Senior Anthropologist - Ethnography

About the opportunity

Building and maintaining relations with Native communities and governments is essential to SWCA's foundational operations across the U.S. SWCA Environmental Consultants' Cultural Resources group is actively seeking to find a Senior Anthropologist - Ethnographer that will act as a Tribal Liaison who partners with peers across the organization to share insights and information, working together on positive Native communities' relations across SWCA

The Senior Anthropologist will have accountability for the quality of service within Native community's liaison practices across SWCA and focused on the New Mexico / Four Corners subregion and will collaborate with other leaders to ensure that SWCA has leading expertise in these endeavors and is employing best practices, processes, methodologies, and approaches. While the primary focus will be on the New Mexico / Four Corners region, the Senior Anthropologist may also be assigned to projects in other subregions as business and project needs arise.

As a Technical Lead, this Anthropologist will lead complex projects or tasks specific to Native communities relations and in support of SWCA's cultural resources practice, establish measures of quality, mentor others on working with Native communities and governments, lead or contribute to business development pursuits and management of strategic clients, and coordinate with Directors, other Technical Leads, and Project Managers in providing and supporting our services.

This is a regular full-time, salaried, exempt position that will report to one of SWCA's Southwest Directors. Candidates located in New Mexico are highly preferred. This role is hybrid or remote eligible.

Application deadline : Our team will begin reviewing applications immediately, and interviews will be scheduled with qualified candidates on a rolling basis. The application process will remain open October 21st, 2025. We appreciate the time and effort invested by all applicants and will carefully consider each submission.

What you will accomplish

• Be a technical leader who is accountable for the quality of service within SWCA's Native communities and government relations across the company, ensuring that SWCA has leading expertise and state of the art processes / methodologies / practices.
• Work with Directors, other Technical Leads, and Project Managers to identify and implement strategic technical initiatives and drive quality and consistency across offices and regions for Native communities and government relations.
• As an Anthropologist, oversee large and complex cultural resources projects as a principal investigator or project, client, or contract manager.
• Lead the development of technical competencies / standards and technical leadership / mentoring for Tribal liaisons across the company.
• Be recognized as a technical authority and role model responsible for setting a standard of excellence for Native communities and government relations.
• Help to drive growth and differentiation by developing, understanding, and leveraging emerging trends in Tribal liaising.
• Lead the development of, and is an influential participant in, professional / scientific networks that provide SWCA with unique insights and a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
• Develop cultural resources quality standards and ensure company and practice area QA / QC program is effectively implemented.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and coaching within SWCA's cultural resources practice.
• Coordinate with office and / or regional cultural resources Principal Investigators to develop and implement strategic technical initiatives and ensure consistency.
• Serve as a technical mentor and role model for cultural resources practitioners at SWCA, establishing systems to ensure that new regulatory developments, technical approaches, and strategic initiatives are continually disseminated within the cultural resource practice.
• Position the cultural resources practice to accelerate and support SWCA's growth with approximately 10-15% of your time dedicated to strategic business development and client management initiatives.
• Recognize and capitalize on market trends that impact the business (e.g., new regulations, technological developments, etc.), develop new business opportunities, and lead proposal efforts.
• Support Client Managers and serve as Technical Client Manager for key clients or business lines and foster a client-focused environment.
• Lead go / no-go conversations and provide guidance on large pursuits in your area of expertise.
• Represent SWCA as a cultural resource thought leader and subject matter expert at client and agency meetings, conferences, professional association meetings, external networking events, etc.
• Have a goal of 60-70% productivity on billable project work and 20-30% on program development for Native communities and government relations.
• Drives compliance of safety policies and reporting requirements to ensure overall team safety.

Experience and qualifications for success

Minimum qualifications :

Why Work at SWCA :

SWCA Environmental Consultants is a growing employee-owned firm, providing a full-spectrum of environmental services. Our Vision (the North Star) is to make SWCA the best workplace and industry leader in sustainability, bringing sound science and creative solutions to global environmental challenges while maintaining a dedication to employee-ownership. We live our core values : we collaborate as #OneSWCA; we are #AlwaysLearning , we #NeverSettle, and we #GiveBack.

We are 100% employee-owned , and we build our success together. With offices across the United States, SWCA is one of the largest environmental compliance firms and ranks among Engineering News-Record's Top 200 Environmental Firms . We offer a supportive, team-oriented work environment and competitive wages and benefits, including an 100% employee stock ownership plan (retirement).

At SWCA, we support our team members in developing their careers to make them leaders in their industry. Our Career Landscape initiative is a process and guide designed to help develop chart rewarding career paths for employees at SWCA. We encourage professional conference attendance, internal and external professional development and training programs, education reimbursement, a Science and Leadership Program, and bonuses for publications meeting certain criteria. All regular status employees are eligible to participate in SWCA medical, dental, vision, employee assistance, wellness, life and disability plans, and are eligible to participate in the SWCA 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust.

If you need assistance accessing SWCA's website, completing the online application, or require accommodations at any point during the hiring process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@swca.com or call 1-480-581-5378. We're committed to providing an inclusive and supportive experience for all candidates. This contact information is specifically for accommodation requests; other inquiries will not receive a response .

EOE - women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply. At SWCA Environmental Consultants, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment. We strongly encourage candidates from all backgrounds, including those with diverse experiences and veterans, to apply. We believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce enhances creativity, innovation, and overall organizational success.

SWCA is committed to salary equity and salary transparency for all its employees. In alignment with this commitment, SWCA posts good faith pay ranges in all its advertised job postings to promote pay equity and transparency.

An employee in this New Mexico / Four Corners-based position can expect an annual salary of $87,838.00 - $114,618.00. Actual pay within this range may depend on experience, qualifications, geographic location, client requirements where applicable, and other factors permitted by law. Regular-status employees are also eligible for performance bonuses. Candidates are also encouraged to consider SWCA's Total Rewards package, which includes a competitive Benefits package, forward-thinking workplace flexibility, outstanding corporate culture, award-winning career development, and more.

SWCA continues to invest deeply in career development programs, delivering our award-winning Career Landscape support resources to accelerate the growth of our staff. We recognize the valuable skills and experiences our internal team members bring to SWCA's continued success. Qualified internal candidates are encouraged to apply and will be seriously considered for this position. We believe in promoting from within, where possible, providing our existing employees with compelling opportunities to advance their careers.