Environmental Senior Counsel

About the role

The legal team works closely with environmental, engineering, sustainability, risk management, compliance, and operations professionals to support business objectives and manage complex legal matters.

Responsibilities

• Manage environmental litigation, regulatory proceedings, toxic tort claims, and enforcement matters from initial investigation through resolution.
• Advise internal stakeholders on environmental laws, regulatory obligations, compliance requirements, and emerging legal developments.
• Handle matters involving CERCLA and Superfund liability, RCRA compliance, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, environmental remediation, and landfill regulations.
• Oversee disputes involving property damage, nuisance, trespass, negligence, toxic exposure, and environmental liability.
• Partner with environmental, engineering, sustainability, compliance, risk management, and operations teams on remediation and compliance initiatives.
• Manage regulatory investigations, agency inquiries, enforcement actions, and related response strategies.
• Evaluate environmental risks and provide practical recommendations to business leaders and senior management.
• Oversee outside counsel, expert witnesses, litigation strategy, legal budgets, and overall legal spend.
• Coordinate witness preparation, expert engagement, discovery, depositions, hearings, mediations, and trials.
• Work with risk management and insurance professionals on environmental claims, coverage disputes, and potential liability exposure.
• Support environmental due diligence associated with transactions, operational initiatives, and strategic business projects.
• Develop and update environmental policies, compliance materials, legal processes, and training programs.
• Prepare legal reports, risk assessments, and updates for senior leadership and other stakeholders.
• Travel periodically for legal proceedings, regulatory meetings, investigations, and business needs.

Requirements

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law and in good standing.
• 7+ years of relevant legal experience, with 8 or more years preferred.
• Substantial experience with environmental law, litigation, regulatory compliance, or enforcement matters.
• Strong working knowledge of CERCLA and Superfund matters, RCRA, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act.
• Experience handling environmental remediation matters and regulations affecting industrial, commercial, or operational sites.
• Background managing toxic torts, nuisance, trespass, negligence, property damage, and insurance-related disputes.
• Experience responding to regulatory investigations, agency inquiries, and enforcement actions.
• Demonstrated ability to manage outside counsel, litigation budgets, expert witnesses, and complex legal strategy.
• Prior in-house experience or experience advising a large, multi-state organization is preferred.
• Ability to provide practical, business-oriented advice to technical professionals, operational teams, and senior leadership.
• Experience supporting a publicly traded organization or working within a unionized environment is a plus.