Environmental consultant job profile

Environmental consultants provide detailed technical assessments and advice on environmental matters for their clients

Your role will involve providing expert advisory and assessment services to your clients with the aim of minimising or eliminating environmental damage.

You'll usually be employed by a consultancy firm and work on a range of commercial or government contracts, addressing a variety of environmental issues. You may be responsible for ensuring that your client complies with environmental regulations.

Types of environmental consultant

You may work on a range of environmental issues or specialise in one area, such as:

air, land and water contamination
environmental impact assessment and flood risk
waste management and recycling
emissions and climate change
renewable energy opportunities
environmental management systems.

Responsibilities

As an environmental consultant, you'll need to:

conduct field surveys and collect data about levels of pollution or contamination on a site or area of consideration
carry out desk-based research, interpreting data which can include using software-modelling packages
write reports and share findings with multi-disciplinary colleagues, clients, sub-contractors (such as analytical laboratories) and regulators
advise on best courses of action based on research findings
develop conceptual models, which involves identification and consideration of potential contamination
research previous investigations of a site to provide information to clients considering purchase
undertake field work to identify previous activities on the site and any contamination
look at the suitability of new developments, like housing, power stations, wind farms or other large sites that may impact the environment
manage legislative issues for clients and maintain an awareness of how legislation impacts projects.

Salary

Graduate starting salaries typically range from £22,000 to £25,000.
Salaries for consultant grade positions, for those with an average of two to five years' experience, typically range from £22,000 to £35,000.
As a senior consultant with five to ten years' experience, you could expect to earn up to £45,000, potentially rising up to around £60,000 in a principal consultant position and more as a director.

Higher salaries are possible with postgraduate qualifications and when working in in-demand areas such as environmental impact assessment, contaminated land and waste management.

You may receive additional employee benefits like a mobile phone, laptop, car allowance or company car, pension schemes and share plans.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Your hours may include regular extra hours, but not shifts. Some consultancies may operate a flexitime or overtime system.

Weekend working may be necessary at times for meeting client deadlines and when carrying out survey work that is dependent on good weather.

What to expect

Work is office based with time spent outdoors on site visits. This varies depending on the project, and there may be periods when you're in the office for several weeks, and others you spend on site. As you gain more experience, the amount of office-based work you carry out will increase.
Environmental consultants usually work as part of a small multidisciplinary team, although some contracts may involve conducting solo fieldwork away from home.
There are opportunities for contract work, but self-employment or freelance work is rare without considerable experience.
Increasing environmental regulation means that there is a growing demand for consultancy services.
Site-based work may require travel and absence from home overnight.

Qualifications

A good honours degree is the minimum entry qualification. The following degree subjects may increase your chances of employment in this sector:

ecology or wildlife management
environmental and earth sciences
environmental engineering
environmental management
geology
geophysics
hydrogeology
sustainability and environmental management.

If you're studying for a relevant degree, choosing a dissertation title which is relevant to your field of interest could be helpful.

A work-based placement through an employer will build the best contacts and experience. Entry is unlikely with an HND only.

In addition to a first degree, applicants often have a relevant postgraduate qualification or work experience in the field they are interested in.

Search for postgraduate courses in environmental consultancy.

Skills

You will need to show evidence of the following:

business skills and commercial awareness, as you'll be operating in a very commercial environment
communication and presentation skills
IT skills, such as word processing and the use of spreadsheets and presentation packages
project-management skills, as time and resources are allocated to projects and need to be monitored and adhered to
organisation and good time management, as you'll often need to manage several projects at a time
a driving licence - this is usually necessary, as you'll be visiting different sites.

Work experience

Although many posts ask for experience, employers don't always insist on this and some consultancies have established graduate training schemes through which to train junior staff.

Relevant work experience such as summer placements and work-based placements linked to a Masters programme is useful if you can get it. Local councils may provide project placements.

Volunteering can be a good way of gaining some experience and your local environment agency will likely advertise opportunities on its website.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Most environmental consultants are employed by consultancy firms, which are hired by the public sector and by commercial organisations.

In this role, you'll work with companies in the manufacturing and production sector, where environmental management is a fundamental concern.

Many companies offer environmental consultancy services in the UK. It's common for the smaller ones to concentrate their work in particular industries, while others may focus on specific areas, such as environmental impact assessment or audit.

Other employers of environmental consultants include:

local authorities
central government departments, such as the Environment Agency (EA)
non-governmental and wildlife organisations
pressure and conservation groups.

Developing areas for opportunities in environmental consultancy include South America and the Middle East.

Look for job vacancies at:

Specialist recruitment agencies, such as Evergreen Resources and Allen & York, handle a large proportion of vacancies in this sector. Jobs boards such as Green Jobs also list relevant opportunities.

To research companies and identify employers use directories such as the ENDS Environmental Consultancy Directory. Look for graduate opportunities on their websites and consider making speculative applications.

Professional development

The first two years of consultancy are typically spent gaining site-based experience, such as intrusive ground investigation, ecological surveys and ground and surface water sampling.

Much of your training will be carried out on the job, where you'll learn from experienced colleagues.

You can gain additional specialist knowledge or qualifications by completing short courses, offered by training organisations and institutions. Some of which are assessed by exams and/or a work-based project.

You can gain Chartered status in the form of the Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) registration, once you have acquired enough skill and experience in the role.

Membership of chartered institutions and professional societies can offer you career guidance, opportunities to network, training, conferences and events and webinars and informative publications. Relevant bodies include:

It's important to keep up to date with the latest industry developments and to use the resources offered by professional bodies for your ongoing CPD and long-term career development.

Career prospects

With experience, you may be asked to manage small projects in order to take on more responsibility.

You'll generally progress to the position of senior consultant when you have around five years' experience. At this level, you'll usually be responsible for the management of staff, site investigations, contracts and the allocation of resources. You'll be involved in business development, with responsibility for marketing the business to new clients and developing relationships with existing clients, as well as identifying and submitting tenders for new work.

After working in a senior role for several years, you can move on to become a principal consultant, where you will focus on team management and commercial development.

Further progression to director level may be possible in some cases. Alternatively, you could move into other related areas such as research and consultation or policy and campaigns.

Environmental consultant