Remote Geotechnical Engineer

About Mast Reforestation (Mast):

As the leading end-to-end reforestation company in the U.S., Mast is on a mission to make reforestation scalable. As bigger and hotter fires destroy more forestland every year, Mast provides fast, resilient forest restoration for landowners impacted by devastating wildfires. As the only vertically-integrated reforestation company in the industry, Mast has removed the financial, procedural, and seed supply barriers that typically stand in the way of getting reforestation done.  Mast collects native, diverse seed species and manages site preparation, planting, and ongoing monitoring, delivering high quality projects.  By assembling first-of-its-kind third party capital, Mast delivers these projects at no-cost to landowners.  With trusted forestry companies Silvaseed and Cal Forest in its portfolio, Mast is the largest seed bank and reforestation container stock producer in the Western U.S. Mast is also an innovation center for the non-timber forestry supply chain, developing various biological and technical products for achieving land management goals more efficiently. To learn more, visit www.mastreforest.com and watch this video of our recent Montana project (hyperlink: https://www.mastreforest.com/reforestation)

If you’re inspired by our work, we’d encourage you to apply!

Mast Reforestation is seeking a part-time Geotechnical Consultant. This is an opportunity to be a pioneer in the field of carbon removal credit development from nature based systems. The preferred candidate will be interested in leveraging their significant geotechnical and landfill background to advance how carbon can be successfully sequestered. Success in this role will be measured by your ability to help our team expand and enhance our carbon product offerings to deliver high-integrity carbon removals that are commercially attractive to carbon buyers. This dynamic role will require engagement with four critical elements of the contemporary carbon marketplace - the scientific community, other project developers, corporate buyers, and landowners (hosts to land management work and technologies).

Please note this is a part-time position.  The weekly commitment is about 20 hours. The primary location is remote, but our projects (travel to the sites may be required) are currently on the West Coast.

About you:

• You are an experienced geotechnical engineering or biomass/waste management environmental engineering
• You have experience with environmental monitoring systems, including gas monitoring of methane and carbon dioxide), as well as moisture and pH, ideally in the context of landfills or mining
• You are experienced with environmental permitting, particularly with respect to solid waste, mining, or related applications.
• You have a strong foundation in surficial geology and soil processes
• You are a strong strategist who is able to contribute to the company’s long-term vision and inform our product and market evolutions
• You have experience reviewing projects for compliance with plans/specifications

What you will be doing:

• Design, analyze, and prepare plans for biomass burial (wood harvest and storage) projects in forestry with the goal for long-term (100 year)  storage and preservation (sequestration) of carbon in woody biomass from wildfire salvage and forest thinning. This work may include:
• Developing and evaluating technical specifications, drawings, and reports for project design and development
• Selecting, managing and reviewing the work of third party consulting firms as needed, to develop design, plan, and implement Mast’s biomass burial and biochar projects
• Coordinate site evaluations including soil samples, lab testing, and geotechnical analysis and design
• Permitting for biomass storage, environmental impact assessments and forest engineering projects,  with third party contractors as necessary
• Design or review gas monitoring systems for installation and long-term installation at biomass storage sites

Experience & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, or Environmental Engineering, or related field
• 4+ years experience working in waste management (landfills), forest engineering, environmental engineering, or biomass management (forestry residues)
• Experience with environmental monitoring systems (landfill gas, etc)
• Experience with environmental permitting including solid waste
• Experience working with third party contractors
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to interact with clients and cross-functional teams

Highly desirable if you have:

• Professionally licensed (PE) with Geotechnical Engineering
• Work experience in forestry or waste management
• Experience scaling a business in an early or mid-stage company

$50 - $80 an hour

As of October 2024, the geo-located base salary for this role falls within this band: $50 - $80 per hour. We’ll determine the final base salary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, skills level and residing location during the hiring process.