Careers With Us
Every Pathways team member has unique talents that contribute to our growing bench of climate-related research and climate adaptation projects. We love to mentor newly minted or current graduate students through our internship programs. Occasionally, we also have a need for a full-time hire as our firm grows. Open internships and positions are noted below. If you don't see anything listed, we may not have anything open right now.
Civil/Coastal Engineer or Scientist
This position is hybrid, and the ideal candidate must live in the San Francisco Bay Area and be able to work in our San Francisco office when needed. Relocation assistance is not available.
Who we are looking for:
We are looking for a mid- to senior-level Civil/Coastal Engineer or Scientist to join our dynamic Bay Area team supporting climate resilience and adaptation projects. At Pathways, our projects are multifaceted, including scientific research to fill climate science-related data gaps, climate vulnerability and risk assessments, and developing climate adaptation plans that can support communities as they re-envision their shorelines, built infrastructure, urban and natural environments and address the growing challenges of climate change. Our primary focus is water – coastal hazards, extreme precipitation, and groundwater. We understand the importance of considering the entire water cycle as we assess how these hazards are affecting communities today, and how these hazards will change as our climate continues to warm. We also coordinate with academics and researchers working on wildfire, subsidence, landslides, and many other compounding and cascading hazards. We work with multidisciplinary teams on solutions, with an emphasis on nature-based and hybrid solutions. Although we are not an outreach firm, our team members are often engaged in outreach actives within communities. We translate the science and technical work for public audiences, answer questions, and help ensure public feedback is incorporated within our work. We are looking for someone who will seamlessly integrate with our team and help increase our capacity to serve our clients. Our firm works hard to under promise and over deliver – exceeding our clients’ expectations at every step along the way.
Role and Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
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Prepares and supports climate vulnerability and risk assessments for coastal environments and communities facing compound hazards
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Leads adaptation strategy development, with an emphasis on nature-based and hybrid solutions, including preparing conceptual plans and cost estimates
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Conducts coastal analysis, wave analysis, shoreline change assessments using industry standard models, FEMA methodology, and USACE guidance.
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Leads or supports numerical modeling, such as the Delft San Francisco Bay Community Model and MODFLOW. This position requires understanding how model data is produced and what the results could mean for our clients.
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Investigates data. Our projects rely on a lot of data, whether that is elevation data (LiDAR, digital elevation models), global climate model output, downscaled data sets, local and regional hydrodynamic and groundwater model outputs, and seemingly endless GIS data sets from our collaborators and clients.
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Communicates the science and results clearly, succinctly, with strong writing and communication skills. The results of our hard work are meaningless unless we can communicate our findings to a broad array of audiences. We use reports, presentations, graphics, fact sheets, outreach materials, and online tools (e.g., dashboards, viewers, story maps) to reach our target audience(s).
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Assists the project manager, or serves as the project manager, with developing and managing scope, schedule, and budget across multiple projects. Requires the ability to effectively delegate to and mentor junior staff to meet project needs.
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Maintains organized project and firm records, including time and data management, record keeping and documentation, and strategic planning for future tasks. We believe that strong organizational skills lead to reduced stress, improved team alignment, and better work-life balance.
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Supports business development and marketing efforts.
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Potential interest in leading firm-wide engineering best practices and advancing the science in coastal engineering resilience and nature-based climate solutions in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
Qualifications of our ideal candidate:
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Mid-level to senior level in experience (6+ years of experience)
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MS or PhD in Civil or Coastal Engineering or a field related to earth and environmental science, atmospheric/climate science, engineering, etc.
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Successful completion of the Fundamentals if Engineering exam or Engineering-in-Training certification
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California Professional Engineering license or the ability to obtain via reciprocity is preferred
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Published peer-reviewed journal articles or proven record of lead-author technical consulting reports. Writing samples may be requested.
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Self-motivated, with ability to work in a multitasking environment
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Able to work both independently and within a collaborative setting
Additional skills we look for:
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Familiarity with coastal software packages such as Delft 2D/3D/DFlow, SWAN, HEC-RAS or similar
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Ability to develop new (well documented) Python scripts and innovative techniques to adapt to the ever-changing and expanding needs of our clients
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Ability to mentor and support junior staff in growing their skills
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Experience with ESRI ArcGIS software platforms and applications (ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, and ArcPy)
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Data analysis and management skills using Python, GitHub, and AWS
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Skilled with spatial analysis using geoprocessing tools to clean and analyze datasets
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Legally entitled to work in the U.S.
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Must be located in the San Francisco Bay Area
Our office is located at 650 California Street in San Francisco, California. We offer a hybrid work environment, with both remote and in-office work. We are not offering a 100% remote position.
Salary range for this position is 110k - 160k/year (based on experience, skill level, and education), opportunities for bonuses, 401k with company match, medical, dental, vision, paid vacation, and more!
Pathways is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive company culture. We value diverse experiences and encourage applicants from all backgrounds and perspectives to apply. However, all applicants must be legally able to work in the U.S. Relocation assistance is not available.
We are a very small, research-based firm with a team of staff that are very passionate and committed to helping communities mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Ready to Apply?
Submit your resume / cv and a cover letter to careers@pathwaysclimate.com