Environmental Engineer Jobs in North Carolina
Environmental Engineer jobs in North Carolina are consistently in demand, with the market concentrated in consulting, state and local government, and manufacturing sectors and openings at every level from entry-level field technician to senior project manager. Charlotte, Raleigh, and the Research Triangle are the primary hiring hubs, where firms like AECOM, WSP, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality maintain active environmental engineering teams. Remediation, stormwater management, and environmental permitting are the most sought-after specializations across the state. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
Find Environmental Engineer JobsOverview
Open roles26
Top employerCDM Smith
Top cityCharlotte, NC
Cities hiring7
Work type63% Hybrid
Top industryConsulting
Showing 5 of 26+ Environmental Engineer jobs
Research Environmental Engineer
We won't show you this job again
Added 1d ago
RTI International
Research Environmental Engineer
Durham, North Carolina
Added 1d ago
Environmental Design Engineer - PFAS Remediation Focused
We won't show you this job again
Added 3w ago
AECOM
Environmental Design Engineer - PFAS Remediation Focused
Charlotte, North Carolina
Added 3w ago
H
Early-Career Environmental Engineer, Geologist, or Scientist
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H
Added 3w ago
Hanley Environmental
Early-Career Environmental Engineer, Geologist, or Scientist
Charlotte, North Carolina
Added 3w ago
Environmental Engineer (Biosolids & Wastewater Treatment)
We won't show you this job again
Added 1mo ago
Brown and Caldwell
Environmental Engineer (Biosolids & Wastewater Treatment)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Added 1mo ago
Senior Environmental Engineer - Water Services Group
We won't show you this job again
Added 1mo ago
CDM Smith
Senior Environmental Engineer - Water Services Group
Wilmington, North Carolina
Added 1mo ago
Added 1d ago
Research Environmental Engineer
RTI International·Durham, North Carolina
Job functions:
$137k - $155k/yr
Bachelor's degree in geography
1,001-5,000 employees
Job Description
Why RTI
About the Hiring Group
What You'll Do
What You'll Need
EEO & Pay Equity Statements
At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.
Equal Pay Act Minimum/Range
$137,000 - $155,000
RTI International is an independent, scientific research institute dedicated to improving the human condition. Our vision is to address the world's most critical problems with technical and science-based solutions in pursuit of a better future. Clients rely on us to answer questions that demand an objective and multidisciplinary approach—one that integrates expertise across social, statistical, data, and laboratory sciences, engineering, and other technical disciplines to solve the world’s most challenging problems.
We believe in the promise of science and technical solutions, and we push ourselves every day to deliver on that promise for the good of people, communities, and businesses in the US and around the world. If you are looking for the opportunity to make a real difference, RTI is the place for you.
We believe in the promise of science and technical solutions, and we push ourselves every day to deliver on that promise for the good of people, communities, and businesses in the US and around the world. If you are looking for the opportunity to make a real difference, RTI is the place for you.
About the Hiring Group
RTI’s Center for Water, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Solutions (WARES) connects expertise across science, engineering, economics, and technology to develop practical solutions to complex environmental and economic challenges. WARES water resources work spans river forecasting and decision-support systems, water supply planning, watershed management, critical infrastructure risk analysis, and data management solutions for domestic and international clients.
We are seeking a Research Environmental Engineer to join our Forecasting and River Operations team. This team develops operational river forecasting systems, hydrologic and reservoir models, data workflows, and decision-support tools for water management agencies, hydropower utilities, and other clients. We conduct client-sponsored research to advance forecasting methods and adapt emerging research for use in operational systems. The team has extensive experience implementing and supporting river forecast systems, integrating hydrologic, hydraulic, reservoir operations, and other models, and developing workflows for data ingestion, quality control, visualization, reporting, and forecast evaluation.
Why Join Us?
- Do meaningful work that helps forecasters and water managers make informed decisions for the communities they serve.
- Develop practical solutions to complex water management challenges.
- Collaborate with experts across water resources, data science, energy, economics, social science, and software development.
