Environmental Compliance Manager (Field Based)

About the role

The Environmental Compliance Manager (Owner Advisor) will provide owner-side environmental leadership across a large, fast-paced capital project in Lehigh Valley, PA, serving as a trusted partner to the client's project leadership and delivery teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide owner-side environmental compliance leadership across the project, ensuring alignment with applicable local, state, and federal requirements and client expectations.
• Establish and maintain a clear, project-specific environmental compliance framework that defines requirements, roles, and interfaces to guide CM and contractor execution.
• Maintain strong field presence to validate that environmental controls, practices, and behaviors align with approved plans and permit obligations.
• Perform quality checks of contractor and CM environmental inspections and documentation, confirming inspections are occurring at the appropriate cadence and are effective.
• Coach CM and contractor teams on environmental findings, gaps, and emerging risks, driving timely and sustainable corrective actions without direct authority.
• Identify, assess, and prioritize environmental risks through regulatory aspect and gap reviews, recommending risk-based mitigation strategies.
• Support development, review, and continuous improvement of project environmental plans and procedures to ensure they are executable and field-ready.
• Partner with client environmental SMEs and permitting resources to ensure construction activities remain aligned with permit conditions and reporting expectations.
• Develop, track, and communicate environmental performance metrics, trends, and key risks to project and executive leadership.
• Support environmental incident and spill investigations, ensuring appropriate containment, root cause identification, and preventive actions.
• Cooky with waste vendors and site teams to support compliant waste handling, profiling, storage, and disposal practices.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for environmental questions requiring practical judgment related to changing scope, sequencing, or site conditions.
• Support environmental readiness for startup and commissioning by verifying environmental requirements are integrated into transition plans.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Science, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 8 years of environmental experience, including significant experience supporting large construction or capital projects.
• Demonstrated ability to operate as an owner-side environmental leader, balancing field verification with programmatic oversight.
• Strong working knowledge of construction-phase environmental compliance domains such as stormwater, spill prevention, waste management, air and dust controls.
• Proven ability to translate environmental requirements into practical execution through others.
• Experience influencing CM and contractor performance and driving accountability without direct line authority.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to deliver concise, executive-level updates using metrics and risk-based insights.
• Experience conducting environmental audits or assessments and verifying effective corrective action closure.
• Experience in life sciences, pharmaceutical, or similarly regulated industries preferred.
• Familiarity with environmental management system concepts and continuous improvement practices preferred.