Entry Level Environmental Consultant

Ross Strategic is looking for a highly motivated individual to join our team of consultants. We work on some of today’s toughest challenges ranging from climate change to human health. We do this by bringing together people from various backgrounds and fields of expertise to find common ground and develop durable solutions. Our clients include public agencies, private businesses, philanthropic foundations, and not-for-profit organizations. For more information on the firm’s projects and clients, please visit our website at www.rossstrategic.com.

Due to an overwhelming number of applications this role is now closing on January 15, 2024.

We anticipate hiring one entry-level consultant to support several projects in Washington state. We are looking for candidates who are Washington residents or who are willing to relocate.

Current projects are largely in the following areas, and candidates with interest or experience in one or more of these areas are encouraged to apply and to describe their relevant education and experience:

• Policies and strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions including emissions in power systems, transportation, land use, buildings, and industry.
• Overcoming challenges associated with siting renewable energy infrastructure.
• Watershed protection and restoration, particularly measuring and evaluating progress and collaborative strategic and scientific planning related to watershed restoration in Puget Sound.
• Work with Puget Sound recovery systems and groups such as State Agencies, Lead Entities, Local Integrating Organizations, and Puget Sound Tribal Governments.
• Program evaluation and strategic planning for public agencies, multilateral institutions, nonprofits, and philanthropies.
• Compilation, maintenance, and analysis of large data sets from many different sources.
• Design and facilitation of collaborative interactions and decision making.
• Reflection of equity and just transition in policy, strategy, evaluation, and environmental justice work.

Because Ross Strategic is committed to growth from within, we seek candidates with an interest in developing a career in consulting. In-house training, ongoing mentoring, and coaching support will be provided.

General Responsibilities

• Support new and ongoing projects as part of a consultant team; many projects will involve working directly with high-ranking officials in state and federal agencies, foundations, and other client organizations.
• Interact with clients, process participants from diverse backgrounds, and their staff in a friendly, respectful, and professional way. Communicate regularly and establish rapport with clients and process participants.
• Coordinate project logistics, including scheduling and arrangements for conferences, meetings, and webinars.
• Support all aspects of meeting design and facilitation, including taking notes and drafting and preparing meeting summaries, agendas, and background materials.
• Assist in the preparation of clearly written, accurate documents, presentations, and reports on project- specific issues such as findings and recommendations from collaborative processes, or draft strategic plans or other documents.
• Conduct project-specific research and analysis on policies, programs, activities, and innovations. Research may include on-line data collection, case studies, literature reviews, surveys, and/or interviews.
• Provide project management support through preparation of progress reports for clients, organizing project files, and time and budget tracking.
• While much of our support is provided remotely, some travel within Washington and Oregon may be required.

Consulting often involves working with clients to co-create workplans and products. These deliverables can change as the project develops, so consultants need to be flexible and understand client needs to be successful. People who thrive in this role are curious, detail oriented, able to work independently and be independently accountable for producing work on time, able to synthesize information from multiple sources, able to juggle multiple – different – projects and deadline sets, comfortable in a fast-paced work environment, and confident and concise in their written and oral communications.

Required Experience

• BA/BS degree in a relevant field
• 1+ years of relevant work experience.
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to work under tight timelines with multiple and overlapping tasks and to work in situations requiring self-direction and initiative
• Ability to learn and apply new technologies to support projects
• Strong organizational, problem solving, and planning skills
• Strong writing, communications, and interpersonal skills
• Strong and sustained attention to detail
• Proficiency with office software such as MS Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, and SharePoint
• Based in the U.S. Strong preference for being in Washington State or willingness to re-locate to Washington.

Desired Experience:

• Ability to compile and synthesize high-level takeaways from complex data/information.
• Familiarity with GIS Mapping and experience with interpretation and application of GIS data.
• Fluency in a second language.
• Experience conducting interviews in multicultural contexts or supporting multicultural working groups
• Compensation

Salary range is $65,000 - $75,000/year, depending on qualifications and experience.

Benefits
Our comprehensive benefits package includes:

• Paid time off program, which starts at 20 hours of paid leave per month (240 hours/30 days per year). Ross currently provides employees a combined paid time off (PTO) pool for paid sick & safe leave, holidays, and personal leave time.
• 401(k) plan with employer contribution
• Medical, vision, and dental coverage with premiums fully funded for employees and funded at 50% for their dependents (spouses, domestic partners, and children)
• Disability and basic life insurance
• Go-Navia Transit monthly stipend
• Financial and time support for professional development through access to online training courses, full staff training opportunities, and individual trainings of interest to our staff
• Office celebrations and social events
• Opportunities for monetary bonuses and other staff recognition

Application
Ross Strategic is an equal opportunity employer. We embrace differences between people of different races, ethnicities, gender identities and expressions, ages, religions, national origins, disabilities, and sexual orientations, and we see the value different lived experiences bring to our organization as a workplace, and to our ability to understand and serve our clients. We encourage all applicants who share these values to apply.

To apply, please visit www.rossstrategic.com/careers

Due to an overwhelming number of applications this role is now closing on January 15, 2024. (Job originally posted Dec 20 with Jan 28 deadline). Applicants can expect to receive notification for first round interviews by mid-February 2024.

Got questions about this position and our other open positions and want to learn more about Ross
Strategic? Register for the information session on January 5- Register here!

Must be eligible to work in the United States. We are not currently able to provide visa sponsorship.

Additional Information About the Company
Ross Strategic is a small mission-driven company of approximately 45 employees. We seek to contribute to advancing innovative solutions to pressing environmental and social challenges in the U.S. and around the world through strategy and program development, collaborative process support, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning services.

We provide employees a casual work environment and opportunities for growth. We have transitioned to being a remote company, with clusters of staff in Washington State (Seattle and Olympia), Texas (Austin and Dallas), Oregon (Bend), and California (Los Angeles). We have office space in some of these locations, and we are evolving to bring remote employees together for in-person interaction at periodic cadence throughout the year. Our management actively supports staff work-life balance. Employees enjoy remote work arrangements, flexible scheduling, and control of how they use their paid time off. Ross Strategic employees are given a lot of freedom and responsibility to manage their work.

Ross Strategic is committed to integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices into our organization and our work. We acknowledge this is an ongoing process and welcome exploration and collaboration in this endeavor with current and future clients. We have recently begun to more closely examine our organizational structures to identify opportunities to increase our awareness and cross-cultural literacy, diversify our staff through hiring, partner with more women- and minority-owned businesses, and actively seek to make our work with clients more equitable and inclusive. We are bringing more intentionality to this work through development of annual diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities that are generated by all staff with help from the DEI Coordinating Team.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $65,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Ability to Relocate:

• Washington State: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: Remote