Senior Environmental Engineer - Regional Permitting and Compliance

About Mariana Minerals

Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company on a mission to supply the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. We're reimagining the minerals supply chain by combining deep industry expertise with advanced software, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
The role

Mariana Minerals is hiring a Regional Permitting and Compliance Environmental Engineer to own permitting execution and compliance implementation across our U.S. mining, processing, and refining project sites. Reporting to the Global Environmental Permitting Lead, you will manage the full permitting and compliance lifecycle for assigned projects - from early project definition (FEL 1-3) through detailed design, construction, commissioning, and ongoing operations - serving as a primary point of contact with federal, state, and local agencies.

In the near term, this is a global, portfolio-wide function: you will carry permitting and compliance responsibility across Mariana's full U.S. project portfolio rather than a single fixed territory. As the portfolio expands, the role is expected to transition into ownership of a defined region, with additional hires added to cover other regions over time - so this position is a foundational build for what will become the regional structure. This role requires deep, hands-on familiarity with the U.S. multijurisdictional environmental regulatory framework - local, state, and federal - and the credibility to manage agency relationships independently across multiple concurrent projects and jurisdictions today. You will also lead environmental due diligence, contribute to sustainability initiatives, and serve as a key point of contact for internal stakeholders (process engineering, operations, legal, and executive leadership) and external stakeholders (regulatory agencies and consultants).

What You'll Do

Permitting Leadership (Global Today, Regional as the Portfolio Scales)

• Own and execute permitting roadmaps across federal, state, and local agencies for all project sites in Mariana's current U.S. portfolio, with scope expected to narrow to a defined region as the portfolio and team grow.

• Manage NEPA EA/EIS workstreams in coordination with BLM and third-party consultants - from scoping and public comment through Record of Decision (ROD) - ensuring mitigation, monitoring, and reporting commitments flow into design and construction plans.

• Integrate permitting requirements into FEL 1-3 and detailed design, working directly with engineering teams to keep environmental commitments on schedule and budget.

• Serve as primary point of contact with federal agencies (BLM, USACE, EPA, USFWS) and state/local agencies (e.g., RRC, DNR/MPCA, DEQ, UDEQ/DOGM, CalEPA, and county/municipal authorities) across assigned projects.

Compliance Implementation

• Implement and audit Environmental Management Systems (EMS) at project sites across the portfolio, ensuring permit and ROD conditions are embedded in daily operations and management of change (MOC).

• Manage ongoing compliance obligations for air, water, stormwater, waste, and EPCRA across assigned sites, tracking deadlines across overlapping federal, state, and local requirements.

• Direct environmental monitoring programs and ensure timely submission of quarterly and annual compliance reports to agencies.

• Oversee remediation plans and corrective actions for environmental impacts across the portfolio.

Due Diligence & Sustainability Support

• Lead environmental due diligence for acquisitions, divestitures, and new project development across the portfolio, assessing permitting/compliance status, risk, and regulatory exposure.

• Contribute permitting and compliance data to corporate sustainability and ESG reporting.

• Identify and implement continuous-improvement opportunities in permitting and compliance performance, and help define regional structures, staffing, and handoff plans as the portfolio scales.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a primary interface between project and site teams and internal stakeholders - process engineering, operations, legal, and executive leadership.

• Engage external stakeholders, including regulatory agencies and consultants, to maintain productive relationships and keep permitting and compliance on track.

• Prepare concise updates for the Global Environmental Permitting Lead and senior leadership on portfolio-wide permitting and compliance status.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Environmental Engineering, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Geology, or a related field.

• 7+ years of U.S. environmental permitting and compliance experience in mining, energy, or large infrastructure, with demonstrated ownership of agency relationships across multiple concurrent projects.

• Demonstrated familiarity with the multijurisdictional U.S. environmental regulatory framework - local, state, and federal - and the ability to navigate overlapping requirements across agencies.

• Direct experience managing NEPA EA/EIS processes, including coordination with BLM and multi-disciplinary consultant teams, through Record of Decision.

• Working knowledge of CAA, CWA, RCRA, ESA, EPCRA, and state/local permitting and compliance programs.

• Experience integrating permitting requirements into FEL 1-3 and detailed design, and implementing or auditing Environmental Management Systems (EMS).

• Strong technical writing, agency negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.

• Comfort operating in a broad, portfolio-wide role today, with the flexibility and interest to shift into ownership of a defined region as Mariana's project portfolio grows.

Preferred

• Experience with critical minerals (lithium, nickel, graphite, etc.) or refining/processing facilities.

• Experience leading environmental due diligence for M&A or project development.

• Familiarity with IFC/Equator Principles or corporate sustainability/ESG reporting frameworks.

• Professional certifications such as PE, PG, or CEP.

• Prior experience helping stand up or scale a permitting/compliance function as an organization grew.

Our culture is built on four principles:

Everyone Gets Home Safe. We never put speed or cost ahead of people.

Extreme Ownership. We take full responsibility for outcomes, relentlessly driving toward solutions.

Engineer Out Requirements, then Automate. We simplify, optimize, and then automate for scale.

Share Your Legos. We collaborate openly, share knowledge, and empower each other to build bigger, better solutions.

Join us as we build the future of responsible mineral sourcing and supply!