- Translate research into useful day-to-day forecasting and water management tools.
- Work directly with clients to understand their challenges and develop ideas for new projects.
What You'll Do
In this role, you will combine project leadership, senior technical input, client engagement, establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships, and business development. You will lead project teams, coordinate technical contributions across the group, and manage scope, budgets, and schedules to deliver high-quality solutions. You will strengthen client relationships, guide technically rigorous research and implementation, provide senior input across a diverse project portfolio, and help expand RTI’s footprint in water resources forecasting and operations.
Essential Duties:
Internal leadership, development, and project oversight
- Provide senior input across multiple projects, helping define the technical direction on projects, interpret results, manage project risks, and produce high-quality deliverables.
- Serve as a senior client-facing lead, building trusted relationships through strong technical judgment, dependable project execution, and clear communication to understand client needs.
- Manage complex implementation and research projects from scoping through delivery, including planning, staffing, budget and schedule oversight, risk management, quality review, and communication with clients and partners.
- Provide senior leadership across three or more key technical areas such as:
- Hydrologic model development
- Deterministic and ensemble forecasting
- Data assimilation
- Forecast verification and uncertainty characterization
- Reservoir operations and river system management
- Forecast-informed decision support
- AI/ML and hybrid modeling for forecasting systems
- Coordinate effectively with our multidisciplinary team and with external research or operational partners.
- Mentor technical staff and project managers.
Business development and client relations
- Identify emerging research with potential for implementation in client systems. Communicate these opportunities to clients and lead internal efforts to build the expertise needed to put them into practice.
- Represent RTI in client meetings, technical workshops, conferences, working groups, and collaborative research activities.
- Establish and maintain client relationships, building trust and understanding their evolving needs and priorities.
- Identify and develop new opportunities with current and prospective clients, particularly where RTI can connect applied research, forecasting technology, and operational decision-making.
- Lead or make substantial contributions to capture planning, proposals, and business development.
- Help shape new service offerings, partnerships, and investment priorities that expand RTI’s forecasting and operations portfolio.
What You'll Need
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree and 12 years of experience, master’s degree and 10 years of experience, PhD and 8 years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Relevant fields includes civil engineering, environmental engineering, hydrology, water resources engineering, environmental science, computer science, geography, or a related discipline.
Required Qualifications
- Deep expertise in core aspects of operational water forecasting and decision support, with the ability to provide credible senior guidance across adjacent water resources disciplines. Experience with the data, models, workflows, verification methods, and operational constraints that affect operational forecasting and decision support systems.
- Proven experience leading technical projects, workstreams, or applied research efforts involving multiple contributors and stakeholders. Strong project leadership skills, including the ability to define scope, organize interdisciplinary work, anticipate risks, make sound decisions, and deliver high-quality work.
- Success working directly with clients, sponsors, operational agencies, utilities, or research partners.
- Experience contributing to business development through activities such as opportunity identification, client engagement, concept development, proposal preparation, or expansion of existing work.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical information to both technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Ability to develop and articulate new technical or research ideas and translate them into fundable, executable work.
- Ability to provide constructive senior review, mentorship, and technical guidance to project teams.
- Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future visa sponsorship.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with ensemble hydrologic prediction, probabilistic forecasting, uncertainty characterization, bias correction, post-processing, or forecast verification.
- Experience developing AI/ML or hybrid process-based and data-driven methods for hydrologic forecasting or water management.
- Experience applying data assimilation methods to hydrologic, snow, meteorological, hydraulic, or reservoir forecasting problems.
- Experience with reservoir system modeling, forecast-informed reservoir operations, or optimization.
- Experience with forecasting and modeling platforms or tools such as Delft-FEWS, National Weather Service forecasting models and workflows, RiverWare, HEC platforms, or comparable systems.
- Experience with coastal modeling, urban/stormwater modeling, or groundwater modeling
- Working knowledge of Python, geospatial tools, cloud computing, or data engineering.
