Senior Air Quality Engineer (Emissions Inventory)

Bay Area Air District; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

The Bay Area Air District is seeking a Senior Air Quality Engineer to lead emissions data management and inventory activities within the AIM Division. You will develop estimates for complex sources, optimize data pipelines in SQL and R, and create visualization tools to support regulatory reporting and modeling efforts.

Ideal candidates bring strong analytics, cross‑functional collaboration, and experience with emissions inventory development and automation.

Qualifications

• Solid experience with emissions data management of pollutants and toxics.
• Strong data analysis, QA/QC automation, and visualization skills.
• Experience with GitHub, SQL Server, and Python/R tooling.

Responsibilities

• Develop emissions estimates for complex area source categories and annual reporting for facilities.
• Design, review, and enhance SQL and R scripts to automate QA/QC and streamline workflows.
• Integrate emissions estimates into local/regional air quality models for analysis.
• Modernize data processing, strengthen automated QA/QC, and build Power BI visualizations.
• Lead data management and inventory updates, coordinating with other divisions.

Skills

Emissions data management

Data analysis

QA automation

Visualization

GitHub

Python

R

Education

Bachelor's degree in environmental, chemical, mechanical or petroleum engineering

Two years of air quality engineering experience

Tools

GitHub

SQL Server

Power BI

Python

R

Job description

The Bay Area Air District (Air District) is a regional government agency, committed to achieving clean air to protect the public's health and the environment. The Air District accomplishes this goal through regulation of industrial facilities and various outreach and incentive programs designed to encourage clean air choices.

The Air District's jurisdiction encompasses all of seven counties - Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Napa, and portions of two others - southwestern Solano and southern Sonoma.

The Air District is currently accepting applications for the position of Senior Air Quality Engineer in the Assessment, Inventory & Modeling Division (AIM). This is an open recruitment for one (1) full-time, represented position.

About the Position

The Senior Air Quality Engineer will be assigned to the Emissions and Community Exposure Assessment Section within the AIM Division. This position provides technical leadership to ensure the Air District's emissions reporting for permitted facilities and complex area source categories is accurate, compliant with regulatory requirements, and aligned with evolving state standards. Key responsibilities include:

1. Developing emissions estimates for complex area source categories and annual emissions reporting for permitted facilities.
2. Designing, reviewing, and enhancing SQL and R scripts to improve data processing, automate quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC), and streamline database workflows.
3. Integrating emissions estimates into local and regional air quality modeling systems to support emissions and air quality analysis.

The Senior Air Quality Engineer will support the full lifecycle of emissions data management, including modernizing data processing workflows, strengthening automated QA/QC systems, improving SQL- and R-based data pipelines, and developing data visualization tools using Power BI and other software platforms. This position will also help improve data management systems to reduce reporting errors, eliminate redundant processes, and support the integration of emissions inventories into modeling frameworks.

The ideal candidate is a self-motivated professional with strong organizational skills, sound judgment, and demonstrated expertise in SQL and R programming. Experience with emissions inventory development, data management, and automation is highly desirable.

Performs the more difficult and complex air quality engineering work such as, but not limited to, permit processing for petroleum refineries, power plants and semiconductor manufacturing facilities, air pollution dispersion modeling, providing detailed source inventoriesand providing project leadership.

Participates in calculating, reviewing, correcting and documenting the emissions inventory; evaluates accuracy of source emission calculations and methodologies.

Develops procedures to calculate and forecast pollutant emissions from natural and man-made sources of air pollution.

Uses emissions models, geographic information systems, and relational database to prepare and modify large data files on inventory input to air quality models.

Provides engineering expertise in preparing and updating the emission inventory and other aspects of State and Federal air quality plans, including developing required programs, structuring data and preparing long-range emission forecasts for major industrial classifications.

Coordinates toxic risk screening and risk assessment analysis; calculates toxic emissions, determines and applies appropriate air dispersion models, calculates maximum concentrations and calculates risk; recommends approval or denial of permit applications.

Represents the District as technical expert in meetings with outside agencies, environmental groups and industry personnel regarding air quality control regulations, and source inventory procedures and results; act as an expert witness before the Hearing Board.

Upon request, provides input into selection decisions and performances. Coordinates technical data gathering and compilation, including coordination with other District sections and divisions.

Upon assignment, provides lead direction training and work review to Air Quality Engineers on routine, continuing or well-defined tasks, priorities and follows up on work to ensure timely completion. Coordinates and reviews the work of engineering and support staff involved in complex, sensitive and controversial engineering projects, studies and audits.

Performs, reviews, and directs the preparation of air quality impact analyses for permits, risk assessments and environmental impact documents.

Conducts special studies and write technical reports related to research and planning functions, and coordinate activities with District Staff, outside agencies and organizations.

Uses a computer terminal and a variety of software and programs to make engineering calculations, enter and retrieve data and to monitor and correct data entry; writes and revises computer programs; investigates and corrects errors in the data bank.

Acquires, evaluates, and applies computer models to simulate motor vehicle use and calculate vehicle emissions.

May manage contracts with vendors and consultants.

Education and Experience:

A typical way to obtain the knowledge and skills is:

Equivalent to graduation from a four year college or university with major coursework in environmental, chemical, mechanical or petroleum engineering or a closely related field and two years of air quality environmental engineering experience at a level equivalent to the District's class of Air Quality Engineer II. A directly related graduate degree may be desirable for some assignments and may be substituted for one year of the experience.

Desirable qualifications/skills

• Solid experience with emissions data management of criteria pollutants, greenhouse gases, and toxics air contaminants from stationary and mobile sources.
• Strong experience in data analysis/management, automated data QA and visualization, and issues tracking/documentation (e.g., GitHub, SQL Server, Power Bi, Python, and R) to improve emissions inventory development, update, and impact assessment work.
• Strong communication (both verbal and written) and interpersonal skills and ability to work with people of varied backgrounds and perspectives.
• Experience in exposure/health risk assessment and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a plus.

Other Requirements

Must possess a valid California driver's license. This position is an office position that may require extended periods of time either standing or sitting at a desk.

Individuals who apply for this position must respond to each of the supplemental questions. Both paper and online applications must be received by the Human Resources Office no later than the time and date specified in the vacancy announcement. The responses to the supplemental application questions will be used in accordance with the procedures indicated under the Selection Criteria in the vacancy announcement.

Instructions: Please limit your responses to one page per question. Do not combine your responses, or reference your application, resume, or any other requested documentation that you have included with your application packet to answer a question. Please be advised that the information you provide will be evaluated "as is" and incomplete or illegible applications will likely receive lower ratings. Therefore, it is very important to provide a concise, organized, and easy to follow response to each question.

You must provide the following for each question regarding experience: The name of the employer where you gained your experience, your job title, length of time in years/months performing the specific function, and detailed examples that illustrate your duties and responsibilities.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Selection may be based upon a competitive examination consisting of a written exercise, interview, or combination of the two. Depending on the number of qualified applicants, an application screening and/or panel interview may be used to determine the most qualified applicants.

The Air District may hire from this recruitment process to fill future vacancies occurring within the next 18 months.

Updates regarding your status in the recruitment will be sent via email, unless you indicate a different preference on your application.

Persons with disabilities who may require reasonable accommodations during the application and/or selection process should notify the Human Resources Office at [phone].

The Air District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.