About this role
Your Opportunity
Stantec’s Environmental Services practice seeks an experienced Environmental Project Manager or Deputy Manager / Environmental Scientist (Electric Transmission and Renewable Energy) to provide project management or support, environmental regulatory, and permitting services with a focus on electric transmission, solar, wind, and BESS clients and their projects, particularly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. This role is intended for an experienced senior professional who consistently applies practical and theoretical environmental knowledge and works independently under broad guidelines to resolve complex project, regulatory, and client challenges.
Your Key Responsibilities
The main focus of this position is to manage and support electric transmission and renewable energy projects through environmental assessments, permitting, agency coordination, compliance, and reporting with support and collaboration from a robust team of subject matter experts. The successful candidate will exercise independent judgment, initiative, and evaluation and interpretation of technical, regulatory, schedule, budget, and stakeholder factors to address unusual or complex issues. Technical expertise related to state regulatory filings, environmental science and permitting, data management, quality review, and multidisciplinary reporting is critical to the role to ensure high-quality deliverables and added value to Stantec’s clients.
Project Management/Deputy Project Management responsibilities include:
Development Project Management skills to support complex projects, schedules, staffing plans, scopes, budgets, and change management activities
Coordinating with clients, stakeholders, regulatory agencies, and multidisciplinary internal project teams to develop practical, science-based solutions
Supporting clients at public hearings, open houses, regulatory agency meetings, and other forums where technical information must be communicated clearly and confidently
Performing, overseeing, and providing quality review of technical work, including work prepared by other staff and subject matter experts
Serving as an advisor and mentor to project teams, and providing oversight or technical direction to staff as applicable
Developing project proposals, scopes of work, budgets, and delivery strategies for medium-to-complex environmental projects
Supporting marketing, client relationship development, and business development activities by identifying client needs and opportunities to add value
Environmental, regulatory, and permitting responsibilities include:
Identifying and evaluating project-specific environmental constraints, engineering design considerations, regulatory requirements, critical issues, permit strategies, and permit matrices
Coordinating with agency personnel for consultations, data reviews, pre-application meetings, permit strategy discussions, and issue resolution
Writing, reviewing, and integrating complex, multidisciplinary technical reports for external clients, regulatory filings, desktop assessments, field surveys, and public-facing documents
Preparing and reviewing environmental permit applications and supporting documentation for federal, state, and local approvals
Interpreting scientific, regulatory, and project information to make evidence-based recommendations
Facilitating successful environmental permitting and compliance for multiple and varied projects while maintaining quality, schedule, budget, and client service expectations
Additional responsibilities may include coordinating, conducting, and/or leading field work and implementing health, safety, security, and environmental practices during project execution
Your Capabilities and Credentials
Minimum of seven or more years of related environmental consulting, permitting, regulatory, or project management experience, or an equivalent combination of education and related experience
Demonstrated experience supporting complex electric transmission and renewable energy projects, including electric transmission, wind, solar, battery energy storage, biogas, or related infrastructure projects
Recognized for strong technical skills in one or more areas of environmental science, permitting, regulatory strategy, natural resource assessments, routing and siting, environmental compliance, or related disciplines
Working knowledge of environmental sciences, biology, wildlife science, wetlands, land use, environmental justice, cultural resources, and related technical areas, with the ability to integrate information across disciplines
Permitting experience with one or more utility regulatory bodies, such as the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Ohio Power Siting Board, North Dakota Public Service Commission, South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, Illinois Commerce Commission, Iowa Utilities Commission, or Michigan Public Service Commission
Federal environmental regulation and permitting experience in the Upper Midwest region with various U.S. Army Corps of Engineers districts, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field offices, and National Environmental Policy Act environmental review processes
State permitting experience with Departments of Natural Resources, Agriculture, State Historic Preservation Offices, Departments of Health, Pollution Control Agencies, or comparable agencies
Local permitting experience for Conditional Use/Special Use Permits, highway departments, zoning and planning boards, floodplain administrators, emergency management agencies, or similar local authorities
Experience implementing or advising on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wind Energy Guidelines tiered protocols for desktop reviews, environmental surveys, consultations, permitting, and compliance
Ability to work under minimal supervision with broad guidelines, exercise independent judgment, and resolve unusual or complex technical, regulatory, project delivery, or client service issues
Ability to coach, mentor, advise, and review the work of others to improve project quality, consistency, and team effectiveness
Demonstrated commitment to health, safety, security, environment, sustainability, ethics, inclusion, accountability, and high-quality client service
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including technical writing and the ability to present information in public or client-facing forums
Willingness and ability to travel up to 15% for agency meetings, open houses, public hearings, site visits, client events, and conferences
Education and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, natural resources, biology, planning, environmental studies, or a related field; master’s degree in environmental/natural resources law, environmental science, natural resources, planning, or a related field preferred
Minimum of seven years (ten years is preferred) of related work experience in environmental consulting, electric transmission or renewable energy permitting, regulatory compliance, natural resource assessments and studies, routing and siting, project management, or an equivalent combination of education and related experience
Progressively responsible experience managing medium to complex environmental projects, including coordinating multidisciplinary teams, reviewing technical work, managing scop