Environmental Lead

Key Responsibilities

• Design and deliver community-aligned environmental programs that improve permitting outcomes, strengthen local trust, and provide high-impact, cost-effective benefits to host communities.
• Lead environmental diligence and risk assessment across prospective sites, including wetlands, water supply, floodplains, endangered species, cultural resources, stormwater, air, noise, and construction impacts; translate findings into commercial, schedule, and development decisions.
• Manage site-level environmental investigations and liability review, including Phase I / Phase II ESAs, noise studies, archaeological and cultural-resource reviews, and brownfield or acquired-property environmental liability assessment.
• Establish and enforce OpenAI’s environmental and community standards across land developers, utilities, EPCs, and joint-venture partners; audit third-party studies, mitigation plans, and construction practices.
• Lead environmental and permitting strategies across federal, state, and local agencies, including NEPA, USACE Section 404, state wetlands, stormwater, air, water, and waste; sequence approvals to support development schedules.
• Oversee environmental compliance during construction and early operations, including stormwater (SWPPP), spill prevention (SPCC), hazardous materials, PFAS, and related field programs.
• Partner closely with internal teams across site selection, power, engineering, and community affairs to integrate environmental and community considerations into every stage of project development.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in environmental permitting, infrastructure development, energy, or large-scale project delivery, with hands-on experience navigating complex federal and state regulatory frameworks.
• Managed environmental consultants, developers, and regulators on politically visible, multi-stakeholder projects; comfortable setting standards, holding partners accountable, and making difficult calls when risks are too high.
• Understand how environmental risk translates into financial, schedule, and reputational risk; design mitigation strategies that are practical, cost-effective, and credible with both regulators and communities.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments and can balance long-term stewardship with the need to deliver large-scale infrastructure on aggressive timelines.