Department Manager | Environmental Due… at BUNNELL… · Marietta

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina

Reports To: Charlotte Branch Manager

Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Overview of Bunnell-Lammons Engineering, Inc.

At Bunnell-Lammons Engineering (BLE), we are committed to delivering exceptional value to our clients through technical excellence, ethical leadership, and outstanding client service. As an employee-owned engineering consulting firm, we believe our greatest strength is our people, and we are committed to creating an environment where employees are empowered to lead, innovate, grow professionally, and make a lasting impact on our clients, our communities, and our firm.

Our values are Clients, Respect, Excellence, Safety, and Trust, which together form the foundation we call C.R.E.S.T. These principles guide how we work together and serve our clients every day. As BLE continues to expand its geographic footprint and technical capabilities, we are seeking leaders who share our commitment to building strong teams, cultivating lasting client relationships, and shaping the future of our firm.

Position Overview

The Department Manager is responsible for building and leading BLE’s Environmental Due Diligence and Remediation Services Department in the Charlotte metropolitan area. This senior leader will oversee technical and operational performance, staff development, project delivery, financial results, and client service while partnering with the Charlotte Branch Manager and business development team to grow the practice. The role offers an experienced environmental professional the opportunity to shape a new department, grow within an employee-owned firm, and potentially pursue future ownership and broader leadership opportunities.

Success in this role requires balancing technical excellence, project delivery, team leadership, financial performance, and client service while collaborating with others to support the growth of BLE’s Charlotte operations.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering, Geology, Environmental Science, or a related technical discipline required; advanced degree or specialized environmental training preferred.

• Must meet the definition of an Environmental Professional set forth in 40 CFR 312.10.

• Professional registration as a PE or PG in North Carolina is strongly preferred. Candidates holding other relevant environmental certifications, including RSM, REM, or CHMM, are encouraged to apply.

• Typically 8+ years of progressive experience in environmental consulting, including project management and increasing responsibility for technical delivery and staff leadership.

• Demonstrated experience managing and reviewing environmental due diligence, site investigation, remediation, and regulatory-closure projects, including Phase I Environmental Site Assessments and Phase II investigations.

• Experience planning soil and groundwater investigations, interpreting environmental data, developing conceptual site models and technical work plans, evaluating remedial alternatives, and coordinating practical cleanup and closure strategies. Working knowledge of applicable ASTM standards, All Appropriate Inquiries requirements, and relevant federal and state environmental programs is required.

• Familiarity with common environmental contaminants, remediation technologies, and programs such as Brownfields, voluntary cleanup, UST/LUST, RCRA, or CERCLA is preferred.

• Existing relationships within the Charlotte metropolitan area or surrounding markets are beneficial but not required.

• Participation in BLE’s Senior Professional Program will be required to qualify as a final reviewer, execute contracts, and manage technical risk on behalf of the firm.

• Experience managing project budgets, schedules, staffing, profitability, and contracts; exposure to departmental budgeting, utilization, forecasting, and resource planning is preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to develop trusted client relationships, provide responsive service, and contribute technical expertise to proposals, interviews, and project pursuits.

• Excellent leadership, communication, organizational, and decision-making skills.

Primary Responsibilities

Operational & Technical Leadership

• Maintain corporate and professional standards, ethics, and regulatory compliance throughout the department.

• Establish departmental priorities, workflows, and best practices that promote technical quality, consistency, accountability, efficiency, and profitability.

• Oversee environmental due diligence, site investigation, remediation, and regulatory-closure projects from scoping through field investigation, technical evaluation, reporting, implementation, and closure, ensuring appropriate staffing, technical approach, schedule, budget, and client communication.

• Plan and coordinate project activities, including regulatory and historical research, site reconnaissance, drilling and sampling, laboratory analyses, field personnel, subcontractors, remediation contractors, equipment, and schedules.

• Guide environmental data interpretation, conceptual site-model development, identification of data gaps, evaluation of remedial alternatives, regulatory coordination, and development of practical, cost-effective cleanup and closure strategies.

• Lead QA/QC, review proposals, work plans, reports, regulatory submittals, and other technical deliverables, serve as final reviewer where authorized, and provide technical guidance in resolving complex environmental challenges.

Staffing & Talent Management

• Assess staffing needs and lead recruiting and candidate selection in collaboration with Human Resources and BLE leadership.

• Develop, mentor, and retain a high-performing team through clear expectations, coaching, performance management, professional development, and succession planning.

Financial Management

• Manage department financial performance, budgets, forecasts, staffing plans, and progress toward revenue, profitability, utilization, backlog, and other agreed targets.

• Oversee project and contract financial performance, identify risks and opportunities, and implement corrective actions when needed.

Client Relations & Business Development Support

• Develop trusted client relationships through responsive communication, reliable delivery, technical credibility, and proactive problem solving.

• Partner with the Charlotte Branch Manager, business development personnel, and BLE leadership to identify target clients and opportunities and support growth strategies.

• Lead the technical aspects of major pursuits, proposals, interviews, scopes, fees, risk evaluation, and project-team selection.

• Expand existing client relationships, introduce complementary BLE services, and represent BLE selectively at client and industry events.

Strategic Planning & Goal Setting

• Develop the department’s long-term strategy, annual business plan, and performance objectives with the Charlotte Branch Manager and BLE leadership; track progress and adjust as needed.

• Evaluate market trends and client needs to identify opportunities for innovation, service expansion, and long-term growth.

What Success Looks Like

First 90 Days | Establish

• Learn BLE’s standards, systems, technical resources, and Charlotte strategy while establishing strong working relationships across the firm.

• Assess immediate staffing, technical, field-investigation, regulatory-coordination, and project-delivery needs; develop a practical implementation plan and begin assuming departmental responsibility.

First 6 Months | Build

• Establish the team, workflows, technical standards, QA/QC processes, and operational capacity needed to deliver environmental due diligence, investigation, remediation, and regulatory-closure projects efficiently.

• Demonstrate reliable project delivery and support pursuits and awarded-work handoffs with practical scopes, fees, resource plans, and risk evaluation.

• Recruit, onboard, and develop key personnel while establishing clear roles, performance expectations, and professional-development priorities.

First 12 Months | Deliver

• Operate a dependable environmental department that delivers accurate due diligence assessments, well-planned investigations, practical remediation and regulatory-closure strategies, timely reports and submittals, responsive client service, and effective project management.

• Demonstrate measurable progress toward agreed revenue, backlog, utilization, profitability, staffing, and operational objectives while developing repeat client relationships.

• Build a collaborative, accountable team with appropriate technical qualifications, training, and capacity to support continued growth.

Long-Term | Grow

• Build a scalable, profitable, and highly regarded Charlotte environmental practice aligned with BLE’s strategic objectives.

• Develop future project managers and technical leaders while contributing to broader BLE growth through collaboration, technical leadership, and long-term stewardship.

• Establish BLE as a trusted environmental services provider within the Charlotte market.

Work Environment

This position primarily operates in a professional office environment and requires regular in-person work. Occasional travel to client sites, project locations, company offices, industry events, and business development activities is also expected.

Why Join Us?

Join BLE to build and lead an environmental practice in one of the Southeast’s fastest-growing regions, combining the autonomy to shape a local operation with the technical resources and support of an established, multidisciplinary, employee-owned firm. This role offers meaningful opportunities for professional growth, leadership, and potential ownership.

Benefits

• Medical, vision, dental, life, and short- and long-term disability insurance

• 401(K) with partial company matching.

• Paid vacation, sick leave, and eight holidays

• Vehicle allowance (conditions apply)