Southern California Water Treatment and Reuse Leader

Southern California Water Treatment And Reuse Leader

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

The Southern California Water Treatment and Reuse Leader is a key role within HDR's growing Southern California Water Business Group. This position will help to develop and implement strategies for increasing HDR's share of the water treatment market in Southern California and supporting the reuse market growth across California and the U.S. This is an exciting opportunity to join our industry leading 100% employee-owned firm in an influential local leadership role with high visibility, hybrid flexibility, and direct impact on marquee programs across the region.

In 2024 Engineering News Record ranked HDR sixth in size of business in the important Water category. We have more than 400 employees in our Drinking Water Sector nationally and over 340 California based Water staff, of which about 100 are based in Southern California. HDR's Water Business Group offers a uniquely comprehensive breadth of traditional and cross sector services enabling holistic approaches to One Water challenges. Our services span utility master planning, water treatment, reuse, applied research, transmission and distribution, water supply, asset management, operations assistance, program management, construction management and inspection, funding and financing, strategic communications, advisory services, and more — helping clients meet water quality, reliability, regulatory, and long ‑ term supply goals.

What You'll Do (high ‑ impact focus)

• Lead strategy and delivery for drinking water and potable reuse (IPR/DPR) pursuits and projects across SoCal; grow client accounts and win work.
• Guide advanced treatment process selection and design (UF/MF, RO/NF, UV/AOP, GAC/IX), pilots, and commissioning; troubleshoot operations and optimize performance.
• Build, mentor, and scale multidisciplinary teams; partner with technical directors on QA/QC and design excellence.
• Shape market presence through speaking, publishing, and committee leadership (AWWA, WateReuse, CWEA/WEF).
• Coordinate programmatic delivery (design ‑ build/CMAR/progressive design ‑ build), asset management, and digital enablement (SCADA, data analytics, digital twins).
• Support clients with funding strategy (WIFIA/SRF/grants), regulatory readiness (e.g., LCRR, PFAS compliance), and capital planning.

The HDR advantage includes:

• The opportunity to grow water treatment and reuse capacity and capabilities in Southern California while shaping market strategy and a regional growth plan.
• The opportunity to grow and expand industry relationships with access to all the major local and National water treatment and reuse conferences, for example, ACE, WateReuse Symposium, Water Quality Technology Conference, WCW, UWI, WateReuseCA, and Southern California Water Coalition Quarterly Luncheons – with resources for abstracts, panels, and featured speaking.
• Leverage an expanding, diverse resume of nationally-recognized conventional and advanced treatment design projects, covering a wide range of facility capacities, treatment goals, delivery mechanisms and applications (e.g. surface water, potable reuse, impaired groundwater and desalination).
• Leverage cutting edge applied research, planning, and design work across critical areas of advanced treatment residuals management (liquid and solid streams); PFAS destruction technology; utility owned GAC reactivation.
• Leverage our applied research group, the One Water Institute, which supports HDR thought leadership across all water sectors, through technical expertise, laboratories, and field-ready treatment, monitoring, and other analytical tools.
• Leverage industry leading national PFAS and LCRR experts who help utilities navigate the new regulations with all their assessment, planning, implementation and maintenance needs.
• Leverage industry-leading local Southern California experience on large conveyance design, including pipelines, pump stations and intakes.
• Leverage Southern California-based and National strategic communication team well-versed in water treatment and reuse market drivers and initiatives.
• Leverage nationally and local Southern California recognized asset management, condition assessment and rehabilitation services, covering linear assets, vertical facilities, and assessment technologies.
• Leverage California-based capital planning, funding, grant writing, and affordability expertise to help our clients access and prioritize the capital needs to advance their critical water programs adhering to Prop 218 requirements.
• Leverage data-driven sector leadership focused on market drivers to keep HDR on top of market trends and drivers.
• Leverage our breadth of in house traditional and cross-sector services to deliver integrated, implementable One Water solutions through holistic and programmatic approaches, providing best value to our clients.

Work Model & Locations

• Hybrid flexibility (3 days per week in a Southern California office unless at a client site) with primary offices and clients across Los Angeles, Ventura, Long Beach, Claremont, Riverside, Irvine, and San Diego; periodic regional and national travel.
• Relocation available for the right candidate.

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. We invest in mentorship, professional development, and visible leadership access to help you grow your impact and your career. As we work to weave diversity, equity, and inclusion into our work and foster a sense of belonging throughout the company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. This role directly advances safe, reliable drinking water and sustainable supply for millions across Southern California. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

Preferred Qualifications

• 10 years experience in water treatment design
• PE
• Proven industry leadership
• Team leadership experience
• CA experience is preferred but the right candidate can relocate for the role
• Active in industry associations
• Traditional and advanced water treatment expertise (UF/MF, RO/NF, UV/AOP, GAC/IX), pilots/commissioning, and process optimization.
• Seller ‑ doer capability: client development, proposal leadership, and strategic positioning.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a Professional, Architecture, Engineering or closely related field
• 10 years of experience
• Committed to quality, improvement and HDR values
• Maintains a professional or engineering registration and has related technical experience
• Experienced in development and management of diverse teams
• Works cooperatively with other area business class leaders, operations managers, technical directors and marketing managers on business class efforts
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must

What We Believe HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve. Our Commitment As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day. Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.