NES Fircroft (NES) is looking to hire a Permian Basin Environmental Specialist in Midland, TX.
The Shale & Tight Environmental Specialist protects company execution by securing approvals, reducing compliance and schedule risk, and converting environmental requirements into clear actions that support safe, responsible operations in the Permian Basin for TX and NM.
Core Deliverables
- Identify constraints, surveys, mitigation needs, and regulatory triggers early.
- Manage permits, agency coordination, APD support, conservation reviews, floodplain approvals, pit registrations, and conditions of approval tracking for pits.
- Address biological, cultural, WOTUS, karst, threatened and endangered habitats, construction, and compliance requirements before field activity.
- Complete Clear-to-Construct reviews, constraint maps, permit conditions, seasonal restrictions, and field guidance.
- Maintain inspections, agency reporting, and environmental commitment verification.
Business Impact
- Protects license to operate by maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Ensures permit conditions, agency commitments, and conservation obligations are executed.
- Converts complex requirements into clear direction for field operations and acquisition.
- Reduces schedule risk, rework, and avoidable cost.
- Strengthens agency credibility through accurate submittals, timely responses, and defensible records.
- Supports responsible operations by protecting resources, reducing unnecessary field exposure, and maintaining controls.
Key Skillsets for Environmental Specialist Role
- Regulatory and permitting expertise: Working knowledge of Texas and New Mexico environmental requirements specific to onshore oil and gas planning, drilling, completions, and construction, including the government agencies (BLM, NMOCD, TXRRC), APDs, Conditions of Approval, Environmental Assessments, floodplain permits, pit registrations, conservation agreements, and operational compliance.
- Environmental risk identification: Ability to identify biological, cultural, WOTUS, karst, threatened and endangered habitat, nest, surface-use, and seasonal constraints early and translate risks into clear mitigation actions.
- Construction and execution readiness: Experience supporting Clear-to-Construct reviews, field guidance, permit condition verification, and environmental requirements that affect construction, drilling, completions, and operations.
- Agency and stakeholder management: Ability to coordinate effectively with regulatory agencies, contractors, land, asset teams, engineering, permitting, portfolio development, and field operations while tracking approvals, responses, and commitments.
- Compliance assurance and documentation: Strong discipline in inspections, reporting, audit support, permit condition tracking, and defensible regulatory documentation.
- Contractor and survey management: Ability to scope, coordinate, review, and challenge environmental survey work, technical reports, contractor deliverables, schedules, and quality.
- Business and operational judgment: Ability to prioritize work based on schedule, cost, compliance, agency credibility, and license-to-operate risk.
- Communication and decision quality: Clear, concise communicator who can explain complex requirements in field-ready terms, make recommendations, and escalate risks decisively.
- Education: Diploma in Health, Environment, and Safety related field.
Please note:
Work will take place 100% onsite in Midland, TX. 9 hour workdays (+ lunch) and rotating Friday’s off.
Nice to haves:
- Regulatory Environmental Experience- Specifically with New Mexico regulations
- AI and digital skill sets- role requires organization and is tech-heavy
- Prior Oil and Gas is a plus- must be willing to work in the industry
- Attention to detail- working with agents in the field, gathering necessary permits, ensuring wildlife is not negatively affect
- Extremely schedule-driven – construction delays are costly – should be self-motivated and need little hand-holding
- Will be called upon to provide advice, project manage, validate charges, etc
- Health and Safety education would be excellent