Consulting Sr Associate, Air quality

ERM is the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, with over 50 years of experience helping organizations navigate complex environmental, social, and governance challenges. We bring together a global community of experts to deliver meaningful impact for our clients and the planet.

Our Consulting Delivery Hub (CDH) in India is a critical part of ERM’s global consulting model enabling scalable, high-quality delivery across regions and service lines. CDH teams work in close partnership with regional consultants to support global client projects, providing specialist expertise, driving consistency, and enhancing delivery efficiency across our most important programmes.

As part of the Consulting Delivery Hub, you will collaborate with colleagues worldwide, contribute to complex sustainability projects, and play a key role in shaping the future of global consulting delivery.

Why this role matters?

As a Consulting Senior Associate - Air Quality, you will support ERM's North American Air Quality team by delivering high-quality permitting, emissions inventory, and regulatory reporting services for industrial, energy, pharmaceutical, technology, and chemical sector clients. Working closely with ERM consultants, technical specialists, and client stakeholders across North America, you will help ensure regulatory compliance, data integrity, and timely delivery of regulator-ready submissions. This role plays a key part in enabling scalable global project delivery by supporting complex environmental compliance programs with accurate technical analysis, streamlined documentation, and consistent quality standards.

What your impact is?

• Deliver accurate and regulator-ready permitting and compliance documentation that supports clients in meeting federal, state, and local air quality requirements.

• Develop and maintain traceable emissions inventories, calculations, and reporting workpapers that improve data quality, audit readiness, and regulatory compliance.

• Support the preparation of environmental submissions including Title V permits, NSR/PSD applications, Annual Emissions Statements, EPCRA Tier II, and TRI reports across multiple North American jurisdictions.

• Apply structured QA/QC processes to enhance data integrity, reduce compliance risks, and ensure consistency across client deliverables.

• Collaborate with global ERM teams, client stakeholders, and technical specialists to maintain project schedules, resolve data issues, and drive efficient delivery outcomes.

• Contribute to continuous improvement by sharing lessons learned, enhancing templates and SOPs, and supporting knowledge development across the Air Quality practice.

What will you bring?

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Environmental, or Mechanical Engineering, Environmental Science, or Chemistry, with coursework or exposure in air regulations, mass balance, or environmental data analysis.

• 1–3 years in NA air permitting or regulatory reporting with exposure to CAA, state permitting programs, and EPCRA Tier II/TRI reporting fundamentals; internships and co-ops in industrial EHS or consulting.

• Emissions estimation, factor selection, and activity data QA in Excel, with strong attention to traceability and unit conversions per NA program needs.

• Working knowledge of Title V, NSR/PSD basics, NSPS/NESHAP applicability concepts, AERR inputs, and state annual emission statements.​

• EPCRA Tier II/TRI fundamentals: chemical thresholding, mixtures, de minimis, SDS interpretation, and calculation documentation.

• Clear written communication for technical narratives and regulator-ready submissions, responsive coordination with clients, regulators, and subcontractors in a remote delivery model supporting.

Preferred qualifications, skills & competencies

• Experience supporting North American air permitting and regulatory reporting programs across multiple states or industries.

• Exposure to environmental compliance management systems such as Cority, ACTS, or similar platforms.

• Experience using Power BI, data visualization tools, or automation technologies to improve reporting and compliance workflows.

• Professional certifications, advanced coursework, or postgraduate qualifications related to Air Quality, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, or Sustainability.

Key responsibilities

Permitting support

• Draft permit application content for Title V operating permits, state construction permits, and minor/major NSR/PSD, including process/equipment descriptions, emissions calculations, monitoring and recordkeeping plans, and applicability matrices referencing NSPS and NESHAP/MACT where relevant, ensuring state-specific forms and attachments are complete and aligned with guidance such as NJDEP requirements where applicable.

• Coordinate inputs for dispersion modeling with senior modelers, prepare input data packages (stack parameters, release types), and maintain crosswalks linking model assumptions to application narratives and response-to-comment drafts for reviewer use, ensuring NA regulatory scope.

• Conduct desktop control-technology research from public determinations and vendor literature to support preliminary BACT/LAER writeups for junior and senior reviewer refinement, keeping citations and change logs up to date per team SOPs.

Regulatory reporting

• Build traceable emissions inventories and reporting workpapers using client activity data, approved emission factors, and calculation templates, producing state annual emission statements, AERR inputs, Title V compliance/periodic reports, MACT/NESHAP periodic reports, and deviation logs as required for NA programs, with clear QA/QC checks and version control.

• Support EPCRA Tier II and TRI Form R/NA preparation by performing chemical thresholding, de minimis and mixture evaluations, SDS data extraction, and unit/stoichiometry conversions with senior oversight, documenting assumptions and data lineage clearly for audit readiness as emphasized by the SME JD.

• Reconcile permit, criteria/HAP, and GHG datasets to ensure consistency across submissions and client internal records, preparing evidence folders suitable for agency or client audits within NA jurisdictions, and flagging inconsistencies early for senior review and resolution.

Quality and delivery

• Execute structured QA/QC using checklist-based reviews, cell protection, traceability notes, and exception flags in standardized Excel templates; maintain issue and action logs to track corrections and regulator comments, reflecting the SME’s discipline on data integrity and auditability.

• Maintain document control with consistent filenames, versioning, hyperlinks to source evidence, and regulator-ready PDF packages with bookmarks and indices, supporting efficient review cycles with clients, regulators, and subcontractors per SME practice.

• Coordinate with client technical contacts, NA regulators when requested by senior staff, and subcontractors for data validation or specialized analyses; schedule and document communications and follow-ups to maintain submission timelines

Collaboration and learning

• Participate in internal trainings on Title V, NSR/PSD, MACT/NESHAP, EPCRA Tier II/TRI, and state annual emissions statements; apply learning to improve calculations and templates, in line with SME guidance about the practice scale and expectations.

• Share lessons learned and template improvements with peers, contribute to frequently asked questions and SOP updates, and support onboarding for junior colleagues.