Cultural Resources Director - SWCA Environmental Consultants

About the opportunity:

SWCA Environmental Consultants is seeking a Cultural Resources Director to lead a team of anthropologists, archaeologists, and architectural historians in our Austin, TX office. This position requires excellent leadership skills and behaviors to successfully manage the execution of project work, cultivate our business development processes, deliver for our clients, and continue to build an exceptional team.

 

This is a regular, full-time, salaried position with compensation based on individual qualifications and experience.

 

The growth of the Central Texas & Oklahoma sub-region offices is a critical element to SWCA’s development across the US and will require a commitment to consistent quality delivery of our cultural resource services to ensure success. The successful candidate will work with the CTO Office Directors and local staff to develop new business, expand our existing client relationships, and ensure quality across our cultural resource services. This position offers a great opportunity for team leadership as well as business and professional development in this expanding market. 

 

Candidates must submit a brief letter of interest with their application that describes their vision for this position.

 

Application deadline: Our team will begin reviewing applications immediately, and interviews will be scheduled with qualified candidates on a rolling basis. The application process will remain open until we have received a robust pool of qualified candidates. Once we have identified suitable individuals, we may close the application process without prior notice. We appreciate the time and effort invested by all applicants and will carefully consider each submission.

What you will accomplish:

People Leadership (30% of workload):

 

• Lead SWCA’s Cultural Resources teams in Austin, TX collaboratively, as an integral member of the leadership team.
• Promote a culture of leadership, teamwork, engagement, high-quality service, and client satisfaction, always committed to building the right team in alignment with SWCA’s core values.
• Develop and implement strategies to attract and retain talent within our Austin office. Lead strategic hiring efforts and focused retention efforts.
• Directly manage principal and lead-level staff, and ensure the staff are meeting their billable targets.​
• Drive engagement of the team by recognizing high performance and implementing approaches that build and sustain high levels of motivation. ​
• Support career mobility and growth within SWCA through active coaching and mentorship of team members. ​
• Direct all performance-related activities, including performance reviews and any disciplinary recommendations.
• Work with leadership to determine compensation and bonus allocation.
• Connect with staff, peers, and senior management by leading regular staff meetings and contributing to regular regional and national leadership meetings.
• Ensure that the team’s work is well-coordinated across the business. ​
• Participate in setting business goals for the sub-region.
• Cascade the central Texas initiatives through the CR organization to ensure alignment between local efforts and regional/national goals.​
• Manage resource allocation and coordinate across SWCA to enable successful project delivery.

 

Technical Leadership (40% of workload):

 

• Take responsibility for adherence to SWCA Quality Control Procedures within the Austin, TX Cultural Resources Program. Ensure that the program meets its commitments to quality and create an environment of accountability for meeting agreed-upon expectations through the use of tools and controls, such as quality audits.
• Implement and refine SWCA Quality Control Procedures.
• Support the execution of work by managing projects and contracts, as well as providing senior-level technical support.
• Leverage experts effectively, engaging the right talent to meet client needs.
• Stay current on relevant regulations and communicate changes and trends to staff and clients.
• Ensure that the company safety program is effectively implemented for your area of responsibility.
• Coordinate with peers, office leads, and project managers to efficiently allocate company resources, including personnel, vehicles, supplies, and equipment.
• Coordinate with the nationwide Cultural Resources Technical Director, Practice Group Champions, and the Practice Group in general to advance local and nationwide technical needs and initiatives.

 

Client and Market Leadership (20% of workload):

 

• Contribute to the growth and maintenance of client relationships, both locally and regionally.
• Maintain awareness of market and industry trends that impact the business through news sources, event attendance, and using your professional network.
• Identify new opportunities to diversify the business and lead teams in their pursuit. 
• Lead go/no-go analyses and provide senior review of proposals.
• Collaborate with business development specialists across SWCA to align operational abilities and needs with the pursuit of opportunities.

