Lead Environmental Scientist

About the role

GHD has an opportunity for a Team Leader within our US Central Contamination Assessment & Remediation (CAR) South Business Group based in Golden, CO, with flexibility for a hybrid office/remote work environment. These Team Leader assignments will be held in conjunction with the successful candidate's substantive technical, project, or client-facing role and will report directly to the Business Group Leader. This is a strong opportunity for experienced environmental consulting professionals who combine technical credibility, client focus, people leadership, operational discipline, and a commitment to developing high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• People leadership and team development: Provide direct line-management leadership for assigned team members, promote GHD's core values, model collaboration, and create an employee experience where staff feel heard, supported, and engaged in their professional development.
• Business group execution: Assist the Business Group Leader with implementation of the business plan, including workload planning, resourcing, systems, processes, risk management, and timely delivery of services that meet scope, quality, budget, safety, and client expectations.
• Client focus and growth: Support client satisfaction, client care activities, go/no-go evaluations, technical review groups, proposal development, and business development efforts that strengthen the US Central CAR South portfolio.
• Operational discipline: Monitor team productivity, daily timekeeping, quarterly check-ins, quality performance, HSE expectations, and other high-performance habits that support consistent delivery and accountability.
• Technical and project delivery: Lead or support contaminated site assessment, remediation, closure, regulatory compliance, and environmental consulting projects while maintaining strong technical standards and defensible documentation.
• Mentorship and coaching: Work with Line Managers and the Business Group Leader to develop staff capability, provide performance feedback, support career growth, and identify future leadership potential.
• Collaboration across One GHD: Leverage the broader network of Team Leaders, Line Managers, technical specialists, and project teams to deliver integrated solutions and strengthen consistency across the business.
• Governance and accountability: Carry formal people-leadership accountability where assigned, while recognizing that the Team Leader designation is a leadership assignment held alongside the individual's substantive role rather than a separate standalone role.
• Health, safety, and quality: Maintain a safe working environment and support compliance with GHD's HSE and Quality systems, including completion and review of appropriate project safety and quality requirements.
• Regulatory and technical expertise: 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.
• Project and proposal leadership: Prepare or oversee technical correspondence, proposals, work plans, reports, project specifications, and regulatory submittals.
• Travel: Travel periodically for client meetings, project needs, team engagement, and business development activities, including occasional overnight travel.

Qualifications

• 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.

Experience

• Typically, 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.
• Experience building trusted relationships, communicating expectations, providing feedback, and supporting employee development across technical and project teams.
• Strong understanding of Central Region environmental regulatory programs, with experience in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, or other relevant state and federal frameworks highly regarded.
• Experience preparing regulatory work plans and reports for investigation, remediation, closure, and related environmental compliance programs.
• 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.

Pay

$104,000.00 - $173,000.00, varies based on experience and location