Principal Consultant - Post Consent Compliance Manager

Principal Consultant - Onshore Post-Consent Compliance Manager / Consents Manager

ERM is seeking an experienced and motivated Principal Consultant - Onshore Consents Manager to lead the delivery of post-consent environmental compliance services across major infrastructure projects. This role offers the opportunity to support projects through the critical transition from consent to construction, ensuring compliance with consent requirements, environmental commitments, and regulatory obligations. Working across sectors including electricity transmission and distribution, renewable energy, hydrogen, solar, and onshore wind, you will play a leading role in helping clients successfully implement consented projects while managing environmental risk and maintaining strong relationships with regulators and stakeholders. As a senior member of the team, you will provide strategic advice, oversee compliance delivery, manage multidisciplinary project teams, and support the continued growth of ERM's post-consent services.

The Role

As a Consents Manager, you will lead environmental compliance and consent management activities throughout the post-consent phase of major projects. You will act as a trusted advisor to clients, ensuring that consent requirements, planning conditions, commitments, and legal obligations are effectively managed and discharged.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver Environmental Consents Manager and Post-Consent Compliance Manager roles on major infrastructure projects from consent through construction.
• Develop and implement consent management and compliance strategies to support project delivery and reduce environmental and regulatory risk.
• Establish and maintain comprehensive consents, commitments, and obligations registers, ensuring requirements are clearly tracked and managed.
• Provide oversight of consent compliance processes and ensure project teams understand and fulfil environmental commitments.
• Coordinate the preparation and submission of applications for the discharge of requirements, planning conditions, and other consent-related obligations.
• Act as the primary point of contact for consent and compliance queries from project teams, clients, contractors, regulators, and other stakeholders.
• Liaise with regulatory bodies, including the Planning Inspectorate, Local Planning Authorities, Environment Agency, Natural England, and other statutory consultees.
• Support and lead environmental compliance audits, inspections, and regulatory reviews.
• Prepare clear and concise reports on compliance status, emerging risks, and consent-related matters for clients, regulators, and senior project leadership.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, environmental, planning, legal, and construction teams to ensure effective integration of consent requirements into project delivery.
• Support business development through proposal preparation, client engagement, presentations, and thought leadership initiatives.
• Mentor and develop junior team members, contributing to a positive and collaborative team culture.

Why This Role Matters

The successful delivery of major infrastructure projects depends on effective environmental compliance and robust consent management. As a Principal Consultant, you will help clients navigate complex regulatory frameworks, maintain compliance throughout construction, and deliver projects responsibly and sustainably. Your expertise will play a critical role in managing environmental risk, protecting project programmes, and ensuring projects achieve their objectives while meeting regulatory expectations and environmental commitments.

What We're Looking For

Essential Experience in environmental consent management, post-consent compliance, or environmental project delivery within the UK infrastructure sector.

Degree (or equivalent qualification) in Environmental Management, Environmental Planning, Geography, Ecology, Engineering, Law, or a related discipline.

Proven experience supporting or leading the discharge of consent requirements, planning conditions, and environmental commitments on major infrastructure projects.

Strong understanding of UK planning and consenting regimes, including:

• Development Consent Orders (DCOs)
• Town and Country Planning Act
• Electricity Act Section 36
• Consents
• Associated environmental permitting and licensing requirements
• Knowledge of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), environmental legislation, and the practical implementation of mitigation and monitoring commitments during construction.

Excellent stakeholder management skills with experience engaging clients, regulators, contractors, and multidisciplinary project teams.

Strong organisational and analytical skills, including management of complex compliance, legal, and regulatory requirements.

Experience preparing compliance reports, consent submissions, and regulatory correspondence.

Excellent communication, project management, and problem-solving skills.

Desirable Experience

• Managing environmental compliance during construction phases of major infrastructure projects.
• Experience working within sectors such as transmission and distribution, renewable energy, hydrogen, solar, or wind.
• Professional membership of a relevant institution (IEMA, RTPI, CIWEM, CEnv or equivalent).
• Line management or mentoring experience.

What You'll Bring

You are a proactive and client-focused environmental professional with a strong understanding of post-consent project delivery. You combine technical knowledge with commercial awareness and are confident working with clients, regulators, and project teams to deliver successful outcomes. You thrive in a collaborative environment, enjoy solving complex challenges, and are passionate about helping infrastructure projects achieve high environmental standards.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

ERM is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to thrive, it's an essential part of what makes ERM a great place to build a career and helps us create better solutions for our clients. We welcome talent from all backgrounds and provide equal opportunities for every candidate. If you have a disability, are neurodivergent, or need accommodations during the selection process, we're here to support you. Our commitment doesn't stop at hiring. Once you join us, we'll ensure you have the tools, support, and adjustments needed to succeed and feel a true sense of belonging. Learn more about our Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging (DIB) efforts by visiting our website or exploring our 2025 Sustainability Report.

About ERM

At ERM, sustainability is our business. We are the world's largest advisory firm focused solely on sustainability, offering unparalleled expertise across business and finance. ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, through our unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. Our diverse global team of experts works with the world's leading organizations to help them set clear sustainability targets, measure progress and operationalize strategy through deep implementation and business transformation. With more than 50 years of experience, our ability to integrate sustainability solutions and our depth and breadth of technical knowledge is why organizations choose to partner with us as their trusted advisor. Every one of us firmly believes in the potential to create value for our clients through an integrated approach to sustainability (because we have personally seen it and professionally achieved it). Our team members are passionate about client service. We work closely with our clients to help them operationalize their sustainability goals and meet their environmental, health and safety objectives while advancing ERM's purpose through delivering tangible progress in what the United Nations coined The Decade of Action. Organizing our people across globally integrated communities of technical and strategic talent positions ERM to be a "boots to boardroom" leader in bringing that value creation to our clients, partners, and the world.

We recruit exceptional professionals with a personal and professional passion for sustainability and nurture them to even greater success as specialists. We prepare our consultants to bring integrated, innovative and sustainable solutions to our clients and provide opportunities for ongoing development across a variety of subject areas related to technical, business, and personal growth. At ERM, effort pays off and becomes career defining work that leaves a positive imprint on our planet.