Lead Drinking Water Process Engineer

The Opportunity

In this role, you will have the opportunity to: 

• Provide strategic direction and technical guidance to project teams to assist in solving a wide range of complex water quality and treatment challenges.
• Function as a technical specialist and as a subject matter expert in the areas of conventional water treatment including processes such as coagulation, clarification, softening, media filtration; UV, ozonation, carbon adsorption, and/or distribution system water quality.
• Provide technical guidance to project teams, oversee the work of junior to mid-level process engineering staff on projects and pursuits, and collaborate with multi-disciplinary design teams to implement complex treatment solutions.
• Guide junior and mid-level engineers to develop and apply advanced treatment techniques, engineering concepts, and design approaches to solve complex engineering problems for a wide range of water quality and treatment challenges.
• Guide junior and mid-level process engineering staff in the development and implementation of standardized calculations and tools.
• Provide guidance on business development activities, build/maintain client relationships, and support new business pursuits and proposal development.

As a lead process engineer, you will serve as a technical specialist and subject matter expert providing strategic direction and technical guidance on the process design for drinking water and reuse projects for municipalities, utilities.

The Team

The Black & Veatch Drinking Water Process team develops technical solutions that are critical to winning work and drive design deliverables for critical drinking water quality and treatment projects with community benefits. Our team of over 35 drinking water process engineers support drinking water, reuse, and industrial water projects across the country. Our team is at the forefront of market trends, industry leadership, and applied research, working hand-in-hand with clients and execution teams to navigate solutions to provide reliable, high quality water to communities and industries.

• The work is rewarding and meaningful
• The team is comprised of supportive, caring, and attentive professionals 
• Career opportunities exist in many rapidly-expanding business solutions

Key Responsibilities

Engineering:

• Serve as a technical advisor on project teams, providing guidance to process leads on water quality considerations and treatment evaluations for conventional and/or advanced water treatment systems for drinking water facilities.
• Provide guidance to process engineering staff on evaluating treatability of source water supplies based on raw water quality and treated water quality requirements and goals.
• Provide guidance and recommendations for appropriate treatment process, equipment, and/or materials selection. 
• Advise on best practices for applied research techniques for bench, pilot, and full-scale testing used to evaluate performance of alternative treatment processes. 
• Oversee the preparation of a variety of engineering deliverables including process/mass balance calculations, design criteria/basis of design memoranda, process flow diagrams, process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), tradeoff studies, and master planning studies.
• Oversee development of conceptual life cycle costs to evaluate treatment options. 
• Provide guidance and support on multiple projects simultaneously with complex technical challenges.

Client Focus:

• Responsible for supporting lead process engineers in identifying key client interests and drivers for ongoing projects and new business prospects
• Develop creative solutions and approaches to accommodate our clients’ goals and objectives 
• Support lead process engineers in business development and pursuit activities, including strategies for pre-positioning, proposal development, client interviews, and identification of winning sales messages.

People Management:

• Actively fosters technical and professional development of mid-level and junior engineers
• Participate in coaching/mentoring opportunities and development of mid-level and junior staff
• Reviews the work of junior and mid-level engineers

Engineering Standards:

• Provides guidance and direction on department design guides, standards, systems, and applicable engineering codes related to water quality and treatment
• Assists in developing, maintaining and updating engineering standards
• Provides technical guidance to others regarding projects and disciplines

Management Responsibilities

Supervises work of others. Responsible for hiring, discipline, and pay administration of their subordinates.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree (Master’s or Doctoral) in civil, environmental, or chemical engineering preferred. 
• 20 years of experience in drinking water treatment with at least 15 years in water quality and treatment (water quality analysis, treatment evaluations, process design, regulatory compliance assessments, distribution water quality analysis, etc.). 
• Advanced knowledge of process design for treatment of municipal effluent for reuse, brackish and seawater desalination, brine management, engineering design principles and applicable design guides and standards related to assigned engineering discipline 
• Established leadership skills with deep understanding of consulting, project execution, client services, and business development.
• Effective written and oral communications, Drive for Results, Priority Setting, Planning, Delegation, Directing Others, Conflict Management, Informing, Listening, Dealing with Ambiguity, and Building Effective Teams

Minimum Qualifications

• Requires a bachelor's degree in engineering from either a recognized accredited program in their home country or the country in which the professional is practicing or equivalent experience in Engineering work.
• Minimum of 15 years related work experience.
• Holds an active engineering registration or licensure to support engineer of record (EOR) requirements for BV projects in applicable countries, and supports where necessary.
• All applicants must be able to complete pre-employment onboarding requirements (if selected) which may include any/all of the following: criminal/civil background check, drug screen, and motor vehicle records search, in compliance with any applicable laws and regulations.

Certifications

Holds an active engineering registration or licensure to support engineer of record (EOR) requirements for BV projects in applicable countries, and supports where necessary.

Work Environment/Physical Demands

Hybrid or flexible work options may be offered after the first 90 days of employment based upon manager discretion, job performance and work assignments.