Lead Environmental Specialist - Waste & Water

Chevron•Pasadena, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Environmental Specialist – Waste & Water provides technical leadership and day-to-day environmental compliance support for Chevron Pasadena Refinery, with primary responsibility for the facility’s waste and water environmental programs. The role serves as an environmental advisor to Operations, Maintenance, Engineering/Projects, Turnarounds, and other business partners. It interprets environmental requirements, provides field-based compliance support, coordinates regulatory deliverables, identifies and mitigates environmental risk, and drives continuous improvement in waste and water management practices. The position combines technical environmental knowledge, regulatory competency, field engagement, leadership, and practical refinery operating experience. The specialist leads waste-management and RCRA compliance activities; supports water and wastewater compliance, permitting, sampling, and monitoring; provides environmental field support for spills and operating events; and represents Waste/Water during turnarounds, maintenance, construction, and capital projects. The role also oversees contractors and service providers, coordinates reporting and regulatory interactions, maintains compliance records, mentors personnel, and supports improvements to procedures, work processes, and compliance tools.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent relevant environmental experience.
Demonstrated experience supporting environmental compliance in a refinery, petrochemical, chemical, manufacturing, or similar industrial environment.
Knowledge of industrial waste management and RCRA requirements.
Working knowledge of water/wastewater environmental compliance and permitting.
Ability to interpret regulatory and permit requirements and translate them into practical field expectations.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to work effectively across Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Projects, HSE, and contractor organizations.
Ability to independently prioritize multiple environmental compliance activities and deliverables.
Ability to lead by example in environmental compliance, safety, and field execution; take ownership of programs; identify and communicate risk; build collaborative relationships; drive issues to resolution; and support development of less-experienced personnel.

Nice To Haves

Significant environmental experience in refining, petrochemical, or heavy industrial operations.
Experience leading or coordinating waste and wastewater compliance programs.
Experience with RCRA hazardous waste management, waste characterization, manifests/e-Manifest, and industrial waste reporting.
Experience supporting environmental regulatory inspections and audits.
Experience supporting turnarounds, outages, capital projects, and environmental incident response.
Knowledge of Texas environmental regulatory requirements and experience working with applicable environmental agencies.
Experience providing technical direction or oversight to environmental contractors and field personnel.

Responsibilities

Lead day-to-day implementation and oversight of refinery hazardous, industrial, non-hazardous, and recyclable waste-management programs.
Provide technical guidance on RCRA and applicable Texas waste-management requirements.
Manage waste characterization and profiling, container management, labeling, accumulation, transportation, manifesting, recycling, and disposal.
Conduct or oversee waste-area and container inspections and support satellite and other accumulation areas.
Coordinate off-site waste shipments with transporters and treatment, storage, and disposal facilities; maintain and renew waste profiles and ensure documentation is accurate and complete.
Support Chevron’s Third-Party Waste Stewardship process, including evaluation and documentation of waste-management facilities.
Maintain waste shipment, manifest, bill of lading, inventory, and supporting compliance records; coordinate regulatory waste reporting and data-quality reviews.
Serve as the lead environmental resource for refinery water and wastewater compliance, supporting wastewater collection, treatment, discharge, stormwater, and related activities.
Coordinate environmental sampling, monitoring, inspections, recordkeeping, and compliance evaluations for refinery water programs.
Review operational changes, maintenance, projects, and abnormal operating conditions for potential water or wastewater compliance implications.
Support investigation, documentation, and follow-up of wastewater excursions, spills, releases, and other environmental events; coordinate with laboratories, Operations, technical resources, and contractors on environmental data and documentation.
Support permitting and regulatory activities for refinery water and wastewater programs.
Provide environmental guidance for spills, releases, cleanup, waste disposition, and remediation; support environmental sampling, investigations, corrective actions, incident response, recovery, and lessons learned.
Represent Waste/Water during turnarounds, outages, maintenance, construction, and capital projects; participate in planning and environmental reviews to identify compliance requirements and risks.
Coordinate environmental support and contractor resources during high-activity periods and provide field presence and timely guidance to Operations and project teams.
Provide technical direction and oversight for environmental contractors and service providers, including waste transportation, disposal, recycling, laboratory, sampling, and vacuum-truck services.
Promote safe, compliant, and cost-effective contractor work; review invoices, service requirements, work scopes, and service needs; identify performance, efficiency, and cost-management opportunities.
Maintain awareness of applicable federal, state, and local requirements; coordinate preparation, review, and timely completion of regulatory reports and environmental deliverables.
Maintain compliance records for internal reviews and regulatory inspections; support agency inspections, information requests, audits, and follow-up activities.
Monitor compliance obligations, communicate potential issues and emerging risks, and support corrective actions for identified compliance gaps.
Provide technical guidance and mentoring to environmental personnel, contractors, and refinery stakeholders; promote consistent application of environmental requirements.
Build working relationships across Operations, Maintenance, Projects, Turnaround, HSE, contractors, and other stakeholders; identify compliance vulnerabilities and develop sustainable solutions.
Lead or support continuous-improvement initiatives and support environmental training and development of procedures, work processes, guidance documents, and compliance tools.
Lead by example in environmental compliance, safety, and field execution; take ownership of Waste & Water programs and obligations; communicate risks clearly; drive issues and corrective actions to resolution; and support knowledge transfer to less-experienced environmental personnel.