- Experience working with federal water agencies, River Forecast Centers, reservoir operators, or hydropower utilities.
- Experience leading or contributing to collaborative research involving academic, government, nonprofit, and private-sector partners.
- A record of technical publications, conference presentations, workshops, or leadership in professional and research communities.
#LI-KV1
EEO & Pay Equity Statements
For San Francisco, CA USA Job Postings Only: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Further information is available here.
RTI accepts applications to our job openings from candidates with criminal histories or conviction records in accordance with all applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.
For Applicants in Massachusetts Only: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below. Our pay ranges represent national averages and may vary by location as a geographic differential may be applied to some locations within the United States. RTI considers multiple factors when making an offer including, for example: established salary range, internal budget, business needs, and education and years of work experience possessed by the applicant. Further, salary is merely one element to our offer.
At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.
Equal Pay Act Minimum/Range
$137,000 - $155,000
As a global employer of choice, RTI is committed to belonging in the workplace and the communities and markets where we serve our mission. We value a variety of thoughts, cultures, backgrounds and perspectives and welcome applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, creed, citizenship status, disability, protected veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable discrimination laws or RTI policy. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Click here to view the EEOC Know Your Rights Poster.
RTI International
Research Environmental Engineer
Durham, North Carolina
Added 1d ago1,001-5,000 employees
Job functions:
$137k - $155k/yr
Bachelor's degree in geography
Job Description
Why RTI
About the Hiring Group
What You'll Do
What You'll Need
EEO & Pay Equity Statements
At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.
Equal Pay Act Minimum/Range
$137,000 - $155,000
RTI International is an independent, scientific research institute dedicated to improving the human condition. Our vision is to address the world's most critical problems with technical and science-based solutions in pursuit of a better future. Clients rely on us to answer questions that demand an objective and multidisciplinary approach—one that integrates expertise across social, statistical, data, and laboratory sciences, engineering, and other technical disciplines to solve the world’s most challenging problems.
We believe in the promise of science and technical solutions, and we push ourselves every day to deliver on that promise for the good of people, communities, and businesses in the US and around the world. If you are looking for the opportunity to make a real difference, RTI is the place for you.
We believe in the promise of science and technical solutions, and we push ourselves every day to deliver on that promise for the good of people, communities, and businesses in the US and around the world. If you are looking for the opportunity to make a real difference, RTI is the place for you.
About the Hiring Group
RTI’s Center for Water, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Solutions (WARES) connects expertise across science, engineering, economics, and technology to develop practical solutions to complex environmental and economic challenges. WARES water resources work spans river forecasting and decision-support systems, water supply planning, watershed management, critical infrastructure risk analysis, and data management solutions for domestic and international clients.
We are seeking a Research Environmental Engineer to join our Forecasting and River Operations team. This team develops operational river forecasting systems, hydrologic and reservoir models, data workflows, and decision-support tools for water management agencies, hydropower utilities, and other clients. We conduct client-sponsored research to advance forecasting methods and adapt emerging research for use in operational systems. The team has extensive experience implementing and supporting river forecast systems, integrating hydrologic, hydraulic, reservoir operations, and other models, and developing workflows for data ingestion, quality control, visualization, reporting, and forecast evaluation.
Why Join Us?
- Do meaningful work that helps forecasters and water managers make informed decisions for the communities they serve.
- Develop practical solutions to complex water management challenges.
- Collaborate with experts across water resources, data science, energy, economics, social science, and software development.
- Translate research into useful day-to-day forecasting and water management tools.
- Work directly with clients to understand their challenges and develop ideas for new projects.
What You'll Do
In this role, you will combine project leadership, senior technical input, client engagement, establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships, and business development. You will lead project teams, coordinate technical contributions across the group, and manage scope, budgets, and schedules to deliver high-quality solutions. You will strengthen client relationships, guide technically rigorous research and implementation, provide senior input across a diverse project portfolio, and help expand RTI’s footprint in water resources forecasting and operations.
