What are the responsibilities and job description for the National Practice Lead, Emerging Contaminants position at Tetra Tech Careers?
The Opportunity:
We are seeking a dynamic, senior technical leader to serve as our National Practice Lead – Emerging Contaminants. This role will lead national strategy, technical excellence, innovation, and project delivery for emerging contaminants programs across municipal and private sector markets.
The ideal candidate will be a recognized subject matter expert in contaminants of emerging concern, including PFAS, 1,4-dioxane, microplastics, PPCPs, cyanotoxins, industrial compounds, endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), and other evolving regulatory constituents.
This role supports programs and facilities related to:
Drinking water, Wastewater, stormwater, biosolids, landfills and leachate, industrial residuals, solid waste facilities, environmental remediation, and compliance
Key Responsibilities:
Serve as the firm’s senior technical authority for emerging contaminants projects
Lead national strategy, technical standards, and best practices across the organization
Provide oversight for treatment evaluations, pilot testing, source investigations, fate and transport analyses, and compliance strategies
Review and guide high-risk and nationally significant projects
Support planning, design, procurement, construction, startup, commissioning, and operations
Mentor engineers, scientists, hydrogeologists, chemists, and technical specialists
Build staff capability through workshops, training, and internal knowledge-sharing
Track and disseminate evolving federal and state regulations, litigation trends, and treatment technology developments
Support business development, capture planning, and client engagement for high-value opportunities
Collaborate with leaders across water, wastewater, stormwater, solid waste, industrial, and remediation business lines
Represent the firm through conferences, technical committees, publications, webinars, and thought leadership activities
Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering, or a related field; advanced degree desired
Registered PE
15-20 plus years of experience leading national projects in advanced water and wastewater treatment process design
Deep technical expertise in emerging contaminants and related treatment technologies
Strong understanding of regulatory trends, risk communication, and compliance strategy
Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and mentoring technical staff
Proven ability to support business growth and client development
Strong judgment in QA/QC, peer review, and risk mitigation
Excellent communication and presentation skills
Ability to work across regions and coordinate with multiple practice areas
Preferred Experience:
Leadership in drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, or solid waste programs
Experience with pilot studies, treatment process selection, and residuals management
Familiarity with alternative delivery models such as:
Design-bid-build
CMAR
Design-build
Progressive design-build
Public-private partnerships
This is an opportunity to shape a national practice, influence industry direction, and help clients navigate some of the most important environmental challenges of our time.
About Tetra Tech:
Tetra Tech is the leader in water, environment, and sustainable infrastructure, providing high-end consulting and engineering services for projects worldwide. With 25,000 employees working together, Tetra Tech provides clear solutions to complex problems by Leading with Science® to address the entire water cycle, protect and restore the environment, design sustainable and resilient infrastructure, and support the clean energy transition.
Tetra Tech is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified candidates will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law. Tetra Tech is a VEVRAA federal contractor and we request priority referral of veterans.
We invite applications from all interested parties.
Explore our open positions at https://www.tetratech.com/careers. Follow us on social media to learn more about our people, culture, and opportunities:
LinkedIn: @TetraTechCareers
X (Twitter): @TetraTechJobs