Principal Permitting Consultant

AECOM has exciting opportunities for experienced Environmental Permitting Consultants to join our Environment, Water and Energy business offering excellent career progression within an established, friendly and professional team. You will play a key role in supporting the growth and continued success of the Environmental Permitting business in the UK and Ireland.

Although based within a specialist team within the Environment, Health and Safety Services division, you will join your colleagues working collaboratively across the wider AECOM business to support our clients from established and emerging industrial sectors such as energy, carbon capture, combustion, waste, water and other industrial sectors. You would be working to deliver permitting, compliance and advisory services and would join our team at an exciting time working at the forefront of delivering the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy.

The role would suit an established consultant with an appropriate level of permitting and compliance experience. Typically the successful candidate would help provide the following types of work:

• Delivery of Environmental Permit applications, variations, transfers and surrenders including managing the regulator engagement and determination processes.
• Managing the delivery of supporting environmental assessments working collaboratively within your own team and across the wider Environment and EHS teams.
• Advising clients on the implications for their business of legislation, regulatory guidance and Best Available Techniques (BAT) standards. Including review and advice on current levels of operational compliance.
• Supporting clients with the development and implementation of mitigation measures, management plans and management systems to support their environmental permit applications and help deliver permit compliance.
• Supporting clients with their regulator engagement and supporting them in discharging permit obligations such as reporting and addressing pre-operational or improvement conditions.
• Business development with new and existing clients to help the AECOM team grow its permitting offering.
• Undertaking quality assurance and technical assurance checks on work prepared by others.
• Mentoring and developing the next generation of permitting and compliance professionals.

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• A base first degree in an engineering, science or related discipline.
• Strong experience in a consultancy role.
• A strong track record in successfully delivering Environmental Permit services for a range of sectors and clients.
• An extensive working knowledge of relevant UK National and European environmental legislation, guidance and standards such Best Available Techniques.
• A strong understanding of the interaction of environmental regulations with planning, development and operational processes and the commercial implications for businesses.
• Excellent report writing, technical reviewing and communication skills.
• Proficient in the use of IT packages such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outllook.
• Well organised and capable of prioritising and delivering workload with minimal supervisions.
• You’ll be an excellent team player with a proactive and positive attitude and be confident in liaising with colleagues, clients and regulators.

Preferred Qualifications

The following attributes are highly desirable and would be a distinct advantage:

• Higher education in an environmental or process engineering discipline e.g. MSc or similar.
• Project management skills and budget/ financial management.
• Commercial awareness and demonstratable experience in work winning, bid preparation and business development.
• Ability and confidence to build and maintain working relationships with clients, external bodies and internal teams.
• Ideally, a strong track record in successfully delivering Environmental Permit compliance and the associated documentation for process industry or power generation sites.
• Experience in reviewing BAT assessments, BAT Reference (BREF) notes, and experience of preparation of derogations from BAT.
• Working knowledge of environmental and safety management systems and associated compliance auditing.
• Prior experience of working in, or with, industrial sectors.

We welcome applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. The important thing for us is that you can demonstrate that you can effectively fulfil the needs of the role. If you feel you can fulfil the requirements of the role, but there are other factors that are making you hesitant in applying, we would still like to hear from you and see if we can work together to overcome any challenges.