Senior Resilience Planner

Dewberry is seeking a Senior Resilience Planner to join our multi-disciplinary and action-oriented team (open to multiple locations, with preference for offices located within Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, New York, and Florida; open to remote). This position will support the Resilience Solutions Group at the intersection of planning, policy, and technical analysis in hazard mitigation, emergency management, and climate change adaptation. Related areas of technical focus for this position include but are not limited to vulnerability assessment, hazard mitigation, community planning, natural resource management, and research and planning related to Federal agencies (FEMA, USACE, NOAA, and USFWS), state agencies, and local communities.

Dewberry is a leading, market-facing professional services firm with more than 50 locations and 2,000 professionals nationwide. What sets us apart from our competitors are our people. At Dewberry, we seek out exceptional talent and strive to deliver the highest quality of services to our clients. Whether you’re an experienced professional or a new graduate, you’ll have the chance to collaborate with the best and brightest and work on innovative and complex projects at the forefront of the industry. Our commitment to excellence stems from our personal integrity and from other defining attributes, which we call “Dewberry at Work,” that have inspired our employees to be successful for more than a half-century.

Dewberry’s Resilience Solutions is an innovative organization that thrives on tackling the most intriguing resilience challenges across our nation. Our mission is to create safer and better communities for everyone to live in. We achieve this by embodying “Dewberry at Work” values and applying our expertise in engineering, planning, GIS, earth sciences, data analytics, and other technical disciplines. Our team assists federal, state, and local clients throughout the nation in comprehending their natural hazard risks. With our guidance, they can make informed decisions to reduce risk and increase resilience.

• Develop scopes of work, schedules, and budgets for projects to increase climate resilience and hazard mitigation within federal, state, and local government agencies.
• Oversee tasks for hazard mitigation plans, climate adaptation plans, and/or resilience plans and related outreach and engagement efforts.
• Lead the facilitation of collaborative meetings as well as one-on-one discussions with partners, clients, and external stakeholders.
• Develop and conduct public outreach for community resilience projects, both virtual and in-person.
• Support the execution of technical studies and analytical processes relating to resilience strategy and plan development.
• Research, analyze, and develop effective hazard mitigation policy and design solutions for local, state, and federal clients.
• Review and summarize data and results to draw insights and present compelling findings.
• Employ a mix of written, visual, and verbal communication techniques to craft compelling narratives and explain complex technical topics to various audiences.
• Prepare plans, studies, reports, guides, and other technical documents.
• Apply principles of social equity and environmental justice to technical and strategic work.
• Lead a diverse array of related projects within the Resilience Solutions Group to acquire supplementary technical, programmatic, and project management knowledge/skills.

Skills & Required Experience

• Experience leading tasks or projects for vulnerability/risk assessments, hazard mitigation/climate adaptation strategies, outreach programs, or related natural hazard resilience work.
• Versatile plan development skillset to seamlessly lead any/all components of resilience planning work.
• Ability to effectively communicate orally and in written and visual formats technical information related to natural hazards and resilience in projects, presentations, and papers.
• Ability to facilitate effective, productive community outreach and engagement meetings with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience researching, planning, and developing operational and tactical plans, policies, procedures, and guidance to promote resilience and mitigation.
• 4+ years of experience.
• Bachelor’s in Planning, Policy Analysis, Environmental Science, Sustainability, or another related field. Master’s degree preferred.
• Ability to synthesize, analyze, and organize a large volume of complex information into a clear and coherent description.
• Ability to be self-motivated and function both independently and in a collaborative team environment.
• Well-developed time management skills, especially the ability to complete high-quality, detail-oriented deliverables on tight timelines amid competing deadlines within a diverse work group.
• Ability to perform an expanded array of tasks and continue to broaden experience and familiarization with methods, practices, and programs applicable to the department.
• Ability to exercise initiative, resourcefulness, and tact in obtaining and analyzing information related to resilience planning.
• Ability to collaborate and work effectively with coworkers, clients, and our clients’ stakeholders.

Optional (Nice to Have)

• Experience with project management or business development.
• Experience managing people or teams.
• Comfort working with large geospatial datasets and performing or directing quantitative analyses.
• Experience applying social and behavioral science research to stakeholder engagement activities, decision-support products, and program and policy design.
• Knowledge and ability to use the following computer applications: Tableau, Power BI, ArcMap/ArcPro, ArcGIS Online, Adobe InDesign, and other data processing, visualization, and design tools.
• Certified Floodplain Manager or AICP.

Work Environment

• Work environment responsibilities may occasionally require an adjusted work schedule, overtime, and evening/weekend hours in order to meet deadlines.
• Occasionally, will be required to lift/carry up to 25 lbs.
• Computers, telephones, copiers, and printers are all used to perform tasks.
• Work is typically performed within an office, although field/site visits may be occasionally required.
• Works under the supervision of higher-level staff. Work is often reviewed for accuracy by senior staff.

Must have a valid driver’s license, good driving record and ability to pass a driving record background check.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Dewberry we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace for our employees. So if you’re excited about this role, but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the position description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may just be the right candidate for this or other opportunities.

*At this time, Dewberry will not sponsor a new applicant for work authorization.

*Only recipients of an offer of employment from Dewberry, will be required to submit to a background screening which may include, but is not limited to, employment verification, educational and other credential verification, driving record check, criminal background check, and an investigative consumer report. These screenings will be conducted by Dewberry’s background vendor of choice and will be conducted in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local law.