of proposals and statements of qualifications in response to RFPs and RFQs.

• Ensure high-quality standards for all project deliverables.

• Assist project team with preparation of public meeting materials and notices as well as in-person or online public meetings.

• Working knowledge of managing project finances and budgets.

Qualifications for Success

• Ability to work independently and demonstrate a high level of competence and experience in writing, working with teams, clients, subcontractors, and regulatory personnel.

• Exceptionally detail oriented with attention to quality.

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to produce high-quality written work product and verbal presentations.

• Strong working knowledge and demonstrated work experience in California with both CEQA and NEPA compliance and permitting for:

• Urban, suburban, and rural land development projects;

• Energy projects;

• Water projects;

• Federal and local agency land use plan amendments;

• Projects with utilities, municipalities, cities, and/or counties.

• Experience with land use entitlement processes, general plans, master plans, specific plans, city ordinance reviews, and zoning and land use regulations.

• Willingness to take pride in ownership of work products.

• Ability to provide support to senior staff in marketing and business development to capitalize on existing client relationships and to expand Aspen’s profile and market share in the regional market.

• Client-focused, responsive to client needs, and solution oriented.

• Proficient (i.e., strong working knowledge) in Microsoft Office Suite, especially in Word and Excel. Ideal candidate would also be familiar with ArcGIS.

Compensation

Aspen offers a wide range of benefits and a competitive compensation package. Salary will be commensurate with experience.

To Apply

Please submit a letter of interest, resume, references, and a recent (no more than one year old) writing sample in which the candidate was the sole author to humanresources@aspeneg.com.  The subject line must state, “Land Use Planner – [NAME].” Note that all candidates will be tested in their writing and editorial review skills during the interview process.