What does an environmental consultant do?
An Environmental Consultant provides assessment and advisory services for their clients on matters regarding the management of environmental issues. They are generally hired by consultancy firms, which are hired by the public sector or commercial organizations.
Environmental consultant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real environmental consultant resumes:
- Develop and implement SPCC regulations, and manage and coordinate routine policy audits for oil and gas industry operators.
- Manage a project for the U.S.EPA Superfund program that evaluate flexible methods to distribute Superfund monies to state and tribal governments.
- Manage environmental restoration waste site characterization activities in support of CERCLA cleanup.
- Audit EHS programs for deficiencies, prepare reports with recommend corrective actions.
- Prepare SPCC plans and other documentation associate with storage of large volumes of fuel oil.
- Collect GPS points in the field to produce GIS maps of trees inventory and upload marks to database.
- Serve as technical lead of the CERCLA records center, which is a document warehouse for all EPA Superfund sites.
- Administer OSHA regulations and all compliance issues to all field staff regarding residential and commercial properties along with chemical product use.
- Complete weekly rig operational inspections to confirm OSHA inspections compliance.
- Develop and implement require EHS programs to meet regulatory and company requirements.
- Develop and maintain GIS for environmental management.- coordinate development of comprehensive (enterprise) GIS
- Perform environmental site assessments to detect and test air/water quality, asbestos contamination/threat in commercial, health and educational facilities.
- Conduct yearly NPDES and BMP training for clients.
- Conduct geotechnical studies to evaluate subsurface conditions, with regards to site feasibility for intend structural improvements.
- Provide geotechnical analyses, recommendations and design parameters, as well as supervising site exploration and testing.
Environmental consultant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Environmental Consultants are proficient in Environmental Compliance, OSHA, and Technical Reports. They’re also known for soft skills such as Imagination, Reading skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Environmental Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Environmental Compliance, 9%
Design, coordinate, and conduct environmental and ecological assessments, specializing in wildlife-related projects and environmental compliance projects.
- OSHA, 6%
Completed weekly rig operational inspections to confirm OSHA inspections compliance.
- Technical Reports, 5%
Worked with clients to develop regulatory compliance strategies and wrote technical reports
- Project Management, 5%
Provide thorough project management, complete permit applications, document compliance and submit results/reports to the proper regulatory authority as required.
- EPA, 4%
Drafted Federal Register comments on EPA regulations for chemical industry associations.
- Due Diligence, 4%
Developed the technical requirements for the identification, due diligence and management protocols for chemical plants, facilities and contaminated sites.
"environmental compliance," "osha," and "technical reports" are among the most common skills that environmental consultants use at work. You can find even more environmental consultant responsibilities below, including:
Imagination. One of the key soft skills for an environmental consultant to have is imagination. You can see how this relates to what environmental consultants do because "environmental engineers sometimes have to design systems that will be part of larger ones." Additionally, an environmental consultant resume shows how environmental consultants use imagination: "collaborated with environmental health personnel to ensure hazardous materials inventories, emergency response and employee training plans were accurate and complete. "
Reading skills. Another essential skill to perform environmental consultant duties is reading skills. Environmental consultants responsibilities require that "environmental engineers often work with businesspeople, lawyers, and other professionals outside their field." Environmental consultants also use reading skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "led project to obtain permit for land spreading of waste water treatment plant sludge. "
Writing skills. environmental consultants are also known for writing skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to environmental consultant responsibilities, because "environmental engineers must write clearly so that others without their specific training can understand their documents, including plans, proposals, specifications, and findings, among others." An environmental consultant resume example shows how writing skills is used in the workplace: "assisted in writing grants to improve local water quality through pennsylvania's growing greener initiative. "
Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for environmental consultant responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of environmental consultants all the time, as "when designing facilities and processes, environmental engineers strive to solve several issues at once, from workers’ safety to environmental protection." An excerpt from a real environmental consultant resume shows how this skill is central to what an environmental consultant does: "performed water quality testing using ysi and in-situ data collection probes to detect changes in salinity, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. "
The three companies that hire the most environmental consultants are:
- ERM34 environmental consultants jobs
- Chubb14 environmental consultants jobs
- Wsp USA Buildings Inc.12 environmental consultants jobs
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Compare different environmental consultants
Environmental consultant vs. Solid waste engineer
A waste management specialist designs and manages waste reduction and reclamation projects. They work with government officials to ensure that waste management goes smoothly. They ensure the implementation of waste management and evaluate a waste management program's success. This position requires a university degree or a recognized training certificate.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between environmental consultants and solid waste engineer. For instance, environmental consultant responsibilities require skills such as "osha," "technical reports," "project management," and "epa." Whereas a solid waste engineer is skilled in "landfill," "waste disposal," "engineering design," and "r." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Solid waste engineers tend to reach lower levels of education than environmental consultants. In fact, solid waste engineers are 10.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Environmental consultant vs. Waste management engineer
An engineering coordinator organizes and oversees engineering projects. They typically perform administrative support tasks such as conducting extensive research and analysis, arranging schedules with clients, handling calls and correspondence, liaising with internal and external parties, reviewing contracts and other documentation, and managing the flow of documents and information across different teams. They may also participate in the planning, designing, and developing stages of projects. Moreover, as an engineering coordinator, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with different departments while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, environmental consultant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "environmental compliance," "osha," "technical reports," and "project management." Meanwhile, a waste management engineer has duties that require skills in areas such as "waste water," "safety regulations," "manage waste disposal," and "safety procedures." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, waste management engineers achieve lower levels of education than environmental consultants. They're 10.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for environmental consultants in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Mike Mooring Ph.D.
Professor, Point Loma Nazarene University
Environmental consultant vs. Waste management specialist
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an environmental consultant is likely to be skilled in "project management," "due diligence," "asbestos," and "business development," while a typical waste management specialist is skilled in "doe," "hazardous waste management," "waste disposal," and "waste streams."
Waste management specialists make a very good living in the energy industry with an average annual salary of $79,835. On the other hand, environmental consultants are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $80,465.When it comes to education, waste management specialists tend to earn lower degree levels compared to environmental consultants. In fact, they're 9.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Environmental consultant vs. Engineering coordinator
Types of environmental consultant
Updated January 8, 2025
