Lead Environmental Scientist

About the role

GHD seeks to empower its people to make a positive impact through complex environmental challenges. This role combines technical expertise with client focus, operational discipline, and team development.

Responsibilities

• Provide direct line-management leadership for assigned team members, promoting GHD's core values and fostering a supportive environment.
• Aid in the implementation of the business plan, including workload planning, resourcing, systems, processes, risk management, and ensuring timely delivery of services meeting scope, quality, budget, safety, and client expectations.
• Support client satisfaction, client care activities, go/no-go evaluations, technical review groups, proposal development, and business development efforts to strengthen the US Central CAR South portfolio.
• Maintain operational discipline by monitoring team productivity, daily timekeeping, quarterly check-ins, quality performance, HSE expectations, and other high-performance habits.
• Lead or support contaminated site assessment, remediation, closure, regulatory compliance, and environmental consulting projects while maintaining strong technical standards and defensible documentation.
• Mentor and coach staff, develop their capability, provide performance feedback, support career growth, and identify future leadership potential.
• Leverage the broader network of Team Leaders, Line Managers, technical specialists, and project teams to deliver integrated solutions and strengthen consistency across the business.
• Carry formal people-leadership accountability while recognizing the Team Leader designation is a leadership assignment held alongside the individual’s substantive role.
• Maintain a safe working environment and support compliance with GHD’s HSE and Quality systems, including completing and reviewing appropriate project safety and quality requirements.
• Apply working knowledge of federal and state environmental requirements, including U.S. EPA programs and relevant state regulatory frameworks applicable to Central Region CAR projects.
• Prepare or oversee technical correspondence, proposals, work plans, reports, project specifications, and regulatory submittals.
• Travel periodically for client meetings, project needs, team engagement, and business development activities, including occasional overnight travel.

Requirements

Bachelor’s and/or advanced degree in Environmental Engineering, Geology, Environmental Science, Applied Science, or a related discipline. Professional registration or designation such as PE, PG, Colorado REP, or comparable credential is preferred. OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPER certification is preferred. 10+ years of environmental consulting experience, with demonstrated capability in contaminated site assessment, remediation, regulatory compliance, closure strategy, technical reporting, project delivery, and client management. Demonstrated people-leadership experience, including supervising, coaching, mentoring, or formally managing staff and resources to deliver defined outcomes. Strong understanding of Central Region environmental regulatory programs, with experience in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, or other relevant state and federal frameworks. Ability to coordinate multiple priorities in a consulting environment while maintaining attention to quality, safety, financial performance, and client commitments. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to work independently, collaborate across disciplines, and represent GHD professionally with clients, regulators, and internal stakeholders.