Principal Analyst - Technical Project, Material Services

Circular Action Alliance• Remote, US,

13d•$145,000 - $165,000•Remote

About The Position

The Technical Project Principal Analyst, National Reimbursement is a principal-level technical leadership, analyst oversight, and hands-on review role within the Material Services responsible for leading complex technical project assessments, guiding Senior Analysts, and helping establish the processes, frameworks, tools, and standards used to evaluate reimbursement-funded projects across California and emerging EPR states. Reporting to the National Reimbursement Senior Manager, this role serves as a senior technical reviewer for higher-risk, higher-value, novel, precedent-setting, or technically complex reimbursement requests while also supporting day-to-day execution of technical reviews. This is a position in the Material Services department of Program Planning and Operations (PPO), which also includes Compliance & Regulatory Affairs (CRA), Data & Analytics (D&A) and Emerging States. The Principal Analyst provides technical direction, quality review, coaching, and escalation support to Senior Analysts performing reimbursement project reviews. This role helps ensure that analyst findings, documentation, questions, and recommendations are consistent, well-supported, regulatorily defensible, operationally practical, and aligned with CAA’s strategic priorities. While the position includes leadership and oversight responsibilities, it remains an execution-oriented role that requires direct hands-on review of complex applications, funding requests, technical documentation, implementation plans, cost assumptions, operational impacts, performance expectations, and claimed alignment with regulatory and program requirements. The role works closely with Legal, Data & Analytics, Materials, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs, Finance, state teams, and other CAA functional groups to obtain subject matter input, resolve review questions, support consistent application of eligibility and covered-cost criteria, and improve the review lifecycle. The Principal Analyst prepares and reviews clear findings, questions, recommendations, escalation materials, and decision-support documents for the National Reimbursement Senior Manager and other internal stakeholders. The position requires advanced technical judgment, regulatory comprehension, analytical discipline, practical project review experience, leadership maturity, and the ability to build scalable review processes while continuing to identify risks, gaps, unsupported assumptions, and opportunities to improve project value before reimbursement decisions are made.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required in engineering, environmental science, environmental studies, public administration, economics, data analytics, project management, or a related field.
13+ years of relevant professional experience in technical project review, infrastructure or operations assessment, recycling or solid waste programs, regulated funding programs, reimbursement review, project analysis, analyst oversight, process development, or similar fields.
Experience evaluating complex project scopes, costs, feasibility, regulatory alignment, implementation plans, technical documentation, and analyst work products preferred.

Nice To Haves

MBA, CPA or Master's in engineering, environmental science, environmental studies, public administration, economics, data analytics, project management, or a related field highly preferred.
Experience with EPR programs, recycling systems, municipal operations, public-sector funding programs, regulated programs, or application-based reimbursement processes preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead, guide, and support Senior Analysts performing technical review of reimbursement applications, proposed projects, and supporting documentation.
Lead hands-on technical review of complex proposed reimbursement projects to assess feasibility, practicality, implementation readiness, risk profile, and alignment with stated objectives.
Lead review of funding requests for alignment with applicable EPR laws, regulations, program plan requirements, covered-cost criteria, and CAA reimbursement policies.
Assess whether proposed projects advance CAA’s strategic priorities, including regulatory compliance, improved recycling outcomes, operational effectiveness, equitable service delivery, system modernization, and measurable program value.
Review complex reimbursement applications and supporting materials to determine whether the proposed project is sufficiently defined for technical assessment and reimbursement consideration.
Assess reimbursement applications to determine whether requested funding is technically justified, adequately documented, and connected to eligible program outcomes.
Work collaboratively across internal teams—including Legal, Data & Analytics, Materials, Finance, Planning, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs, and state teams—to obtain inputs needed for technical, regulatory, operational, and financial review.
Conduct technical, regulatory, operational, and economic research needed to evaluate proposed projects and reimbursement requests.
Document review rationale, assumptions, unresolved issues, and recommendation basis in a clear and audit-ready manner.
Operate effectively in ambiguous, evolving environments by applying sound judgment, escalating material concerns, and distinguishing feasibility issues from documentation gaps.
Perform other related duties as assigned.