Principal Geospatial Sciences Program Lead - North Region

As Principal Geospatial Sciences Program Lead, you will:

• Provide leadership to a large, distributed team of GIS professionals, working with the Director of GIS to set and implement strategic goals for the North region.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality GIS deliverables, serving as senior technical reviewer for major projects.
• Coordinate inter-office workloads and foster positive relationships across teams to promote collaboration, engagement, and efficiency.
• Collaborate with regional and corporate leadership to balance workloads and maintain quality standards.
• Monitor productivity metrics, anticipate workload fluctuations, and ensure optimal resource allocation.
• Manage large, strategic projects and serve as a GIS advisor to project managers and stakeholders.
• Promote GIS services internally and externally, representing SWCA’s capabilities to clients and partners.
• Represent the Technology team within regional leadership, advocating for geospatial needs and priorities.
• Troubleshoot GIS issues, gather user feedback, and implement improvements to enhance service delivery.
• Collaborate on Esri software releases, training, and requirements to ensure staff proficiency and technology optimization.
• Work with technical leaders to establish and promote best practices for GIS data collection, analysis, mapping, and reporting.
• Communicate geospatial solutions and needs for budget planning, supporting strategic decision-making.
• Bachelor’s degree in Geography, Anthropology, Biology, Environmental Science, or related field with GIS emphasis (or GIS certificate).
• Eight (8) or more years of GIS professional experience, including budgeting, preparation, analysis, and deliverables.
• Five (5) or more years in GIS leadership roles, overseeing highly distributed teams across multiple offices, states, and time zones.
• Experience with large project execution in the Environmental Consulting or AEC space.
• Experience with data transfer, analysis, mining, and inventory using Windows Explorer, Excel, Access, and ESRI ArcGIS.
• Proficiency with ArcGIS Pro, cartography, and data management.
• Experience with ArcGIS Online/Enterprise platforms.
• Basic understanding of statistics and geometric math.

• Master’s degree in a related field with GIS emphasis.
• Experience managing GIS projects in environmental consulting, especially for natural or cultural resources in transportation, transmission, oil/gas, mining, or renewables sectors.
• Experience preparing presentations and protocols for GIS methods and metadata.
• Development of analytical models for resource processes.
• Familiarity with federal land management and regulatory agencies (e.g., USFS, NPS, BLM, BOR, USGS).
• Professional GIS certification (e.g., GISP).

• Demonstrated ability to develop positive relationships with staff, technical teams, and leaders across the company.
• Flexibility, strong interpersonal skills, and a commitment to engagement and teamwork.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and establish or shift priorities under tight deadlines.
• Exceptional organizational skills and ability to balance ever-changing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Recognized mentor of others in the context of broader organizational goals and succession efforts.