 

Financial Leadership (10% of workload):

 

• Ensure appropriate level of review and approval of proposals, contracts, budgets, and expenditures through mastery of and adherence to the SWCA approvals matrix.
• Monitor financial KPIs and redirect efforts as needed (e.g., productivity/utilization, multipliers, overruns, sales, etc.).
• Conduct regular audits of projects within area of responsibility to ensure that projects are on track, risks are mitigated, and issues are escalated and resolved.
• Facilitate communication between project managers, project controls, and accounts receivable.

Experience and qualifications for success:

• Master’s degree in anthropology, archaeology, geology, historic preservation, or a related field.
• Twelve (12) years of experience in cultural resources management, planning, and science. Experience should include overseeing fieldwork, office work, and report completion, as well as scheduling and budgeting of projects.
• Ten (10) years of experience in increasing levels of responsibility in management, including supervising and mentoring of professional staff.
• Working knowledge of Texas markets and cultural resources.
• Demonstrated expertise working within multiple business lines to develop business and successfully complete projects to the satisfaction of clients.
• Experience applying federal, state, and local regulations to cultural resources in central Texas, particularly NEPA, and the National Historic Preservation Act.
• Demonstrated success leading staff, including recruiting, mentoring, developing, and coaching.
• Strong understanding of financial metrics common to our industry.
• Extensive experience building and maintaining strong partnerships, both internal and external.
• Strong client-facing skills (e.g., communication, relationship building, problem solving).
• Proven record of developing new business and leading major proposal efforts.
• Reside commutable distance from the Austin, TX office location.

Preferred qualifications:

• Registered Professional Archaeologist, Texas.
• TxDOT Precertification – 2.10.1 Archaeological Surveys, Documentation, Excavation, Testing Reports.

 

Why Work at SWCA:

 

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full-spectrum of environmental services.  Our Vision (the North Star) is to make SWCA 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 live our core values: we collaborate as #OneSWCA; we are #AlwaysLearning, we #NeverSettle, and we #GiveBack.

 

We are 100% employee-owned, and we build our success together. With offices across the United States, SWCA is one of the largest environmental compliance firms and ranks among Engineering News-Record’s Top 200 Environmental Firms. We offer a supportive, team-oriented work environment and competitive wages and benefits, including an 100% employee stock ownership plan (retirement).

 

At SWCA, we support our team members in developing their careers to make them leaders in their industry. Our Career Landscape initiative is a process and guide designed to help develop chart rewarding career paths for employees at SWCA. We encourage professional conference attendance, internal and external professional development and training programs, education reimbursement, a Science and Leadership Program, and bonuses for publications meeting certain criteria. All regular status employees are eligible to participate in SWCA medical, dental, vision, employee assistance, wellness, life and disability plans, and are eligible to participate in the SWCA 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust.

 

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. 

 

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. At SWCA Environmental Consultants, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. We strongly encourage candidates from all backgrounds, including those with diverse experiences and veterans, to apply. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce enhances creativity, innovation, and overall organizational success.

 

SWCA is committed to salary equity and salary transparency for all its employees.  In alignment with this commitment, SWCA posts good faith pay ranges in all its advertised job postings to promote pay equity and transparency.

 

A Cultural Resources Director in this Austin, TX-based position can expect an annual salary of $117,936.00 - $155,064.00. Actual pay within this range may depend on experience, qualifications, geographic location, client requirements where applicable, and other factors permitted by law.  Regular-status employees are also eligible for performance bonuses. Candidates are also encouraged to consider SWCA’s Total Rewards package, which includes a competitive Benefits package, forward-thinking workplace flexibility, outstanding corporate culture, award-winning career development, and more.

 

SWCA continues to invest deeply in career development programs, delivering our award-winning Career Landscape support resources to accelerate the growth of our staff. We recognize the valuable skills and experiences our internal team members bring to SWCA’s continued success. Qualified internal candidates are encouraged to apply and will be seriously considered for this position. We believe in promoting from within, where possible, providing our existing employees with compelling opportunities to advance their careers.

 

#ind-swca

#LI-NC1