Senior Sustainable Building Materials Specialist

About Brightworks Sustainability

One of the first sustainability consulting firms in the United States, Brightworks Sustainability has enjoyed a position of leadership and innovation in sustainability since its founding in 2001. We help our clients establish and implement operational sustainability programs that reduce their environmental footprints, advance their sustainability journeys, and increase their operational performance.

Brightworks creative and multi-disciplinary staff offer expertise in the following areas:

• Sustainable and Healthy Buildings
• Sustainable and Healthy Materials
• Energy Analysis and Optimization
• Building Performance, Operations, and Maintenance
• Corporate Sustainability and ESG Programs

Our major clients include leading technology firms, higher education institutions, life science organizations, and municipal entities. We provide our clients with unique solutions for the challenges they face meeting sustainability, innovation and community impact goals. unique to their organizations.

Your Experience as a Member of Brightworks Team

Our team members routinely cite the following aspects of their experience at Brightworks as most valuable to them:

• Making a difference
• High degree of flexibility
• Learning and growth
• Amazing colleagues
• Great clients and projects
• Recognition for performance
• Competitive compensation

You will be treated as an important strategic contributor, and you will be expected to make important contributions to the business while growing professionally, intellectually, personally, socially, and financially.

A certified B Corp since 2010, Brightworks Sustainability is committed to benefiting society while serving its customers. Brightworks has received B Corps Best for the Environment and Best for Workers honors.

Compensation / Total Rewards

Brightworks Sustainability has the highest Living Wage certification level of Leading Plus. Our salaries are competitive and commensurate with experience.

Additionally, we provide generous employee benefits that include:

• Medical Monthly Premium 100% Paid for Employee
• Dental- Monthly Premium 100% Paid for Employee
• Vision Monthly Premium 100% Paid for Employee
• Life and Short-Term & Long-term Disability Insurance- Monthly Premiums 100% Paid for Employee
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Paid time off starting at 4 weeks PTO accrual annually
• Paid holidays 11 per year
• Paid Volunteer Time 8 hours per year
• Paid Parental Leave up to 12 weeks family bonding leave for either parent, in addition to 6-8 weeks childbirth recovery
• 401(k) plan with many sustainable & socially equitable fund options
• Company 401(k) match
• Company Charitable Donation match
• Sustainable Commuting & Connectivity Subsidy
• Employee Fitness Benefit
• Hybrid schedules 2 work-from-home days per week
• Flexible schedules

Equal Employment

We are committed to an inclusive workforce that fully represents many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints. This is demonstrated by the representation of women in leadership roles, as well as a workforce that is strengthened by the significant contributions of our many employees from a variety of backgrounds, including our Latinx, LGBTQI+ and AAPI communities. We remain dedicated to enhancing our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Belonging (IDEB) strategy that fosters connections and creates a welcoming environment for all.

We invite and encourage ALL diverse candidates to apply to join our team.

About This Role

The Senior Materials Specialist position is responsible for leading complex projects and managing, performing, and delivering technical, materials-focused analysis and strategic consulting to support clients to shape and achieve materials goals related to circularity, embodied carbon, heath, and equity. This position is responsible for leading and mentoring other staff, ensuring work quality through QA/QC, and developing long-term relationships with clients. The role involves working on projects both at the building and portfolio scale to develop tailored approaches for clients to drive sustainable procurement decisions within their organization.

Essential Duties for This Role

• Review and interpret design drawings, specifications, and submittals.
• Provide design review to confirm compliance with owners project requirements, and other client and project goals.
• Perform and oversee technical analysis, such as healthy and sustainable materials optimization, scoring, etc.
• Strategize and help to structure workstreams and tasks for new or emerging service areas and analyses.
• Interact with clients during all project phases. Document and communicate discussions and resolutions with project team members to align deliverables to the project scope.
• Guide clients through programmatic arcs, identify where clients are in their materials programs and consult at the appropriate level to support the maturation of their programs.
• Manages client material standards with consistency and trust, navigating complex and potentially sensitive situations.

