Mitigation Analyst

WRA is an employee-owned environmental consultancy. We are a tenacious team of planners, engineers, and scientists, and we aim to leave the lands we love better than we found them. 

Our clients and partners engage us because we’re skilled at navigating through challenging projects involving wildlands, parks, community spaces, and infrastructure. We bring over four decades of expertise, long-standing relationships, and connections to our local communities to make sure that projects are pursued in responsible ways where both people and the environment thrive. 

As an organization, we believe that independence and interdependence are not mutually exclusive. We invest in systems, processes, and employee programs to support our staff’s collective engagement and success. At the same time, we encourage our employees to operate with an ownership mindset, taking responsibility for outcomes and being true to our commitments. 

WRA’s Conservation Strategies Team works with private landowners, investors, non-profits, and public entities to entitle mitigation projects, implement restoration projects, and understand mitigation markets and drivers. We are seeking a Mitigation Analyst who will be responsible for assisting conservation project managers in evaluating the feasibility of, planning, implementing, and managing the ongoing operations of  large-scale, market based conservation projects such as mitigation banks and permittee-responsible mitigation projects.

In this role, you will have two areas of impact:

(1) Mitigation Marketing and Sales (50%) 

(2) Mitigation Project Support (50%)

This position will also require strategic thinking in non-traditional areas like market studies and financial analyses. The majority of our Team’s work is finding solutions to novel problems, and the ideal candidate would be comfortable conducting independent research, working collaboratively with team members, and have the confidence to propose unique solutions to Project Managers and mitigation credit buyers.  This position will report to the Senior Conservation Project Manager and may assist in implementing projects outside of the team as needed. 

Your responsibilities will include:

• Conducting market research and generating leads
• Responding to client inquiries via email and phone, and developing mitigation credit proposals that meet regulatory requirements 
• Managing mitigation bank ledgers, opportunity pipelines using customer relationship management (CRM) software, and credit sale transactions from initiation through closing  
• Conducting outreach and communicating directly with a broad audience including project proponents, government officials, other consultants, and project investors.
• Drafting mitigation bank entitlement documents, including Draft and Formal Prospectuses, Development Plans, Interim and Long-term Management Plans, and other components of the Bank Enabling Instrument (BEI)
• Preparing technical reports, meeting notes, and memorandums describing California ecosystems and natural processes, restoration approaches, and summarizing performance monitoring results

Required Qualifications & Skills 

• A Bachelor’s degree in ecology, biology, environmental science or other related discipline; master’s degree is a plus
• Experience in one or more of the following: aquatic resources and endangered species permitting and mitigation in California, mitigation bank entitlement, implementation of conservation programs, valuation of ecosystem services, or project development for environmental markets
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills; we’re looking for someone who jumps into hairy technical problems when necessary and who loves solving problems with a spreadsheet
• Strong written and oral communication skills, ranging from document review and editing to communicating complex ideas to teammates, clients, and regulators.
• Strong working knowledge of, or desire to learn: ecology, California ecosystems, habitat restoration, and California sensitive species
• Familiarity with California regulatory environment including Section 404 and 401 of the Clean Water Act, Section 1602 of the California Fish and Game Code, the Porter-Cologne Act, Endangered Species Act, California Endangered Species Act, California Environmental Quality Act, Section 2081 of the California Fish and Game Code, and Magnuson-Stevenson Fisheries Act

Additional, preferred qualifications include: 

• A growth mindset and strong desire to learn new things
• Independence and self motivation
• Passion for conservation and market-based solutions to environmental challenges
• An entrepreneurial bent and a strong ownership mentality
• Excitement about working on large, complex multi-disciplinary projects
• A high level of comfort and willingness to develop novel and creative work products to meet the needs and interests of our clients.
• To be skilled and proactive in outreach, with a desire to be a positive face of the company to a diverse group of stakeholders including clients, regulatory agencies and potential teaming partners
• Competency in preparing or managing technical work products (e.g., wetland delineations, ecosystem services valuations, environmental market analyses, rare plant surveys, habitat assessments, biological resources technical reports, Excel and other database work, GIS maps and analyses completed by others)

The Conservation Strategies team at WRA is a tight knit, collaborative team that values creative solutions, individual initiative, and interdisciplinary thinking. Our smaller size allows team members the flexibility to be involved in a variety of projects and to actively contribute to the development of the team. While individual expertise and interests are acknowledged and utilized, all team members are expected to help when needed on an array of projects in a fast-paced environment. 

This position can be remote in Southern California, or based out of our San Diego office. Periodic travel to field sites and for in person meetings will be required.

WRA has an established internal leveling system for our staff that maps to salary bands that have been informed by market data. Our leveling system is dependent on years of relevant industry experience, education, and the level of responsibility and autonomy at which you’re expected to operate.

The salary range for this position is $54,000 – $97,500. This range represents 3 levels that we are willing to consider. In your first conversation with our recruiter, we will discuss leveling and compensation with you to make sure that expectations are aligned. There will be opportunities to discuss this toward the end of the interview process; however, if you wish to discuss titles earlier in the interview process, please do so with your recruiter. 

Who are we?

WRA’s company vision is “cultivating a sustainable future where people and the environment thrive” and that starts with our staff. We are committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment, and we have developed flexible policies, internal practices, and are investing in programs that prioritize learning and sustainability. We aim to create conditions that allow employees to prioritize their families, lead healthy and balanced lives, and to bring their authentic selves to work every day. We believe that by creating an exceptional workplace, our employees will be able to do their best work and be able to meaningfully contribute to the sustainability of the environment and the communities in which we live.

WRA is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating a diverse environment. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law.