Fire Protection Planner / Technical Lead

Overview Location(s): CaliforniaPractice/Department: Urban Forestry/FireWork Environment: Hybrid/RemoteCompensation: $110,000-140,000/annually* Dudek’s journey began in 1980 with a vision to serve Southern California’s water and wastewater agencies.  Today, we are a 100% employee-owned firm supporting clients nationwide and delivering projects that improve and protect the built and natural environments of communities throughout the United States. Our work has been recognized by leading industry organizations, and we’ve been honored with multiple national Top Workplace Awards.  Our employee-owners are unified by a singular commitment to supporting projects that address key societal issues, such as the transition to renewable energy, infrastructure hardening and repair, environmental protection, and community resilience.  Learn more about our  award-winning culture , the  benefits and perks  of being a Dudekian, and the  projects  you will have the opportunity to shape.   Position Overview Who You Are   As an  employee-owner , you embrace accountability, working safely, and collaboration while thinking resourcefully and independently.  Like all Dudekians, you are curious and  solution-oriented , with the ability to adapt quickly to changes and approach challenges with a spirit of  innovation .   How You’ll Make an Impact   We are seeking an experienced, technically skilled, and highly motivated Fire Protection Planner to serve as the technical lead for spatial wildfire analysis and quality assurance within Dudek’s fire protection planning team. For nearly 25 years, Dudek has partnered with landowners, developers, public agencies, and land management organizations to evaluate wildfire hazards and develop practical, defensible strategies that reduce wildfire risk. The successful candidate will lead the development, execution, interpretation, and review of spatial wildfire analyses; establish consistent modeling and data standards; and support integration of modeling results into community wildfire protection plans, wildfire risk assessments, evacuation corridor assessments, utility wildfire mitigation plans, fire protection plans, wildfire technical studies, environmental review documents, presentations, and client recommendations. This role requires strong geospatial and fire-science expertise, sound technical judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to communicate complex methods and limitations to technical and nontechnical audiences. The position will be either remote or hybrid depending upon applicant proximity to one of Dudek’s offices, with travel to project sites and client or agency offices throughout California as needed. Duties and Responsibilities   Serve as the team’s technical lead for spatial fire behavior modeling, providing direction on model selection, scenario design, assumptions, inputs, calibration, validation, and appropriate application of results. Design, parameterize, execute, and interpret landscape-scale wildfire modeling using tools such as FlamMap, FARSITE, FSPro, IFTDSS, or equivalent systems. Perform spatial analyses of vector and raster datasets across project sites and large landscapes, including fire spread, flame length, fireline intensity, rate of spread, arrival time, burn probability, ember exposure, and related outputs. Develop customized community wildfire risk assessment model approaches utilizing spatial datasets related to community wildfire risk Develop, evaluate, and document model inputs, including fuels, topography, weather, wind, ignition locations, and project-specific conditions. Establish and maintain modeling protocols, data standards, file-management practices, reproducible workflows, and technical guidance for the team. Lead quality assurance and quality control reviews of modeling inputs, methods, scripts, maps, calculations, outputs, and technical conclusions; verify that work products are accurate, reproducible, internally consistent, and suitable for client and agency review. Prepare clear methodology documentation and translate modeling results, assumptions, uncertainty, and limitations into defensible reports, fire protection plans, environmental technical studies, figures, presentations, and responses to agency or public comments. Coordinate with fire protection planners, GIS specialists, environmental planners, engineers, biologists, project managers, clients, and fire agencies to align modeling with project objectives and regulatory needs. Mentor and train staff in fire modeling methods, geospatial analysis, documentation, and QA/QC expectations; review technical work and provide actionable guidance. Support project scoping, level-of-effort estimates, schedules, proposal development, and client presentations for modeling and wildfire-risk assignments. Monitor advances in wildfire science, modeling platforms, fuels and remote-sensing datasets, and decision-support tools, and recommend appropriate improvements to team practices. Minimum Qualifications  Bachelor's degree in fire science, forestry, fire ecology, natural resources, geography, geographic information systems, environmental science, engineering, data science, or a related field; an advanced degree may substitute for a portion of professional experience. At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in wildfire science, fire behavior analysis, spatial modeling, geospatial analytics, forestry, land management, environmental consulting, or a related discipline. Strong understanding of fire behavior and wildfire dynamics, including the interactions among fuels, weather, and topography that influence wildfire ignition, intensity, rate of spread, ember production, and suppression effectiveness. Demonstrated ability to evaluate wildfire behavior across diverse landscapes and assess community wildfire exposure Understanding of fire ecology and vegetation dynamics in dry-forest, shrubland, and Mediterr