Healthy and Sustainable Materials-Specific

• Manage client program resources, including product database, technical standards, and communication resources.
• Advise on process-improvement strategies.
• Keep abreast of the latest advancements and thinking for materials optimization and share knowledge with the rest of the staff.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Understanding of sustainable building material attributes and considerations and/or how to research this information.
• Knowledge and competency reading drawings, specifications, and product documentation (HPDs, EPDs, product certifications, etc.).
• Advanced knowledge and competency using relevant software to support healthy and sustainable materials.
• Curiosity around and ability to think through and apply technology to complex ecosystems of data.
• Apply sound and diverse knowledge of building materials principles and practices to a broad array of assignments.
• Perform work requiring independent judgement in evaluation, selection, and adaptation/modification of standard approach.
• Understand the sustainable building materials landscape to leverage industry resources to independently solve problems encountered.
• Fluency in using Excel and data management tools.
• Manage and deliver technical work.

Healthy and Sustainable Building Materials-Specific

• Deep understanding of industry benchmarks, market availability, and construction practices that allows for making more nuanced assessments of trade-offs, when to allow exemptions, and when to push back in upholding requirements.
• Experienced in managing a building materials library for a client, understanding the critical needs and challenges often associated with material library management.
• Excellence in project delivery has consistently proven to bring repeat and expanding services with clients.
• Has a defined role in industry initiatives that are directly related to Brightworks growth of the service area, such as chairing a technical advisory group or working group.
• Involved in pitching services to new or prospective clients.
• Has converted or secured new client scopes, even if relatively small.
• Able to lead events, conference sessions or speaking engagements demonstrating Brightworks leadership or services, approximately once per year.

Grade Responsibilities

• Lead complex client-facing projects and collaborate with senior staff to clarify high-level client goals, staffing resources, project budget, and expected deliverables.
• Supervise, oversee and mentor internal team members so that they develop the knowledge, skills, and capabilities to deliver projects within scope, on budget, on schedule, and in the Brightworks way.
• Oversee, guide, and QA/QC the delivery of technical analyses, presentations, communications and deliverables to clients within scope, on budget, on schedule.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships based on expertise, competence, openness, initiative, and trust with existing and prospective clients, practice area leaders, and influencers within the industry.
• Maintain control of the project financials and contracting, complete invoicing, timesheet, and expense approvals per firm timelines. Proactively engage the finance team to address complex issues and meet common goals.
• Provide input to senior staff to help win projects and meet the companys profitability criteria.
• Support the firms practice development through acquiring technical expertise, collaborating on firm innovations, and matching industry leadership in sustainability with client needs.
• Foster honest, productive communications throughout the entire firm to support project delivery, business development, and operations.

Education & Experience

• This position requires a Bachelors degree in a relevant field, e.g., engineering, architecture, construction management, environmental science, sustainability, planning, or related disciplines. Relevant coursework or internships in sustainability, green building, or project management.
• 6+ years of related experience, training or equivalent combination of education and experience working in a complementary field or sustainability project management.

Eligibility: At this time, we are only considering candidates who are eligible to work in the United States without the need for company sponsorship now or in the future.

Travel Requirements: This position may require infrequent travel for up to 5% of the position, including overnight or multiple days.

Job Details

Classification: Full-time, Exempt

Direct Reports: This position may directly supervise a small team of staff in Grades 1-3. This position may also mentor or oversee other team members to complete discrete tasks or perform roles on projects. This position carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with organizational policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems

Compensation: The annual salary range for this role in New York is $110,250 - $130,750.

Starting pay offered may vary depending on geographic region, external market value, internal pay equity, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. Starting salary offers will typically be made in the bottom half of the listed range. In compliance with Equal Pay for Equal Work Acts, a potential new employees salary history will not be used in compensation decisions.

Location: This position is targeted for our New York office but may be filled in any Brightworks office location in the US (Seattle, Portland, Oakland, Los Angeles, New York). Please indicate your preferred office location(s) in your application and in your cover letter.

Brightworks offers hybrid work schedules.

This position is not eligible to be fully remote.

Visa Sponsorship: This position is not eligible for sponsorship.