Position Purpose:
The Senior Director of Environmental Compliance is responsible for providing strategic leadership and oversight of Veolia Water New Jersey’s (VWNJ) environmental compliance programs, ensuring compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local environmental regulations, in alignment with corporate objectives and operational priorities, while advancing public health protection, environmental stewardship, operational excellence, and continuous improvement. This position provides executive oversight of all environmental compliance activities related to air, drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, waste management, hazardous materials, spill prevention and response, environmental permitting, emergency preparedness, and environmental auditing.
This position leads the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of the Company's environmental compliance management systems, environmental governance framework, and regulatory compliance programs across all VWNJ operations. The Senior Director provides oversight of all laboratory analysis required to demonstrate compliance, including outside laboratory services and the Haworth WTP laboratory.
The Senior Director serves as the organization's subject matter expert for environmental compliance, environmental permitting, drinking water quality, wastewater treatment compliance, environmental management systems, and environmental regulatory relations. The role partners closely with other functional areas including, operations, engineering, legal, finance, strategic relations, etc., to identify environmental risks, implement mitigation strategies, and ensure consistent compliance across all operations.
Primary Duties/Responsibilities:
- Lead, empower, and mentor a direct team of environmental professionals, driving cohesive collaboration and operational alignment across all functional disciplines within the position's scope (including Operations, Engineering, Legal, and Finance).
- Serve as a strategic leader with external regulatory agencies, effectively interpreting complex regulations and guidelines to advocate for approaches that balance strict regulatory compliance with exceptional customer service and operational/business realities.
- Provide environmental compliance leadership for VWNJ. Ensure alignment with corporate objectives and operational priorities.
- Provide strategic oversight of compliance programs related to all applicable federal, state, and local environmental regulations, including requirements administered by the EPA and applicable state environmental agencies.
- Monitor legislative and regulatory developments and communicate impacts to business leadership. Lead development of comments for submission during public comment period for draft regulatory requirements. Interpret emerging regulatory requirements and develop implementation strategies to ensure organizational readiness.
- Support development of policies related to water treatment operations, laboratory quality assurance, and regulatory reporting.
- Lead the design, implementation, and continual improvement of VWNJ’s environmental compliance management systems.
- Lead environmental due diligence activities supporting capital projects and new business initiatives.
- Evaluate environmental impacts associated with operational activities and infrastructure investments.
- Direct internal environmental assessments and support external regulatory inspections. Oversee development, implementation, and closure of corrective action plans.
- Lead VWNJ environmental auditing and compliance assurance programs.
- Monitor environmental performance trends and ensure timely resolution of compliance issues.
- Oversee environmental permitting activities across all operations.
- Ensure timely submission of required regulatory reports and environmental compliance documentation.
- Ensure maintenance of systems supporting environmental permits, compliance obligations, inspections, reporting, and regulatory commitments.
- Provide oversight of environmental emergency preparedness and response programs.
- Direct environmental incident investigations, including spill response and root cause analyses.
- Serve as liaison with environmental regulatory agencies.
- Build productive relationships with regulators, industry associations, and external stakeholders.
- Represent the organization during inspections, audits, enforcement actions, and compliance negotiations.
- Establish departmental goals, performance expectations, succession planning, and employee development initiatives.
- Allocate resources to support business priorities and regulatory obligations.
- Foster collaboration across Operations, Engineering, Legal,Finance, and Corporate leadership.
- Develop departmental strategic plans, budgets, and resource forecasts.
- Establish and monitor environmental performance objectives, key performance indicators (KPIs), and reporting metrics.
- Recommend process improvements that enhance compliance, operational reliability, sustainability, and financial performance.
- Support corporate sustainability and environmental stewardship initiatives.
Work Environment:
- Participation in environmental emergency response activities and on-call leadership, as required.
- Combination of office and field environments, including visits to treatment facilities, construction sites, laboratories, and industrial operations.
- Ability to conduct field inspections and work in varying environmental conditions while utilizing appropriate personal protective equipment.