Sterling Labs

Environmental Field Tech - Entry Level

Des Plaines, IL - Full Time

EMT's growth has been directly tied to our client’s needs. From wastewater sampling and analysis in greater Chicago and Milwaukee, to nationwide service with Department of Defense partners, our commitment to our clients drives our growth.

We Preserve the Planet to Protect the Future.

Our Core Values:

We strive for Integrity in Everything We Do.  We're honest and transparent in our actions and decisions.

We are Customer-Focused. We prioritize our customers' needs and value their feedback.

We are Never Satisfied and are dedicated to continuous improvement. We always seek ways to improve and adapt to changing needs.

Job Description

The Environmental Field Technician will engage in wastewater, groundwater, leachate, stormwater, soil, drinking water, and surface water monitoring and sample collection activities. Upon completion of the training program, the Environmental Field Technician will work on monitoring and sampling projects on a variety of matrices at facilities throughout the Midwest. Under the direction of the Groundwater and/or the Wastewater Field Manager, the technician will follow standard procedures for data and sample collection to ensure representative data is collected to meet EMT, client, and regulatory specifications. The Environmental Field Technician must follow protocols and procedures to ensure work is completed in a safe and ethical manner to exceed our client’s expectations. The groundwater and wastewater field services provided supports a variety of clientele including consulting and engineering firms, private industry, and governmental agencies operating under many different environmental rules and regulations.

Specific Duties Of The Position

  • Maintains quality standards in accordance with EMT Standard Operating Procedures, NEFAP Standard and relevant sampling and analysis standards.
  • Perform water quality monitoring using field instrumentation for indicator parameters
  • Collect wastewater, groundwater, leachate, stormwater, soil, surface water, and drinking water samples in accordance with standard operating procedures. Conduct sampling and measurement activities in accordance with EMT policies and procedures.
  • Troubleshoot flow measurement, monitoring, and sampling equipment.
  • Collect and document accurate and defensible data.
  • Install and operate automated wastewater sampling equipment
  • Install and operate automated stormwater sampling equipment
  • Install and operate flow measurement instrumentation.
  • Perform confined space entries to install and maintain monitoring equipment.
  • Review and interpret data to identify trends and anomalies.
  • Documentation of all field activities sufficient to historically reconstruct all field activities.
  • Communicate effectively with team members and project management staff to ensure field activities exceeds client expectations and quality data generated. Confer with project managers to coordinate operations and activities in accordance with the contracted scope of work.
  • Interact with clients and/or their project engineer/consultant to ensure project specifications are met.
  • Adequately prepare and deliver or ship samples to EMT or our partner laboratories.
  • Report writing summarizing field activities.
  • Perform landfill gas monitoring and flare gas sampling.
  • Conduct surface scan monitoring for ground emissions.
  • Strictly adhere to EMT data integrity and ethics policy.
  • Strictly adhere to EMT safety policies and procedures.
  • Travel to client facilities which can include overnight stays.
  • Work weekends on a rotational basis.
  • Such other tasks as may be assigned from time to time consistent with the objectives of the position.

Physical Requirements of the Position

  • Must be able to work in conditions where limited access is available requiring hiking and manual transport of field equipment to monitoring locations.
  • Must pass a pre-employment physical.
  • Must be able to lift and/or carry heavy equipment, coolers, etc. that weigh up to fifty (50) pounds using correct and safe lifting techniques.
  • Must be able to wear all Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required for the position.
  • Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.
  • While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel; talk or hear; and smell.  
  • Must be able to work in all types of varying weather conditions.
  • Must be able to safely work in industrial, solid waste and construction settings.
  • Must be able to safely work around chemicals.

Personal and Professional Credentials

  • Bachelor’s Degree Preferred.
  • Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
  • Ability to think critically and problem solve.
  • Self-directed, goal and outcome orientated.
  • Due to Client requirements for facility on-site access, background checks are required.
  • Must possess a valid driver's license.
  • Must be able to be insured by EMT's insurance carrier to drive company vehicles safely and effectively. In addition, the ability to drive off road vehicles is required.

Benefits

  • 401(k) options
  • Confidential Employee Assistance Program
  • Dental Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Medical Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Short term and Long Term Disability

Sterling Labs is committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination or harassment. We expect every member of the Sterling Labs community to do their part to cultivate and maintain an environment where everyone has the opportunity to feel included, and is afforded the respect and dignity they deserve.

Decisions related to hiring, compensating, training, evaluating performance, or terminating are made fairly, and we provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and employees. We examine our unconscious biases and take responsibility for always striving to create an inclusive environment that makes every employee and candidate feel welcome.

Apply: Environmental Field Tech - Entry Level
* Required fields
First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Location *
Phone number*
Resume*

Attach resume or Paste resume

Attach resume as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt, .txt, or .rtf (limit 5MB) or paste resume

Paste your resume here or attach resume file

Are you eligible for employment in the United States?*
Do you have a valid driver's license and are you insurable?*
Is your schedule flexible from 3AM – 7PM?*
Are you available to work overtime?*
Are you willing to travel with overnight stays roughly 25% of the time?*
Are you available to work occasional weekends and holidays?*
Are you willing to work for $16.00 per hour?*
Are you willing to work in an outdoor field environment that has variable weather conditions?*
Are you comfortable wearing Personal Protective Equipment (Hard Hat, Nitrile Gloves, Safety Glasses, and Steel Toe Boots)?*
Do you have a safe place to park a company vehicle?*
Do you have any field experience?*
Do you have experience using maps to locate specific locations?*
Do you have experience using power tools?*
If you attended college, what was the main focus of your degree?*
What would you like to accomplish in your career and how can this role at EMT specifically help you achieve it?*
The following questions are entirely optional.
To comply with government Equal Employment Opportunity and/or Affirmative Action reporting regulations, we are requesting (but NOT requiring) that you enter this personal data. This information will not be used in connection with any employment decisions, and will be used solely as permitted by state and federal law. Your voluntary cooperation would be appreciated. Learn more.
Gender
Race/Ethnicity
Invitation for Job Applicants to Self-Identify as a U.S. Veteran
  • A “disabled veteran” is one of the following:
    • a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
    • a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
  • A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
  • An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
  • An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.
Veteran status
I IDENTIFY AS ONE OR MORE OF THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF PROTECTED VETERAN LISTED ABOVE
I AM NOT A PROTECTED VETERAN
I DON’T WISH TO ANSWER
Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability
Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026
Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Please check one of the boxes below:
YES, I HAVE A DISABILITY, OR HAVE HAD ONE IN THE PAST
NO, I DO NOT HAVE A DISABILITY AND HAVE NOT HAD ONE IN THE PAST
I DO NOT WANT TO ANSWER

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Name Date
Human Check*