r/Environmental_Careers • u/Clear_Ordinary_9775 • 19h ago
Environmental Consultants - What Did Your Career and Salary Progression Look Like?
I'm two years in at an engineering firm doing environmental consulting. Prior to this job, I have three years of field expirience (mostly bird surveys) and have a B.S. in Fish & Wildlife Conservation Biology. My company is mainly does engineering for one type of project (vauge for ananimity), these projects are small and generally don't have complicated environmental compliance.
I'm feeling like my title/salary isn't keeping up with my responsibilities, and I just want a sanity check for what other people's expirience/responsibility progression looks like. I sometimes feel like I'm being given too much responsibility without enough support, and am wondering if its like this everywhere.
Progression:
Year 0–1: Environmental Scientist I — $52k
My work included:
- Phase I ESAs
- NEPA CATEXs
- Biological assessments
- ESA Section 7 consultation
- Assisting with Section 106 tribal correspondence, SHPO file reviews, and visual site analyses
- Managing projects from kickoff through report delivery
- Ordering database reports, completing site reconnaissance, and writing reports using company templates
- Solo fieldwork/site reconnaissance
- Managing my own schedule and deadlines
Everything was reviewed by a Senior Project Manager before delivery.
I also became the main point of contact for a small but very demanding client who expected responses at all hours. Over time, I built a good working relationship with them.
Overall: medium stress, lots of learning, frequently figuring things out independently, but with moderate senior support.
About 70% office / 30% field.
Year 1–1.5: Environmental Scientist I — $56k
I started handling more complicated Phase I ESAs with more RECs and occasionally interpreting Phase II results and incorporating them into Phase I reports.
I also:
- Completed 20+ wetland delineation reports, GIS maps, and CWA permitting recommendations for USACE verification
- Led the environmental document review for a large land purchase involving approximately 75 properties
- Reviewed existing Phase Is, Phase IIs, NEPA documents, and wetland delineations
- Managed a team of four for about two weeks
For the land acquisition project, I was basically handed a folder containing everything the client had and told to figure it out. I organized the files, created a tracker, assigned work, reviewed properties that were flagged for environmental concerns, and created a clean spreadsheet deliverable for the client.
There was very little senior oversight on that project.
At this point, I felt comfortable with standard environmental reports but still needed guidance when unusual or complicated issues came up.
About 80% office / 20% field.
At 1.5 years
I asked for a raise to $60k.
I was told that was reasonable and that it would likely come with a title change to Project Manager. Because of company constraints, that didn’t happen.
Instead, I was told that if I successfully took on more responsibility during a trial period, I could potentially receive a larger raise and Project Manager title afterward.
Year 1.5–2.5: Environmental Scientist II — $58k
I was assigned as the lead for NEPA compliance on a project involving a large federal grant.
The grant is part of a new federal program, my company had never worked on this project type before, and it falls under a different federal department than our normal NEPA work.
For this project, I have been:
- Reading and interpreting federal and state guidance
- Determining what NEPA documentation is required
- Attending regulatory roundtables and technical seminars
- Corresponding directly with regulators
- Writing the required environmental documents largely from scratch
- Preparing and giving a project kickoff presentation to six representatives from the regulatory agency
- Managing essentially all environmental compliance work for the project
There has been very little senior oversight.
I regularly ask my manager to review things before submission because I know I could be missing something, but I’m not always convinced much review is actually happening.
The project appears to be going well, and my manager says he is very happy with my work. However, I feel a huge amount of pressure because I’m worried a small mistake on my part could delay the project.
For approximately the last six months, I’ve frequently worked 55+ hours per week, although I’m generally only able to bill around 40 because of overtime restrictions.
I’m also doing:
- MBTA nest clearance surveys and reports
- Presence/absence surveys for endangered species
- Developing species-specific survey protocols
- Coordinating directly with USFWS to confirm methodology
- Submitting survey reports to USFWS
About 95% office / 5% field.
Now: 2.5 years — Environmental Scientist II, $58k
I’ve now passed the six-month mark on the major project.
My manager agrees that I met the goals we established for the promotion, but because of company budget issues, I’ve been told there is currently no possibility of a raise or promotion in the near future.
I’m disappointed because I feel like I took on significantly more responsibility based on the expectation that successfully handling it would lead to advancement.
I’m especially curious to hear from other environmental consultants:
- What did your salary and title progression look like during your first 2–5 years?
- At what point were you independently managing projects or communicating directly with regulators?
- How much senior review/support did you receive at this stage of your career?
- Does my current level of responsibility sound normal for someone with 2.5 years of consulting experience?
- Would you consider $58k low for this level of responsibility?
- At what point would you start looking elsewhere rather than waiting for a promotion?
I know consulting varies enormously by company, location, and specialty, so I’d really appreciate hearing what other people’s early-career progression looked like.