Permitting Specialist

Senior Permitting Specialist

Westwood Professional Services, Inc.

Westwood Professional Services, Inc.is seeking a Sr. Permitting Specialist to join our renewables team in either Minneapolis, MN; Plano, TX; or Denver, CO office. This position will focus on pre-construction development, repowering, and permitting within the wind, solar, transmission, and/or energy storage markets throughout the U.S. Westwood is a nationwide multi-disciplined environmental, permitting, engineering, and surveying firm that provides consulting services and technical expertise to support renewable energy development. The candidate will serve in a senior permitting role within the environmental services group. Responsibilities include managing projects, developing work scopes, fees and proposals, compiling and drafting permit applications, attending client/agency meetings, interacting with technical design professionals, and mentoring junior staff. The ideal candidate should possess knowledge of various federal and state environmental regulations and permit processes, as well as related technical studies. This includes expertise in the siting and routing of renewable and transmission projects, greenfield assessment of project areas, state and local permitting (such as site permits, route permits, and conditional use permits), environmental review, wildlife and natural resource assessments, cultural resource assessments, and related data analysis and impact determination.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience in renewable energy project development and permitting for utility-scale wind, solar, and/or energy storage facilities, as well as high-voltage transmission lines. Demonstrated knowledge of environmental reviews (federal NEPA and equivalent state programs), state site and route permit processes and applications, associated federal and state regulatory programs and permits, environmental and cultural resources desktop and field investigations, and construction-related federal, state, and local approvals is essential.

The successful candidate will be highly organized, possess strong communication skills, and demonstrate superior project management, writing, research, time management, and related project skills.

This position requires the ability to work with a variety of clients, partnering consultants, and the various technical leads to help draft successful permit applications while maintaining the flexibility to manage project changes. The role includes a mix of project management, technical writing, technical document quality assurance/quality control review, direction of subject matter experts and administrative staff, marketing and business development. Key tasks include researching and preparing various permit applications, preparing proposals and work plans, developing and maintaining project schedules, participating in client meetings, collaborating with internal staff, and expanding opportunities with new and existing clients.

• A Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, environmental engineering, or related earth science; a Master’s degree is preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in the renewable energy or land development permitting field.
• Excellent communication and writing skills are essential, along with the ability to edit and conduct quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) on various reports, studies, and application documents prepared by others.
• The candidate must be a self-starter, resourceful, and capable of working productively on multiple projects simultaneously under strict deadlines.
• A proven ability to work with and manage developer and utility clients in the wind, solar, and/or energy storage, and electric transmission industries is required. 

Westwood Professional Services Inc. (Westwood)was established in 1972 and has since become a leader in many of the markets it serves. Westwood is a full-service, multidiscipline professional engineering firm and serves wind, solar, power delivery, residential and commercial development, and public infrastructure clients and their projects from multiple offices across the U.S.

In 2023, Zweig Group ranked Westwood nationally at #12 and #30 respectively on its Hot Firms and Best Firms to Work for lists. Zweig also awarded Westwood two national 2nd place awards for Marketing Excellence. Westwood was recently recognized as #79 in the ENR Top 500 Firms in 2023. The firm consistently ranks on industry top 25 lists and receives recognition for its involvement on award-wining projects nationwide.

Westwood provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. We believe that diverse backgrounds strengthen our business. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.