Lead Specialist - Environmental Programs

About Rivian

Rivian is on a mission to keep the world adventurous forever. This goes for the emissions-free Electric Adventure Vehicles we build, and the curious, courageous souls we seek to attract. 

As a company, we constantly challenge what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done. We reframe old problems, seek new solutions and operate comfortably in areas that are unknown. Our backgrounds are diverse, but our team shares a love of the outdoors and a desire to protect it for future generations. 

Role Summary

Rivian is seeking a Lead Specialist, Environmental Programs to own environmental regulatory compliance across a geographically distributed portfolio of sites, projects, and operations. This is an experienced individual-contributor role requiring both regulatory depth and practical operating judgment.

The role translates federal, state, and local requirements into permits, compliance programs, site controls, project requirements, and clear actions for operational teams. Core scope includes permitting, air quality, hazardous waste/RCRA, construction stormwater, operational environmental compliance, agency engagement, corrective actions, and environmental readiness for new or changing sites.

The successful candidate will work across manufacturing, research and development, Workplace, Service, Facilities, Construction, Real Estate, Legal, Procurement, EHS, contractors, and environmental service providers. The role leads through technical credibility, influence, and follow-through rather than direct people management.

Responsibilities

• Own and support a multi-site portfolio of environmental permits, compliance obligations, regulatory commitments, and site interfaces; maintain calendars, records, escalation paths, and closure evidence.
• Determine regulatory applicability and support permit acquisition, modification, renewal, activation, and ongoing compliance for new and active sites.
• Manage or provide technical oversight for air permits, emissions records, applicability determinations, reporting, deviations, potential-to-emit inputs, and agency correspondence.
• Lead or support hazardous-waste and RCRA programs, including generator status, accumulation, waste profiles, manifests, inspections, training, vendor controls, and recordkeeping.
• Support related operational programs such as SPCC, chemical management, wastewater or pretreatment, universal waste, batteries, and extended producer responsibility.
• Integrate environmental requirements into construction, expansion, retrofit, commissioning, site activation, and operational handoffs, including NPDES, SWPPP, BMPs, construction inspections, corrective actions, and contractor accountability.
• Serve as an environmental point of contact for agency inspections, notices of violation, information requests, and other external engagements; lead responses through corrective action, documentation, and closure.
• Participate in environmental incident, spill, release, and near-miss reviews; identify root causes and drive risk-based preventive actions.
• Use environmental data, permit calendars, inspections, recurring findings, and action registers to prioritize risk and improve performance across sites.
• Develop practical standards, procedures, training, templates, dashboards, and governance practices that make environmental compliance more consistent and scalable.
• Partner with site and functional leaders to explain complex requirements, assign accountable owners, and distinguish enterprise program ownership from site-level execution.
• Lead projects and workstreams, mentor colleagues, and support evolving programs such as EPR, PFAS, TSCA, product stewardship, and battery reuse or recycling as business needs require.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, environmental engineering, chemistry, natural resources, public policy, or a related field; equivalent education and experience may be considered.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible environmental, regulatory, or EHS experience.
• Experience managing environmental compliance across a national or multi-site portfolio with varied operations, jurisdictions, or facility types.
• Experience in automotive, aerospace, EV, energy, industrial, semiconductor, chemical, or another physical-product manufacturing environment.
• Broad working knowledge of federal, state, and local environmental requirements, with demonstrated depth in multiple areas such as:
• Air permitting, emissions inventories, potential-to-emit, and air reporting.
• RCRA, hazardous waste, waste characterization, manifests, generator requirements, and vendor oversight.
  NPDES, construction stormwater, SWPPP, BMPs, inspections, and corrective actions.
• SPCC, chemical management, wastewater or pretreatment, batteries, or other operational programs.
• Experience acquiring, modifying, maintaining, or closing environmental permits and compliance obligations.
• Experience leading agency interactions, inspections, notices of violation, corrective actions, or enforcement-related responses.
• Experience integrating environmental requirements into construction, expansion, commissioning, site activation, or operational change projects.
• Strong project leadership, analytical, written, verbal, and relationship-building skills, including the ability to communicate technical requirements to non-technical audiences.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and environmental compliance, action-tracking, or data-management systems.
• Willingness to travel domestically, typically up to approximately 25%, and support extended or non-standard schedules during significant environmental risks, incidents, agency activity, or operational emergencies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification such as CHMM, CPEA, CSP, PE, or a comparable environmental credential.
• Experience with air emissions modeling, complex air-permit modifications, state-specific RCRA programs, waste minimization, recycling, industrial stormwater, SPCC, wastewater pretreatment, or environmental due diligence.
• Experience establishing national environmental standards, RACI frameworks, vendor-governance processes, or compliance-assurance systems.
• Experience with environmental management platforms such as Serenity, Enablon, Intelex, SAP EHS, or comparable tools.
• Experience supporting emerging programs such as PFAS, TSCA, product stewardship, circularity, end-of-life vehicle management, or battery reuse and recycling.

