Senior Cultural Resources Technical Director – Field Services

About the opportunity

Cultural resources are a foundational business practice at SWCA, rooted in the sound science and creative solutions that we have delivered since 1981. With more than 400 cultural resources experts, SWCA is one of the largest cultural resources programs in the United States. We provide a full suite of cultural resource services to private and public clients, ranging from history, architectural history, field survey, to testing, to data recovery.

To support our growing business and our team of cultural resources field staff, SWCA is seeking a visionary technical leader whose focus will be on the engagement of our cultural resources field staff, quality and delivery of cultural resources fieldwork and data collection.  In collaboration with Operational Directors, the Cultural Resources Field Services Senior Director will be accountable to elevate the experience of our field staff to realize the goal of our North Star—being the best workplace. They will provide a Director-level voice for cultural resources field staff collectively at SWCA. They will focus not only on engagement, but career development and training for this key group.

The Senior Technical Director Cultural Resources Field Services will be responsible for the quality of service across all of SWCA’s cultural resources field services nationwide, and will ensure that SWCA is employing state-of-the-art processes, methodologies, and tools, while being the industry leader in the field of cultural resources management.   To accomplish these goals, the Senior Director must be able to walk in open outdoor terrain for long periods of time and travel up to 70% of the time to actively engage with field teams.  They must also be a highly effective communicator in order to motivate and mobilize a highly dispersed and hard to reach team.  This will involve being adept at active listening, engaging directly onsite with the field team, and being highly energized by being a field environment. The director of quality will be expected to provide coordination of tool development and quality program implementation.

The Senior Technical Director Cultural Resources Field Services will have enterprise-level accountability for developing a strategic vision for cultural resources field services across SWCA and will collaborate with other leaders to ensure that the vision supports SWCA’s offices, clients, business lines, and other technical disciplines. In particular, the Senior Technical Director Cultural Resources Field Services will work closely with the Senior Technical Director Cultural Resources and Vice President of Client Services - Cultural Resources to achieve these results. The successful candidate will initially report to SWCA’s Chief Delivery Officer.

A letter of interest and resume are required for this application. Position will close by Monday September 11th, 2023.

What you will accomplish

As the Technical Director, you will:

• Drive the engagement of the cultural resources field services team (= people in the field conducting cultural resources work) through on-the-ground, in-person participation in field projects, training, events, and other activities that develop technical skills, quality, project and regulatory understanding, and business acumen.
• Actively seek feedback for field services process improvements; and working with stakeholders, implement process improvements to drive engagement and efficiencies
• Assess career and developmental opportunities for the cultural resources field team for all career options, whether “hikers”, “climbers”, or “campers”, to expand and further develop skillsets and abilities.
• Be the Director-level voice for the cultural resources field team, anticipating and proactively addressing challenges for this team, elevating concerns and finding rapid solutions that benefit the team and the business.
• Be an enterprise-level practice leader who is accountable for the quality of service across cultural resources field services, ensuring that SWCA has industry leading processes, methodologies, and tools.
• Work with the VPs of Scientific and Technical Services and other Technical Directors to drive fieldwork and data collection standards and consistency across offices and regions.
• Work with other cultural resources leaders to develop and implement SWCA’s strategic vision for cultural resources field services, and focus on the development of cultural resources field competencies and standards.
  • Work with Senior Technical Director Cultural Resources, the Vice President of Client Services – Cultural Resources, and Organizational leadership to develop cultural resources field services quality standards and ensure that company and practice area QA/QC programs are effectively implemented. Work with this team to address cultural resources management field opportunities and challenges.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, coaching and engagement within SWCA’s cultural resources field service practice (60-70% of your time).
  • Build and retain a pipeline of field crews within the cultural resources field services practice.
  • Identify gaps in expertise, and attract field staff to SWCA.
  • Serve as a technical mentor and role model for cultural resources field crews at SWCA.
  • Coordinate with organizational leaders and senior leadership on the engagement of field-based staff, and the deployment of new methodologies and standards.
  • Build SWCA’s brand as the best workplace for cultural resources field services.
• Oversee large and complex projects as a project, client, or contract manager, including a productivity goal of 30-40%.
• Spend time in the field engaging with staff across the company, engaging field staff in coordination with their operation leadership.
• Provide a feedback loop to operational leadership and field crews on areas of strength and improvement, areas for improved engagement, quality, safety, and development opportunities.
• Execute on the responsibilities identified in SWCA Career Landscape for Director-level employees in Technical Leadership. Work with the People Team to further develop the career path for field-based personnel.
• Demonstrate leadership, expertise, and Director-level behaviors in SWCA’s seven core competencies (Action-Oriented, Client Focus, Collaborate, Decision Quality, Ensures Accountability, Instills Trust, Situational Adaptability) and three Technical Leadership Focus Area Competencies (Communicates Effectively, Manages Complexity, and Nimble Learning).

Experience and qualifications for success

• Minimum of 7 years’ experience supervising field efforts and field personnel in cultural resources services.

• Bachelors degree or above in a cultural resources, preferable anthropology or archaeology. Bachelor’s degree and demonstrated equivalent experience will be considered.

• The candidate must qualify as at least a field supervisor for inclusion on State, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service cultural resource permits on one or more of the permitted states in which SWCA operates.

• Candidate must be able to walk in open outdoor terrain for long periods of time and travel up to 70% of the time to actively engage with field teams.

• Demonstrated ability to develop positive relationships with cultural resources staff in the field and across the company.

• Must be highly effective communicator in motivating and mobilizing a highly dispersed and hard to reach team. Must be listening-oriented, engaging, and highly energized by being in the field.

• Possesses broad understanding of relevant cultural resources permitting and regulatory requirements and technical disciplines.​

• Possess clear understanding of pre-field and fieldwork preparation, data needed to support report writing, field site form completion and general data collection requirements, etc.

• Possesses strong employee-facing skills (e.g., communication, relationship building, problem solving).​

• Demonstrated ability to direct high-quality, complex, technical and project work.​

• Proven track record of influencing the delivery of results, even in areas without direct authority.​

• Recognized mentor of others in an organization and in the practice area to support the SWCA's broader succession efforts.

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full spectrum of environmental services. 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.

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 480-581-5378. This contact information is for disability accommodation requests only. All other inquiries will not receive a response.

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.

An employee in this  position can expect a salary of $127,920 - $167,440/year. 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.

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply.

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