Principal Consultant, Senior Project Manager (Environmental Assessment)

Lead Transformational Environmental Projects That Shape Canada’s Future

ERM is seeking a Principal Consultant, Senior Project Manager (Environmental Assessment) to join our team in Canada. This is a unique opportunity for a seasoned project leader who thrives on solving complex challenges, guiding multidisciplinary teams, and helping clients successfully navigate today’s evolving environmental and regulatory landscape.

As one of the world’s leading sustainability consulting firms, ERM partners with organizations on projects that have lasting environmental, social, and economic impact. In this strategic leadership role, you will oversee major environmental projects with budgets of up to $2M or more, support critical client decisions, and help advance some of Canada’s most significant mining, energy, and infrastructure initiatives. If you’re passionate about delivering meaningful outcomes while mentoring teams and growing client relationships, this role offers a platform to make a lasting impact.

Why This Role Matters

ERM’s clients rely on us to guide major capital initiatives where environmental, regulatory, social, and risk considerations are central to success. As a Principal Consultant, Senior Project Manager (Environmental Assessment), you will be responsible for overall project delivery, providing senior-level oversight to ensure projects are executed safely, on schedule, within budget, and to a high standard of quality.

You will serve as a trusted advisor to clients, helping them navigate complex regulatory environments and make informed decisions. Your leadership will strengthen client relationships, support repeat work, and reinforce ERM’s reputation for delivering high-profile, multi-stakeholder projects with discipline and integrity.

What Your Impact Is

In this role, you will provide end-to-end leadership across complex projects and proposals, including environmental assessments (EAs)/environmental impact statements (EISs), permitting applications, management plans, strategic and annual planning, risk management, regulatory and engagement strategies, socio-economic programs, and environmental management systems. You will translate client objectives into clear delivery strategies, aligning scope, schedule, budget, and resourcing across multidisciplinary teams.

You will work directly with senior client representatives to understand business drivers and regulatory risks, guide technical teams toward practical and defensible solutions, and escalate issues as required. Your grounding in project controls and risk management will be critical in maintaining accountability and meeting client commitments.

Beyond individual projects, you will play a key role in business development and client relationship growth within ERM’s core sectors. This includes identifying and shaping new opportunities, supporting proposal development, and helping expand ERM’s footprint with both new and existing clients.

You will also contribute to the long-term strength of ERM’s delivery capability by mentoring project managers, fostering collaboration across ERM’s national and global networks, and championing a strong culture of health, safety, quality, and environmental stewardship.

Through this work, you will help ERM deliver meaningful outcomes for clients while advancing complex projects that shape the future of Canada’s mining, energy, and environmental landscape.

What You’ll Bring

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, environmental engineering, or a related field; advanced degree is an asset.

• 6+ years of consulting experience in environmental or related technical disciplines, with progressive responsibility for complex project delivery.

• Demonstrated experience in the mining and/or energy sectors, including regulatory-driven capital projects.

• Proven ability to provide senior-level oversight of complex environmental scopes of work across multiple projects and clients.

• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, and time-management skills, with the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

• Ability to work independently while aligning with ERM governance, quality, and risk management expectations.

• Demonstrated proficiency with core project management practices, including change management, risk management, quality management, and financial controls.

• Strong financial acumen, with experience overseeing project budgets, forecasting, invoicing, and overall financial performance.

• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and familiarity with project management tools and reporting.

• Driver’s License Required: This position requires a valid driver’s license and/or the ability to operate a company vehicle due to the nature of job duties, which include frequent travel to various client locations across a large geographical area.

Preferred

• 8+ years preferred of consulting experience in environmental or related technical disciplines, with progressive responsibility for complex project delivery.

• Experience developing and overseeing complex project schedules, including dependencies and critical path analysis.

• Proficiency with project scheduling and tracking tools (e.g., MS Project, Primavera P6, Smartsheet).

• Experience overseeing environmental, regulatory, permitting, and/or field programs across multiple disciplines.

• Previous field experience (e.g., wildlife, terrestrial ecology, soils, wetlands, aquatic biology, hydrology) to support effective oversight and review.

• Experience identifying new client opportunities, helping shape pursuit strategy and influencing scope, delivery approach, and commercial positioning.

• PMP or equivalent project management certification.

• Bilingual in English and French and/or Spanish.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide senior project leadership and oversight for multiple, concurrent projects, ensuring delivery meets ERM and client expectations for scope, schedule, budget, quality, and safety.

• Serve as the primary point of responsibility for assigned projects, from proposal development through execution and final delivery, in alignment with ERM governance.

• Lead, mentor, and develop project managers and junior staff, fostering strong delivery capability, accountability, and career progression within the team.

• Champion strong health, safety, and risk management practices across all projects.

• Build and maintain trusted client relationships, leading senior-level client engagement, clarifying objectives, managing expectations, and resolving issues proactively.

• Coordinate and guide multidisciplinary teams and subcontractors to deliver high-quality technical outputs.

• Oversee project financial performance, including budget management, forecasting, invoicing, and cost control, and escalate risks as required.

• Develop and oversee integrated project schedules, resourcing plans, and delivery strategies.

• Play a key role in business development, including identifying opportunities, shaping pursuits, supporting proposals, developing scopes and cost estimates, and expanding work with existing and new clients.

• Contribute to the growth and success of the Project Management team, including performance management, hiring, retention, and continuous improvement of delivery practices.

• Foster strong collaboration across ERM’s national and global teams, contributing to the project management community and sharing best practices.

• Provide senior review and oversight of technical analysis, reporting, and deliverables for defensibility and quality.

Who We Are: 

As the largest global pure play sustainability consultancy, we partner with the world’s leading organizations, creating innovative solutions to sustainability challenges and unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations. 

At ERM we know that creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment is an essential part of making our company a great place to build a career. We also see our diversity as a strength that helps us create better solutions for our clients. Our diverse team of world-class experts supports clients across the breadth of their organizations to operationalize sustainability, underpinned by our deep technical expertise in addressing their environmental, health, safety, risk and social issues. We call this capability our “boots to boardroom” approach for its comprehensive service model that allows ERM to develop strategic and technical solutions that advance objectives on the ground or at the executive level. 

Please submit your resume and brief cover letter.   

ERM welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.