Essential Duties:
Internal leadership, development, and project oversight
- Provide senior input across multiple projects, helping define the technical direction on projects, interpret results, manage project risks, and produce high-quality deliverables.
- Serve as a senior client-facing lead, building trusted relationships through strong technical judgment, dependable project execution, and clear communication to understand client needs.
- Manage complex implementation and research projects from scoping through delivery, including planning, staffing, budget and schedule oversight, risk management, quality review, and communication with clients and partners.
- Provide senior leadership across three or more key technical areas such as:
- Hydrologic model development
- Deterministic and ensemble forecasting
- Data assimilation
- Forecast verification and uncertainty characterization
- Reservoir operations and river system management
- Forecast-informed decision support
- AI/ML and hybrid modeling for forecasting systems
- Coordinate effectively with our multidisciplinary team and with external research or operational partners.
- Mentor technical staff and project managers.
Business development and client relations
- Identify emerging research with potential for implementation in client systems. Communicate these opportunities to clients and lead internal efforts to build the expertise needed to put them into practice.
- Represent RTI in client meetings, technical workshops, conferences, working groups, and collaborative research activities.
- Establish and maintain client relationships, building trust and understanding their evolving needs and priorities.
- Identify and develop new opportunities with current and prospective clients, particularly where RTI can connect applied research, forecasting technology, and operational decision-making.
- Lead or make substantial contributions to capture planning, proposals, and business development.
- Help shape new service offerings, partnerships, and investment priorities that expand RTI’s forecasting and operations portfolio.
What You'll Need
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree and 12 years of experience, master’s degree and 10 years of experience, PhD and 8 years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Relevant fields includes civil engineering, environmental engineering, hydrology, water resources engineering, environmental science, computer science, geography, or a related discipline.
Required Qualifications
- Deep expertise in core aspects of operational water forecasting and decision support, with the ability to provide credible senior guidance across adjacent water resources disciplines. Experience with the data, models, workflows, verification methods, and operational constraints that affect operational forecasting and decision support systems.
- Proven experience leading technical projects, workstreams, or applied research efforts involving multiple contributors and stakeholders. Strong project leadership skills, including the ability to define scope, organize interdisciplinary work, anticipate risks, make sound decisions, and deliver high-quality work.
- Success working directly with clients, sponsors, operational agencies, utilities, or research partners.
- Experience contributing to business development through activities such as opportunity identification, client engagement, concept development, proposal preparation, or expansion of existing work.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical information to both technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Ability to develop and articulate new technical or research ideas and translate them into fundable, executable work.
- Ability to provide constructive senior review, mentorship, and technical guidance to project teams.
- Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future visa sponsorship.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with ensemble hydrologic prediction, probabilistic forecasting, uncertainty characterization, bias correction, post-processing, or forecast verification.
- Experience developing AI/ML or hybrid process-based and data-driven methods for hydrologic forecasting or water management.
- Experience applying data assimilation methods to hydrologic, snow, meteorological, hydraulic, or reservoir forecasting problems.
- Experience with reservoir system modeling, forecast-informed reservoir operations, or optimization.
- Experience with forecasting and modeling platforms or tools such as Delft-FEWS, National Weather Service forecasting models and workflows, RiverWare, HEC platforms, or comparable systems.
- Experience with coastal modeling, urban/stormwater modeling, or groundwater modeling
- Working knowledge of Python, geospatial tools, cloud computing, or data engineering.
- Experience working with federal water agencies, River Forecast Centers, reservoir operators, or hydropower utilities.
- Experience leading or contributing to collaborative research involving academic, government, nonprofit, and private-sector partners.
- A record of technical publications, conference presentations, workshops, or leadership in professional and research communities.
#LI-KV1
EEO & Pay Equity Statements
For San Francisco, CA USA Job Postings Only: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Further information is available here.
RTI accepts applications to our job openings from candidates with criminal histories or conviction records in accordance with all applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.
