Technical Lead – Anthropology

About the opportunity

Building and maintaining relations with Native communities and governments is essential to SWCA’s foundational operations across the U.S. Our continued growth requires the addition of a Tribal Liaison who partners with peers across the organization to share insights and information, working together on positive Native communities relations across SWCA. This candidate will bring unique technical leadership related to provision, innovation, and management of SWCA’s Native communities relations and associated practice areas.

This Anthropologist will have accountability for the quality of service within Native communities liaison practices across SWCA and focused in the Midwest/Northeast Region, and will collaborate with other leaders to ensure that SWCA has leading expertise in these endeavors and is employing best practices, processes, methodologies, and approaches. As a Technical Lead, this Anthropologist will lead complex projects or tasks specific to Native communities relations and in support of SWCA’s cultural resources practice, establish measures of quality, mentor others on working with Native communities and governments, lead or contribute to business development pursuits and management of strategic clients, and coordinate with Directors, other Technical Leads, and Project Managers in providing and supporting our services.

The selected individual will be an experienced leader with recognized Native communities and government relations expertise. This Technical Lead will report to one of SWCA’s Directors through our Chicago base of operations; however, does not need to be located in the Chicago area.

A letter of interest and resume are required for this application.

What you will accomplish

• Be a technical leader who is accountable for the quality of service within SWCA’s Native communities and government relations across the company, ensuring that SWCA has leading expertise and state of the art processes/methodologies/practices.
• Work with Directors, other Technical Leads, and Project Managers to identify and implement strategic technical initiatives and drive quality and consistency across offices and regions for Native communities and government relations.
• As an Anthropologist, oversee large and complex cultural resources projects as a principal investigator or project, client, or contract manager.
• Lead the development of technical competencies/standards and technical leadership/mentoring for Tribal liaisons across the company.
  • Be recognized as a technical authority and role model responsible for setting a standard of excellence for Native communities and government relations.
  • Help to drive growth and differentiation by developing, understanding, and leveraging emerging trends in Tribal liaising.
  • Lead the development of, and is an influential participant in, professional/scientific networks that provide SWCA with unique insights and a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
  • Develop cultural resources quality standards and ensure company and practice area QA/QC program is effectively implemented.
  • Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and coaching within SWCA’s cultural resources practice.
  • Coordinate with office and/or regional cultural resources Principal Investigators to develop and implement strategic technical initiatives and ensure consistency.
• Lead Cultural Resources Practice Group(s) (teams/monthly calls/resource hub) including groups focused on section 106 compliance, historic preservation, tribal services, and/or ethnography.
• Support operational leaders to build and retain a pipeline of technical talent within the cultural resources discipline.
• Support operational leaders to identify gaps in cultural resources expertise, identify and attract top talent to SWCA, and advocate for strategic hires when needed.
• Serve as a technical mentor and role model for cultural resources practitioners at SWCA, establishing systems to ensure that new regulatory developments, technical approaches, and strategic initiatives are continually disseminated within the cultural resource practice.
• Identify and foster the technical disciplines and standards necessary to support the growth of the cultural resources practice at SWCA.
• Position the cultural resources practice to accelerate and support SWCA's growth with approximately 10-15% of your time dedicated to strategic business development and client management initiatives.
  • Recognize and capitalize on market trends that impact the business (e.g., new regulations, technological developments, etc.), develop new business opportunities, and lead proposal efforts.
  • Support Client Managers and serve as Technical Client Manager for key clients or business lines and foster a client-focused environment.
  • Lead go/no-go conversations and provide guidance on large pursuits in your area of expertise.
  • Represent SWCA as a cultural resources thought leader and subject matter expert at client and agency meetings, conferences, professional association meetings, external networking events, etc.
• Work with and through colleagues across SWCA to ensure the quality and integrity of deliverables in the cultural resources practice.
• Execute on the responsibilities identified in SWCA’s Career Landscape for Lead-level employees in Technical Leadership.
• Demonstrate leadership, expertise, and Technical Lead-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).
• Have a goal of 60-70% productivity on billable project work and 20-30% on program development for Native communities and government relations

Experience and qualifications for success

• Master’s degree or above in anthropology, archaeology, or other field related to the anthropological services that SWCA generally provides.
• Minimum of 8 years’ experience providing combined native communities and cultural resources consulting services, with a specific emphasis on federal and tribal regulatory compliance, tribal relation services, and/or ethnography with increasing project management and technical responsibility, including leadership of others and management-level accountability for project or program performance.
• Demonstrated experience addressing complex Native communities and government relation issues across multiple agencies, business lines, client types, and geographies.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across offices and regions at all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated ability to recognize and capitalize on market trends that impact the business (e.g., new regulations, technological developments, etc.), develop new business opportunities, and lead proposal efforts.
• Possesses broad understanding of relevant regulatory requirements.
• Possesses strong client-facing skills (e.g., communication, relationship building, problem solving).
• Demonstrated ability to develop positive relationships with sovereign tribal governments and other agencies at the local, regional, and national levels.
• Consistent track record of communicating highly technical concepts to a variety of stakeholder groups.
• Possesses a strong understanding of financial metrics, with the proven ability to manage complex projects or tasks.
• Demonstrated ability to direct high-quality, complex, interdisciplinary technical and project work.
• Proven track record of influencing the delivery of results, even in areas without direct authority.
• Recognized mentor of others in the organization and in the practice area to support the SWCA's broader succession efforts.

Posting dates: 11/21-12/1/22

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.

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

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