Environmental Compliance Specialist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
An Environmental Compliance Specialist performs environmental audits and advises companies on compliance with state, local and federal environmental regulations. Investigates company waste disposal, industrial hygiene and pesticide use practices and policies, advises on compliance issues and reports violations as needed.
Job Outlook
There were 681 Environmental Compliance Specialist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 20231 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Environmental Compliance Specialist industry, which includes the Environmental Compliance Specialist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Environmental Compliance Specialist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $103,784.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $98,370.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Environmental Compliance Specialist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $78,995.
Education and Experience
Posted Environmental Compliance Specialist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 71.03% |
| Master's Degree | 26.83% |
| Doctoral Degree | 6.83% |
| Other | 6.35% |
Posted Environmental Compliance Specialist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 17.07% |
| 3 to 5 years | 39.33% |
| 6 to 8 years | 16.74% |
| 9+ years | 26.85% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Environmental Compliance Specialist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (46.08%)
- Operations (45.48%)
- Leadership (41.57%)
- Management (39.27%)
- Planning (33.4%)
- Research (30.44%)
- Writing (20.03%)
- Coordinating (19.02%)
- Strategic Planning (17.67%)
- Problem Solving (16.91%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Environmental Data Analysis (14.58%)
- Coastal Science (14.34%)
- Environmental Compliance (22.39%)
- Pollution Prevention (8.83%)
- Environmental Science (22.75%)
- Officer Training (13.07%)
- Project Management (29.83%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Continuous Improvement Process (8.34%)
- Biology (13.91%)
- Business Development (12.9%)
- Ecology (3.98%)
- Auditing (18.36%)
- Construction (7.85%)
- Chemistry (9.25%)
- Data Collection (19.86%)
- Waste Management (5.34%)
- Environmental Laws (18.83%)
- Environmental Monitoring (1.89%)
- Environmental Health (4%)
- Regulatory Compliance (15.48%)
- Environmental Engineering (12.08%)
- Environmental Resource Management (4.88%)
- Wastewater (11.39%)
- Environmental Issue (5.02%)
- Soil Science (4.59%)
- Regulatory Requirements (4.83%)
- Stormwater Management (13.56%)
- Environment Health And Safety (9.99%)
- Technical Writing (7.6%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Environmental Permitting (8.55%)
- Clean Water Act (4.78%)
- Air Permitting (5.91%)
- Air Quality (8.78%)
- Water Quality (5.44%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Project Management (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Environmental Compliance Specialist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Transfer Station Operator
- Environmental Manager
- Environmental Permitting Specialist
- Compliance Engineer
- Commissioned Officer
- Environmental Compliance Inspector
- Environmental Consultant
- Principal Consultant
- Permit Specialist
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Environmental Planner / Scientist
- Environmental Engineer
- Water Resource Specialist
- Environmental Engineering Technician
- Sustainability Specialist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Environmental Compliance Specialist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2462)
- State of Minnesota (390)
- Ramboll (293)
- Waste Management (279)
- Amazon (265)
- Stantec (254)
- AECOM (254)
- Montrose Environmental Group (235)
- Black & Veatch (154)
- WSP Global (150)
North Carolina
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (93)
- State of North Carolina (50)
- N.C Department Of Transportation (19)
- WSP Global (11)
- Actalent (10)
- Merck & Co. (10)
- FHI 360 (9)
- Asplundh Tree Experts (9)
- Electric Power Research Institute (9)
- City of Durham (9)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Environmental Assessment Master's Degrees
- Environmental Assessment Graduate Certificates
- Renewable Energy Assessment Undergraduate Certificates
- Soil Science Master's Degrees
- Textile Chemistry Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.