Materials Management Specialist

Waste Management, Inc. (WM)•United States,

1d•$62,200 - $89,000•Hybrid

About The Position

WM is seeking an environmentally-motivated individual to support our customers in their materials management goals. This role will support sustainable materials management projects by assisting project teams with material stream assessments, diversion strategy documentation, end-of-life pathway evaluation, operational training materials development, supplier and vendor coordination, and data analysis. This role is expected to build technical depth over time while supporting project teams in developing practical recommendations, diversion rate reporting, and materials management insights for customer operations and events.

Requirements

Must live and work in the U.S.
Bachelor's Degree (accredited) in Environmental Sciences, Engineering, Sustainability, Business or related field
High School Diploma or GED (accredited) and four years of relevant experience
2 years of relevant work experience in project/business management (in addition to education requirement)
Foundational understanding of sustainable materials management, waste hierarchy principles, circular economy concepts, and common end-of-life treatment pathways.
Ability to interpret materials management data and translate findings into practical recommendations, dashboards, diversion reports, or customer-facing summaries.
Comfort learning operational waste systems, vendor reporting formats, and site-specific diversion procedures.
Fluency in waste reduction and diversion methods including mechanical recycling, organics processing, and reuse.
Ability to communicate clearly with internal teams, suppliers, vendors, and customer stakeholders to request information, clarify assumptions, and document findings.
Interest in developing subject matter expertise in waste reduction, diversion strategy, supplier engagement, and materials-related environmental impact reduction.
Support supplier engagement activities, including data requests, follow-ups, and review of supplier-provided information related to materials, packaging, hauling, or disposal practices.
Advanced Excel skills, including complex formulas, lookups, pivot tables, data validation, structured tables, and quality-control techniques.
Strong data management skills, including data cleaning, reconciliation, transformation, documentation, file organization, and version control.
Ability to evaluate data quality, identify anomalies and gaps, document assumptions and limitations, and develop practical resolution strategies.
Ability to translate complex data and GHG inventory results into clear, actionable insights and decarbonization recommendations for customers.
Ability to design practical data collection strategies and communicate clearly with data owners, suppliers, customers, and project teams.
Strong analytical judgment, attention to detail, problem solving, and commitment to defensible methodologies and customer-ready quality.
Ability to prepare organized, traceable documentation and evidence to support customer audit, assurance, and third-party verification processes.
Ability to own defined workstreams, manage multiple priorities, anticipate needs, and communicate risks and progress with minimal supervision.
Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare concise technical documentation and present findings to varied audiences.
High proficiency with Microsoft Office and adaptability to new software, data platforms, and emissions-management systems.
Self-motivated and able to deliver results while working remotely, in an office, or at a customer site.
Knowledge of sustainability trends, specifically related to waste management, diversion, and sustainable materials
Computer and tech savvy – must be adaptable to new programs and systems
Familiarity with AI-enabled tools and willingness to incorporate them responsibly into workflows to improve efficiency, consistency, data organization, and materials management process documentation.
High proficiency with Microsoft Office suite
Comfortable with project travel up to two weeks at a time
Self-motivated and directed with a keen sense of urgency to deliver results while working remotely or at a customer site
Ability to multi-task and work on multiple projects simultaneously
Ability to work long days and over weekends when required by events
Adept at decision-making
Interest in the sports and entertainment industry
Desire to learn new skill sets
Strong data management skills
Detail-oriented
Creative problem solving
Ability to travel up to 35% to operating sites on a frequent and regular basis

Nice To Haves

3 years of relevant work experience
Experience with waste management, material minimization and diversion programs, or sustainable material management planning strongly preferred.
Experience analyzing data and compiling waste diversion reports
Experience working in sports venues and event operations or a comparable facility

Responsibilities

Support material stream assessments, including collection, sorting, contamination review, and interpretation of recycling, composting, landfill, reuse, and donation pathways.
Support sustainability evaluations and solutions with a focus on impact reduction strategies and materials management including waste reduction and diversion, procurement and life cycle assessments.
Assist with evaluating end-of-life treatment options and identifying opportunities to reduce environmental impacts through source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, and improved vendor practices.
Analyze waste, procurement, and operational data to calculate diversion rates, identify material stream trends, assess data quality, and develop customer-ready insight reports.
Support sustainability assessments and implementation programs. Support final reports, including environmental, social, and economic analysis.
Research and implement waste reduction and diversion strategies.
Support development and delivery of operational and departmental training materials related to waste sorting, diversion goals, back-of-house procedures, and event-day implementation.
Coordinate with haulers, suppliers, concessionaires, custodial teams, venue operators, and other stakeholders to collect materials management data and support implementation of diversion strategies.
Support supplier engagement activities, including data requests, follow-ups, and review of supplier-provided information related to materials, packaging, hauling, or disposal practices.
Calculate waste diversion results, informed by universal standards (i.e., UL and TRUE) and internal knowledge.
Stay abreast of trends, opportunities, and best practices related to sustainable materials management at, including but not limited to, large scale waste material generators.
Support project managers with on-site program implementation at stadiums and events.
Integrate social sustainability priorities into waste reduction and GHG emissions management strategies.
Own defined data collection, management, analysis, and reporting workstreams from planning through customer-ready delivery with minimal supervision.
Help customers translate measurement objectives into practical collection strategies, including source mapping, data-owner identification, request templates, collection schedules, evidence requirements, and escalation paths.
Coordinate with customer stakeholders, suppliers, internal WM teams, and other data owners to request information, clarify assumptions, resolve gaps, and document decisions.
Collect, clean, reconcile, transform, and organize large or complex datasets from multiple formats and systems while maintaining traceability to source records.
Develop and maintain repeatable data workflows, calculation models, file structures, data dictionaries, process documentation, QA/QC checks, and version-control practices.
Assess data completeness, accuracy, consistency, and representativeness; identify anomalies and gaps, recommend resolution approaches, and escalate material risks to project leadership.
Prepare customer-ready tables, data visualizations, dashboards, reports, presentations, and methodology documentation that translate complex data into clear conclusions, decisions, and next steps.
Support customer meetings by preparing data requests and materials, presenting analytical findings with increasing independence, capturing decisions, and completing follow-up actions.
Identify and implement improvements to templates, workflows, automation opportunities, and reporting structures that increase efficiency, scalability, and consistency across projects.
Evaluate and responsibly incorporate AI-enabled tools and automation into materials management workflows, templates, analysis, and documentation to improve efficiency, consistency, and scalability while maintaining appropriate quality controls.
Maintain organized project files and records that support continuity, auditability, customer review, and compliance with WM Advisory Services standards.
Promote culture of safety by ensuring site personnel are properly trained to perform assigned duties and comply with safety, environmental, federal, state, and local regulations.
Self-educate on current sustainability topics, issues, and trends.
Responsible for organizing and interpreting data.