Senior Environmental Scientist

Chicago Downtown, IL

Lisle, IL

Full time

R2060

Hanson Values

Integrity | Commitment | Quality | Relationships | Innovation

If you’re looking for a firm that encourages innovative thinking and challenges you every day, with an opportunity to learn and advance, a career at Hanson is right for you. The belief in sustainability within our company’s practices creates a focus on client success and partnerships that are important to our communities and our environment.

At Hanson, we believe thoughtful environmental stewardship is essential to building stronger communities. As our Regional Environmental Assessment Lead, you'll play a key role in advancing critical infrastructure and development projects while ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and protecting natural resources. From leading NEPA documentation and permitting efforts to guiding field investigations and stakeholder engagement, you'll make a meaningful impact on projects that improve how people live, work, and connect.

A Day in Life of a Regional Environmental Assessment Lead at Hanson

Here’s a snapshot of what you would do in this role:

• Contribute to impactful infrastructure, transportation, power, water, and land development projects.

• Lead and manage complex environmental projects from planning through delivery.

• Conduct and oversee environmental modeling, field surveys, data analysis, and technical studies.

• Prepare, review, and certify technical reports, categorical exclusions (CEs), environmental assessments (EAs), and environmental permit applications.

• Develop scopes, schedules, budgets, and ensure project delivery meets quality and regulatory expectations.

• Interpret and apply federal, state, and local environmental regulations, including:

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

• Clean Water Act

• Endangered Species Act

• National Historic Preservation Act

• RCRA and related state-level environmental laws

• Coordinate with regulatory agencies, including USACE, USFWS, EPA, state agencies and local municipalities.

• Lead wetland delineations, threatened and endangered species assessments, habitat evaluations, Phase I ESAs, and other field investigations.

• Serve as a technical advisor and trusted consultant to clients across multiple markets.

• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams including engineers, planners, surveyors, and GIS specialists.

• Support environmental staff, internal training and technical development.

• Assist in proposal development, including technical writing, project approach, and cost estimating.

• Participate in client meetings, presentations, and industry events representing Hanson’s environmental capabilities.

• Help grow Hanson’s environmental practice in the Greater Chicago Area

What We’re Looking For

We feel the following qualifications would set you up for success in this role:

Skills:

• Strong knowledge of NEPA, CWA Section 404/401 permitting, ESA compliance, and other major environmental laws.

• Demonstrated experience with fieldwork and technical reporting.

• Excellent communication, technical writing, and client interaction skills.

• Ability to work in multidisciplinary project teams.

• Ability to travel for project-related work (primarily regional).

• Professional certifications such as PWS, CEP, CPESC, CHMM, or similar preferred.

• Experience in transportation, utility, energy, federal, or municipal project environments.

• Familiarity with GIS applications, ecological modeling, or advanced environmental analysis tools preferred.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, biology, ecology, natural resources, environmental engineering, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.

• 5+ years of relevant environmental consulting or regulatory agency experience.

• Experience with Illinois Tollway, IDOT, INDOT, and rail projects preferred.

This is an exempt position. The salary range for this position is $110,000 - $130,000 per year, based on experience and skill set, and includes eligibility for an annual discretionary bonus.

Benefits

Our focus on people means we offer a generous benefits program to help you create a solid foundation for health and security throughout your career, including:

Competitive compensation

Performance bonuses

401(k) with matching contribution

Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Comprehensive health & well-being plans

Financial wellness plans

Work-life balance programs

Want to know more? Visit our benefits page ( for all the details.

Culture

We understand that selecting a job is about more than the day-to-day tasks. It’s important to feel like you belong and safe to grow and progress along your career path. You’ll find that at Hanson. We have an inclusive, diverse workforce awaiting to connect with you and numerous opportunities to cultivate your career, including:

Monthly educational webinars

Leadership training

Lunch & learn development sessions

24/7 access to thousands of skill-building courses

Mentorship opportunities

Award-winning internship program

Employee recognition

And so much more!

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EEO — EMPLOYER

We do not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or agencies/staffing firms. Resumes are only accepted from recruiters and agency/staffing firms if a signed agreement is in place at the inception of the recruiting effort and authorized for a specified position.

Because our people set us apart.

Hanson is a dynamic, employee-owned consulting firm providing a full range of engineering, scientific and allied services throughout the U.S. With an innovative spirit and a drive to continuously improve, our people go the extra mile to give our clients top-quality results.

Those efforts have helped us maintain our status as one of the top firms in the engineering industry. We’re large enough to take on exciting, challenging projects and small enough to know and inspire each other along the way.