Senior Air Quality Specialist

Anchor QEA•Norfolk, VA

1d•$101,259 - $113,900•Hybrid

About The Position

Support our growing air quality and climate change practice as a senior technical leader and hands-on practitioner contributing to the development, execution, and review of technical analyses for criteria air pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, advanced air dispersion modeling, regulatory compliance, air permitting efforts, and environmental planning (e.g., California Environmental Quality Act [CEQA], Washington State Environmental Policy Act [SEPA], National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA]). This role includes developing modeling strategies and protocols (e.g., AERMOD and related tools), coordinating with regulatory agencies, and ensuring technically defensible and policy-aligned impact assessments. This position entails serving as a technical lead and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-quality environmental documentation and compliance strategies. The role includes direct client interaction, participation in agency coordination, development of project scopes and technical approaches, and meaningful contributions to proposal development and broader business development efforts.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Atmospheric Science, Meteorology, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Civil Engineering, or related field, with 8+ years of relevant professional experience (consulting experience strongly preferred).
Extensive experience leading air quality and GHG impact assessments in support of broader environmental analyses (e.g., CEQA, SEPA, and/or NEPA).
Advanced, hands-on experience with air dispersion modeling (e.g., AERMOD), including model setup, execution, troubleshooting, documentation, interpretation of results, and agency coordination.
Experience using emissions models such as CalEEMod, EMFAC, MOVES, or similar tools.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate air pollution sources, control technologies, and mitigation strategies, and to assess regulatory compliance pathways.
Experience leading preparation and review of air permit applications and regulatory compliance analyses, particularly in California and Washington; multi-state experience is a plus.
Strong understanding of federal, state, and local air quality regulations and demonstrated ability to interpret and apply them independently in complex or novel situations.
Proven ability to independently lead technical deliverables, guide modeling strategy, and exercise professional judgment in defensibility decisions.
Strong project coordination skills, including experience developing scopes, budgets, and schedules for air quality tasks.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting technical findings to clients and regulatory agencies.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent assignments in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary, client service-oriented environment.

Responsibilities

preparing and providing technical quality control for environmental documents and permit applications
developing and executing dispersion modeling approaches and protocols
preparing emissions inventories, health risk evaluations (as applicable), and compliance analyses
mentoring staff and coordinating and reviewing technical work across project phases
developing task scopes, budgets, and schedules, and supporting proposal and marketing efforts when requested
helping project managers to integrate air quality strategy into broader project planning and environmental compliance frameworks, including beginning to advise project teams and clients on regulatory interpretation and risk considerations and serving as a technical resource where appropriate in client and agency interactions