What does an environmental program manager do?
An environmental program manager monitors the procedures facilities and organizations perform and advises them on how to minimize their impact on the environment. They are responsible for implementing environmental strategies to decrease damage to the environment. They also check on reports and evaluate them for issues and concerns that might need immediate attention. They monitor every facility's compliance and supervise revocation of permits of facilities that cannot follow environmental safety standards.
Environmental program manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real environmental program manager resumes:
- Lead strategy for voluntary RCRA corrective action.
- Manage environmental restoration waste site characterization activities in support of CERCLA cleanup.
- Provide OSHA, DEP, and EPA compliance for material disposal information and procedures.
- Coordinate intergovernmental aspects of projects, including obtaining EPA primacy approval for a major restructuring of state environmental regulations.
- Produce laboratory MSDS database for OSHA compliance.
- Review, issue and write NPDES and UIC permits.
- Maintain all manifests as well as other federally require RCRA relate documents.
- Respond to internal/external EHS complaints and implement corrective actions.
- Conduct accident/incident investigations, risk/ hazard assessments and EHS audits.
- Provide innovative solutions to the mining NPDES program operating procedures.
- Supervise facility and material flow diagram design/drafting via AutoCAD, and final permit renewal application documents preparation for TCEQ evaluation/approval.
- Work experience also includes evaluating the efficiency of the currently install LFG extraction system and designing any recommend modifications and expansions.
Environmental program manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Environmental Program Managers are proficient in Environmental Health, Environmental Compliance, and EHS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Imagination, Reading skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Environmental Program Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Environmental Health, 9%
Controlled environmental health, watercourse, office, and field travel hazards.
- Environmental Compliance, 7%
Authored environmental compliance policy recommendations for GAARNG regarding compliance violations, which had a strong trend analysis.
- EHS, 7%
Conducted accident/incident investigations, risk/ hazard assessments and EHS audits.
- Project Management, 6%
Maintained excellent project management track record for safety, technical competence, regulatory compliance and cost-effective project performance.
- EPA, 5%
Managed the EPA funded Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program by conducting a series of meetings and workshops across the country.
- Regulatory Agencies, 5%
Work directly with regulatory agencies when required to investigate and correct findings.
"environmental health," "environmental compliance," and "ehs" are among the most common skills that environmental program managers use at work. You can find even more environmental program manager responsibilities below, including:
Imagination. The most essential soft skill for an environmental program manager to carry out their responsibilities is imagination. This skill is important for the role because "environmental engineers sometimes have to design systems that will be part of larger ones." Additionally, an environmental program manager resume shows how their duties depend on imagination: "prepare air emission inventories, tri and ghg reports. "
Reading skills. Many environmental program manager duties rely on reading skills. "environmental engineers often work with businesspeople, lawyers, and other professionals outside their field," so an environmental program manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways environmental program manager responsibilities rely on reading skills: "provided project oversight for the us post office wastewater treatment plant in north reading, massachusetts. "
Writing skills. This is an important skill for environmental program managers to perform their duties. For an example of how environmental program manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "environmental engineers must write clearly so that others without their specific training can understand their documents, including plans, proposals, specifications, and findings, among others." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an environmental program manager: "created a staff training manual, npdes permit writing flowcharts, and narratives for draft permits. ".
Problem-solving skills. environmental program manager responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "when designing facilities and processes, environmental engineers strive to solve several issues at once, from workers’ safety to environmental protection." This resume example shows what environmental program managers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "interfaced with various production and operational groups within shipyard in order to engineer effective solutions to pollution prevention issues. "
The three companies that hire the most environmental program managers are:
- AECOM16 environmental program managers jobs
- Wsp USA Buildings Inc.10 environmental program managers jobs
- Legacy Health3 environmental program managers jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable environmental program manager resume templates
Build a professional environmental program manager resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your environmental program manager resume.
Compare different environmental program managers
Environmental program manager vs. Waste management specialist
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.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, environmental program manager responsibilities require skills like "environmental health," "ehs," "project management," and "regulatory agencies." Meanwhile a typical waste management specialist has skills in areas such as "hazardous waste management," "waste disposal," "waste streams," and "radioactive waste." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Waste management specialists tend to make the most money working in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $79,835. In contrast, environmental program managers make the biggest average salary, $75,286, in the manufacturing industry.waste management specialists tend to reach lower levels of education than environmental program managers. In fact, waste management specialists are 15.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Environmental program manager vs. Solid waste 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real environmental program manager resumes. While environmental program manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "environmental health," "ehs," "project management," and "epa," solid waste engineers use skills like "landfill," "waste disposal," "engineering design," and "waste characterization."
Solid waste engineers earn lower levels of education than environmental program managers in general. They're 16.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for environmental program managers in the next 3-5 years?
Andrea Welker Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University
Environmental program manager vs. Waste management engineer
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, environmental program managers are more likely to have skills like "environmental health," "environmental compliance," "ehs," and "project management." But a waste management engineer is more likely to have skills like "waste water," "safety regulations," "manage waste disposal," and "safety procedures."
Most waste management engineers achieve a lower degree level compared to environmental program managers. For example, they're 16.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Environmental program manager vs. Engineering coordinator
Types of environmental program manager
Updated January 8, 2025
