Requisition No: RL1401
Title: Environmental Scientist or Senior Environmental Scientist
Position Open Until January 19, 2015.

The San Francisco Estuary Institute is seeking to hire a talented environmental scientist to lead integrative research projects within SFEI’s Resilient Landscapes Program. The successful candidate will play a leadership role, managing staff and projects to execute applied science research informing ecosystem restoration, water resource management, climate change adaptation planning, and natural flood protection in the Bay Area and statewide. The position is an opportunity to work with an outstanding team of scientists on innovative projects that seek to improve how we manage coastal environments and watersheds throughout California under changing climatic conditions.

We are looking for a creative individual with the following attributes: excellent technical skills; the ability to lead and supervise interdisciplinary teams of SFEI staff and external collaborators; and experience reporting scientific findings to managers, stakeholders, and other scientists. The ideal candidate will have an interdisciplinary background and experience collecting, analyzing, and synthesizing diverse environmental data. Primary position responsibilities will include conducting applied research that draws on physical and biological sciences to inform resilient coastal and watershed management approaches. The ability to link landscape ecology and ecosystem processes with a quantitative understanding of hydrology and geomorphology is highly desirable.

This position requires excellent oral and written communication skills, the ability to work with a broad range of managers and stakeholders, a team player instinct, and a commitment to excellence. The position responsibilities will also include managing entry and mid-level scientists, program development, proposal writing and other forms of fundraising.

The successful candidate will have:

  • PhD in a relevant field (e.g., ecology, biology, geomorphology, hydrology, physical geography, or environmental planning) and several years of work experience, or Master’s degree with substantial work experience
  • A proven track record managing complex projects (including budgets and contracts), and supervising staff
  • Superlative technical skills (e.g., data analysis, GIS, hydrologic or hydraulic modeling, ecological modeling, R programming)
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills (e.g. experience presenting work at conferences)
  • Experience working with a broad range of partners and stakeholders
  • A team player instinct

In addition, the ideal candidate will bring a diverse range of skills and experience to the position, which could include some combination of the following:

  • Familiarity with green infrastructure approaches to riverine and coastal flood protection, and other multi-benefit adaptation strategies to sea level rise
  • Ability to apply and integrate landscape-scale ecological concepts to watershed management
  • Experience analyzing historical landscape evolution and trajectories, and integrating with management strategies
  • Analysis of ecosystem services benefits of restoration and management strategies
  • Expertise in landscape ecology principles, including spatial ecological metrics
  • Experience...