Mid-level Biologist - Los Angeles County

About the position Dudek is currently seeking a full-time experienced Biologist to join our biological resources team. The successful candidate will help grow Dudek’s biological resources practice locally in the Southern California region; manage and implement a wide variety of projects involving sensitive biological resources, including botanical surveys, wildlife surveys, and aquatic resource delineations; and work collaboratively with other Dudek staff based out of our southern and northern California offices. This position will be a mix of technical writing, project management, and field-based work out of Southern California.

Responsibilities

• Assist on large-scale or lead small-scale collection of detailed field data, work in remote field locations, hike steep slopes over uneven terrain, and work full days in all types of weather.
• Assist on aquatic resource delineations.
• Identify California flora to species and subspecies or variety.
• Assist or lead field surveys for rare, threatened, and endangered plants and wildlife.
• Assist on large scale or lead small-scale vegetation surveys, invasive plant surveys, and habitat assessments.
• Manage small-scale biological resource projects and biological tasks on larger multidisciplinary projects, including scheduling, budgeting, client coordination, and quality control.
• Prepare reports summarizing methodology, field survey results and recommendations with oversight from senior-level staff.
• Prepare Aquatic Resources Delineation Reports with senior-staff guidance.
• Preparation of documents supporting environmental permit applications and CEQA/NEPA biological evaluations with senior-staff oversight.
• Serve as a mentor to junior-level staff and assist in building proficiency of technical skills.
• Ability to work as member of a team and independently to make decisions and complete tasks on time and within budget.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in biology, ecology, botany, environmental science or related natural resources field.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in biological resource consulting (or equivalent experience in a regulatory agency setting) with increasing levels of responsibility.
• Proven experience managing biological tasks or projects, including client communication, deliverable oversight, and team coordination.
• Knowledge and understanding of special-status plant species, vegetation communities, and sensitive vegetation resources that occur in the Southern California region.
• Knowledge of state and federal statutes, regulations, and permitting requirements relating to biological resources, in particular, the federal Clean Water Act, state and federal Endangered Species Acts, California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, and California Fish and Game Code.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Willingness to travel for work, including overnight stays in hotels.
• Must possess a valid driver’s license and have active personal automobile liability insurance by first day of employment.

Nice-to-haves

• Master’s degree in biology, ecology, botany, environmental science or related natural resources field.
• Some demonstrated experience with management of projects involving biological impact analyses, special-status species, and mitigation planning, particularly experienced in the regulatory environment of Southern California.
• Proficient in wildlife identification and impact evaluation skills throughout California.
• Strong customer service emphasis and solution-oriented project delivery approach.
• Conscientious and detail-oriented with demonstrated accuracy and attention to detail.
• Exercises good judgment and sound decision-making skills.
• Familiarity with using a handheld GPS unit (e.g. Garmin or similar) and experience using advanced software and mapping tools such as ESRI FieldMaps, Survey123, and Collector.
• Possess or actively pursuing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Section 10(a)(1)(A) recovery survey permits and/or California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Scientific Collecting Permits (SCPs) for regionally relevant species including, but not limited to, coastal California gnatcatcher, Quino checkerspot butterfly, southwestern willow flycatcher, burrowing owl, and Crotch’s bumblebee.
• Possess or actively pursuing a CDFW Plant Voucher Collecting Permit to collect voucher specimens of state‑listed rare, threatened, endangered, or candidate plant species.

Benefits

• Employee-owned firm
• Award-winning culture
• Benefits and perks

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