Senior Terrain & Soils Specialist – Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping in Vancouver

We are SLR Consulting (Canada), a 1000+ team of advisory, environmental/engineering, and regulatory professionals across Canada. We deliver environmental and sustainability services to our clients through the integration of over 30 advisory, technical environmental, and engineering disciplines to help clients address some of their most complex challenges around sustainability.

SLR is seeking a Senior Terrain & Soils Specialist with strong Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM) experience to join our growing team in British Columbia. This role will provide technical support and oversight on baseline and environmental assessment projects while helping to build and expand SLR's internal TEM capabilities.

The ideal candidate is a terrain and soils professional with extensive experience in British Columbia terrestrial ecosystem mapping programs who can confidently interpret terrain from imagery, collect and interpret field soils and terrain data, mentor junior staff, and provide senior technical review of TEM, bioterrain, and terrain mapping products for baseline and environmental assessment projects.

Responsibilities:

• Provide technical support, oversight and review for projects involving Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM), soils characterization, and terrain classification.
• Complete and review terrain, surficial geology, soils, and ecosystem mapping and associated technical deliverables.
• Support projects through planning, fieldwork, office-based mapping, analysis and reporting.
• Participate in field programs and provide technical direction to field staff.
• Provide mentoring, training and technical guidance to junior and intermediate staff.
• Contribute technical expertise to mining, environmental assessment and other natural resource projects.
• Work collaboratively with ecologists, environmental professionals, project managers and other technical specialists.
• Support the development of SLR's internal baseline assessment processes (including TEM), tools and technical capabilities.
• Contribute to proposals, scopes of work and business development opportunities.
• Build strong working relationships with clients, project teams and colleagues.
• Help grow and develop SLR's TEM practice in British Columbia.

Qualifications/Education/Memberships:

• Demonstrated professional experience in Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM), through both desktop mapping and field surveys.
• Demonstrated experience mapping surficial materials, terrain/geomorphology, geomorphic processes, and terrain stability using provincial standards and methodologies.
• Working knowledge of BC terrain classification systems, terrain ecosystem mapping standards, and provincial ecosystem classification frameworks.
• Experience describing and classifying soils using Canadian System of Soil Classification methodologies.
• Strong understanding of soil-forming processes, soil morphology, drainage, texture, coarse fragment content, and soil interpretation for environmental applications.
• Experience using LiDAR-derived terrain products, hillshades, slope models, and high-resolution imagery to support terrain delineation and interpretation.
• Proficiency in ESRI mapping suite, including editing, attribution, QA/QC, geodatabase management, and experience with 3D mapping interfaces.
• A background in soils, surficial geology, terrain science or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of documented terrain and soils field experience, including terrain polygon verification, soil descriptions, and ecosystem plot sampling.
• Experience conducting helicopter-supported, remote-access, and multispecialty field programs is considered an asset.
• Experience leading TEM projects through all phases including proposal development, desktop terrain interpretation, field verification, QA/QC, final mapping, reporting, and client interaction is an asset.
• Experience mentoring, training or providing technical direction to field staff is an asset.
• Experience working on mining, environmental assessment, natural resource or related projects is an asset.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Willingness and ability to participate in field programs and travel to project sites as required.
• A professional designation or eligibility for professional designation within 6 months of hiring as P.Geo. or P.Ag. is required.

SLR strives to build diverse teams that reflect the communities we work in, and encourages applications from traditionally underrepresented groups including women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, people identifying as 2SLGBTQI+, veterans, and people with disabilities.