For Applicants in Massachusetts Only: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below. Our pay ranges represent national averages and may vary by location as a geographic differential may be applied to some locations within the United States. RTI considers multiple factors when making an offer including, for example: established salary range, internal budget, business needs, and education and years of work experience possessed by the applicant. Further, salary is merely one element to our offer.
At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.
Equal Pay Act Minimum/Range
$137,000 - $155,000
As a global employer of choice, RTI is committed to belonging in the workplace and the communities and markets where we serve our mission. We value a variety of thoughts, cultures, backgrounds and perspectives and welcome applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, creed, citizenship status, disability, protected veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable discrimination laws or RTI policy. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Click here to view the EEOC Know Your Rights Poster.
See All 26 Environmental Engineer Jobs in North Carolina
Find roles in North Carolina that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Environmental Engineer JobsEnvironmental Engineer Jobs by City in North Carolina
Where North Carolina roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Charlotte
8 jobsRaleigh
7 jobsDurham
3 jobsWilmington
3 jobsAsheville
2 jobsGreensboro
1 jobMorrisville
1 jobEnvironmental Engineer Job Market in North Carolina
A snapshot from current North Carolina openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Consulting & Professional Services
What North Carolina Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in environmental engineer jobs across North Carolina.
- Active Professional Engineer license issued or recognized by the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors
- Bachelor's degree in environmental engineering, civil engineering, or a closely related discipline
- Experience with NCDEQ permitting, stormwater regulations, or federal environmental compliance frameworks
- Proficiency with environmental modeling software such as MODFLOW, AERMOD, or AutoCAD
- Strong technical writing skills for preparing reports, permits, and environmental assessments
- Valid driver's license and willingness to conduct field work across North Carolina project sites
Environmental Engineer Jobs in North Carolina: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a environmental engineer in North Carolina?
Becoming a licensed environmental engineer in North Carolina requires earning a bachelor's degree in engineering from an accredited program, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, accumulating qualifying work experience, and passing the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam. Licensure is issued by the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors. A Professional Engineer license is required to stamp designs and often expected for mid-career and senior roles in consulting and government.
How much do environmental engineers make in North Carolina?
Environmental engineers in North Carolina earn a median of about $99,440 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $69,000 for the lowest 10% to over $143,040 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire environmental engineers in North Carolina?
Employers hiring environmental engineers in North Carolina right now include CDM Smith, WSP, and Geosyntec Consultants, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. North Carolina's mix of active NCDEQ-regulated industries, large military installations, and a dense consulting corridor along the I-85 and Research Triangle corridors keeps demand steady across both public and private sector employers.
Which North Carolina cities have the most environmental engineer jobs?
Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham have the most environmental engineer openings in North Carolina. Raleigh and the Research Triangle draw the heaviest concentration because of state agency headquarters, major research institutions, and a dense cluster of environmental consulting firms, while Charlotte's large industrial and infrastructure base sustains strong private-sector demand.
Are there remote environmental engineer jobs in North Carolina?
Yes, but they're rare. Environmental engineering is largely site-dependent, requiring field inspections, soil sampling, and in-person agency coordination, so fully remote roles represent a small share of the market. About 75% of environmental engineer openings tied to North Carolina are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, and those positions tend to cover report writing, data analysis, and regulatory review tasks that don't require physical site access.
How can I get hired as a environmental engineer in North Carolina with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is applying to environmental consulting firms in the Research Triangle and Charlotte that hire engineer-in-training candidates directly out of accredited bachelor's programs. AECOM, WSP, and NCDEQ's regional offices regularly onboard early-career engineers for field sampling, report support, and permitting assistance. Passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam before graduation signals readiness and gives candidates a clear edge. Adjacent roles in environmental science or civil engineering with field exposure also serve as a practical bridge into the profession.
Where can I find and apply to environmental engineer jobs in North Carolina?
You can find and apply to environmental engineer jobs in North Carolina on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from employers actively hiring in the state. Search the available roles, find the ones that match your experience and specialization, and apply directly through each listing.
See All 26 Environmental Engineer Jobs in North Carolina
Find roles in North Carolina that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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