Pay Disclosure

The salary range for this role is $114,100 - $142,600 for Georgia and Michigan based applicants. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, shift, and organizational needs.
 
The successful candidate may be eligible for annual performance bonus and equity awards.
 
We offer a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time employees, their spouse or domestic partner, and children up to age 26, including but not limited to paid vacation, paid sick leave, and a competitive portfolio of insurance benefits including life, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance to eligible employees. You may also have the opportunity to participate in Rivian’s 401(k) Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program if you meet certain eligibility requirements. Full-time employee coverage is effective on their first day of employment. Part-time employee coverage is effective the first of the month following 90 days of employment. More information about benefits is available at rivianbenefits.com. 

Equal Opportunity

Rivian is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Rivian is committed to ensuring that our hiring process is accessible for persons with disabilities. If you have a disability or limitation, such as those covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, that requires accommodations to assist you in the search and application process, please email us at [email protected].

Candidate Data Privacy and Technology

Rivian may collect, use and disclose your personal information or personal data (within the meaning of the applicable data protection laws) when you apply for employment and/or participate in our recruitment processes (“Candidate Personal Data”). This data includes contact, demographic, communications, educational, professional, employment, social media/website, network/device, recruiting system usage/interaction, security and preference information. Rivian may use your Candidate Personal Data for the purposes of (i) tracking interactions with our recruiting system; (ii) carrying out, analyzing and improving our application and recruitment process, including assessing you and your application and conducting employment, background and reference checks; (iii) establishing an employment relationship or entering into an employment contract with you; (iv) complying with our legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations; (v) recordkeeping; (vi) ensuring network and information security and preventing fraud; and (vii) as otherwise required or permitted by applicable law. 

Rivian may share your Candidate Personal Data with (i) internal personnel who have a need to know such information in order to perform their duties, including individuals on our People Team, Finance, Legal, and the team(s) with the position(s) for which you are applying; (ii) Rivian affiliates; and (iii) Rivian’s service providers, including providers of background checks, staffing services, and cloud services. 

Rivian may transfer or store internationally your Candidate Personal Data, including to or in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union and in the cloud, and this data may be subject to the laws and accessible to the courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of such jurisdictions.  

How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Rivian uses iCIMS Talent Cloud Artificial Intelligence (TCAI) and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role.

AI does not make hiring decisions: Qualified candidate applications are reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment. We are committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate.

Participation in AI profile matching is entirely voluntary. If you prefer that your profile not be used in this process, you can opt out at any time. Opting out means your profile will be excluded from automated matching and will not be surfaced for additional roles through this system. Your current application remains active and will not be affected in any way.

Interview Integrity & AI Policy 

Our interview process is designed to evaluate your personal technical foundation, real-time problem-solving logic, and structured capabilities. Therefore, the use of assistive generative AI tools to formulate or deliver your solutions during live interview sessions is not permitted. We care most about how you think — how you make sense of unclear requirements, weigh trade-offs, and explain why you chose one approach over another. We value your unique human perspective, your authenticity, and the journey it takes to reach a solution.

Please note that we are currently not accepting applications from third party application services.