Job Openings

Thank you for your interest in NHI!

Below are NHI's current job openings.

PARALEGAL AND/OR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

The Natural Heritage Institute (NHI) is seeking a paralegal/project associate and an administrative assistant to join our San Francisco office. The selected candidates will support two attorneys specializing in water resource law, specifically hydropower reform, flood control, water rights, public trust issues, and also provide research and administrative support for restoration projects, water management innovations in California, and global dam reoperation projects. This position may also have development and media relations responsibilities. The division of responsibilities are to be determined.

Responsibilities may include:

Writing and editing documents including outlines, legal briefs, presentations
Filing and serving court and administrative documents
Performing legal research, including fact- and cite-checking
Communicating directly with clients, attorneys, and scientists
Compiling project status reports and maintaining up-to-date databases for legal cases; tracking project deadlines and account balances
Coordinating multi-party negotiations and other meetings
Basic IT oversight (we have a dedicated IT vendor)
Travel coordination
Contract administration
Invoicing
Budgeting
Office administration

Qualifications

Bachelor’s or master’s degree
Excellent research skills
Exceptional oral and written communication skills
Strong knowledge of the Microsoft Office Professional and internet research software
General IT experience, including network management and trouble-shooting
Ability to multi-task and attend to details without close supervision

Prior paralegal experience, including working knowledge of case file management, and a commitment to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources are desirable.

Both positions are full-time and offer competitive salary and benefits. NHI is an equal opportunity employer.

Interested candidates should email a cover letter and resume to:

         Ms. Jessica Peyla Nagtalon
         Natural Heritage Institute
         mail to: jnagtalon(at)n-h-i.og.

Please refer to “Applicant” in your email subject line. We intend to fill this position promptly.

WATER RESOURCES ENGINEER OR HYDROLOGIST

The Natural Heritage Institute is seeking to immediately hire a full time water resources engineer or hydrologist to work directly with the CEO to develop and implement water resource management innovations in both the California and global settings. This senior level management position can be in either the San Francisco or Sacramento offices. We will consider both applicants for a full-time position and semi-retired applicants.

Required qualifications:

Advanced degree in civil engineering or hydrologic science
Excellent analytical skills, including familiarity with modeling techniques and tools such as CALSIM II, ArcHydro and WEAP
Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience
Superlative written and oral communication skills
Exceptional interpersonal skills
A passion for conservation of natural resources
Immediate availability

Desired qualifications:

Substantial experience with water management institutions, infrastructure, policies and local governments within the Central Valley of California
Familiarity with the Rio Grande-Rio Bravo basin
A good technical understanding of agricultural water management, hydropower or flood control infrastructure
Familiarity with California and U.S. governmental agencies; particularly the California Department of Water Resources and the Mid Pacific office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Familiarity with international and intergovernmental institutions involved in the water sector
Foreign language skills (Spanish, French, Portuguese or Mandarin)

This person will have a leading role in the following NHI projects:

Integration of the Sacramento Valley groundwater system into the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project through conjunctive water management: NHI and the valley’s largest water management district, the Glenn Colusa Irrigation District, are partners in an effort to produce an integrated regional water resources management plan that will have as a central feature the reoperation of Shasta and/or Oroville dams in conjunction with the state’s largest, and relatively undeveloped, groundwater formation to generate water for environmental restoration purposes and to improve the reliability of supplies for irrigation and municipal use both within the Sacramento Valley and throughout the Central Valley water system. Familiarity with water management institutions, infrastructure, policies and local governments within the Sacramento Valley; with the CALSIM II modeling platform; and with the California Department of Water Resources, and the Mid Pacific office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, would be important qualifications.

Physical assessment of the opportunities for improved water management in the U.S.-Mexico border water system: This project is the flagship of NHI’s transboundary water resources projects. In this project, we are creating a hydrologic planning model (using the WEAP and ArcHydro platforms) for the entire Rio Grande-Rio Bravo basin, on both sides of the border, and then developing scenarios for improved water management that will be evaluated for their hydrologic feasibility and potential for expanding the water service benefits for all stakeholders. NHI is the project coordinator, with several partners on both sides of the border, including the University of Texas, World Wildlife Fund, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Arizona, Instituto Mexicano Tecnologico del Agua, Instituto Tecnologico Y Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and Universidad Autonoma de Cuidad Juarez. Familiarity with this water system, professional fluency in Spanish, and WEAP training would be assets for this project.

Global Initiative to Reoperate Major Dams to Restore Downstream Ecosystems and Human Livelihoods: This ambitious program is the logical sequel to the World Commission on Dams. We are building regional components in China, Western Africa, Brazil, India/Pakistan, East African and Southern Africa, to explore the potential to reoptimize major for irrigation systems, flood control systems and hydropower generation systems for environmental performance. Experience in the design, management and operation of these types of systems, and in the regional geographies indicated, would be assets for this project. Working relationships with the global and intergovernmental institutions involved in water management would also be valuable.

Conjunctive water management (reoperating dams in conjunction with groundwater banks): As an element of all of the foregoing projects, and to develop a conjunctive use master plan for the Central Valley of California, NHI is pioneering the concept of generating supplemental water for environmental restoration and to augment consumptive water supplies by linking surface and groundwater storage systems, thereby enabling a larger fraction of flood flows to be captured and deployed for these purposes. In a sense, this concept entails converting uncontrolled flood events into controlled flood events, tailored to achieve specified riverine and floodplain restoration objectives. Familiarity with reservoir operations, groundwater banking, fluvial process restoration, and the Central Valley water system would be assets for this project.

We do not expect to find this full range of capabilities in any one individual. Rather we are looking for solid relevant credentials and the ability to quickly learn these projects. Exceptional analytic and hydrologic modeling skills and exceptional oral and written communication skills are indispensable, as is a passion for NHI’s mission: to improve the management of freshwater resources around the world for human benefits and aquatic ecosystems through the application of advanced technical, scientific, economic, legal and institutional tools, techniques and policies.

NHI offers competitive salary and benefits depending on experience.

Serious candidates should respond by emailing a cover letter, resume, and a representative writing sample to:

Ms. Jessica Peyla Nagtalon
Natural Heritage Institute
mail to: jnagtalon(at)n-h-i.og

Please indicate “Water Resources Engineer” in the subject line. No phone calls please.