Senior Planning Engineering Manager

Metro Water Recovery in Denver, CO - a nationally recognized leader among clean water utilities, provides wastewater conveyance and treatment services for more than 2 million people in the Denver Metro area.

At Metro, we help you be your best so we can do our best. You will join a team that offers stability, flexibility, and the opportunity to make a difference. We take pride in being part of an industry-leading team who serves the community by protecting the region’s health and environment.

Description

Metro Water Recovery is planning for the future, and the decisions we make today will shape the reliability, resiliency, and performance of our wastewater infrastructure for decades to come. As the Senior Planning Engineering Manager, you will provide strategic leadership for Metro's Planning Engineering Division and play a key role in developing long-range infrastructure strategies for wastewater treatment and transmission facilities.

This is an opportunity to lead complex planning initiatives that have significant organizational impact. Working closely with the Director of Comprehensive Planning, you will translate strategic direction into actionable programs, lead facility planning studies and infrastructure evaluations, and help guide decisions about where and how Metro invests in its infrastructure. You'll balance operational, regulatory, financial, and risk considerations to develop recommendations that support Metro's long-term goals.

You will also oversee the development and maintenance of Metro's Capital Expenditure Schedule, capital investment recommendations, and prioritization analyses. Your work will help ensure Metro's resources are directed toward the infrastructure needs that best support organizational objectives and regulatory obligations.

We offer a range of benefits, including a flexible work environment, a competitive salary, and an incentive training program to help you grow and develop your skills. This is just a small sample of all the benefits we offer!

Why It's a Great Department

The Senior Planning Engineering Manager is a key leader within the Comprehensive Planning Department, working at the intersection of planning, engineering, operations, maintenance, finance, and organizational strategy. Our department looks at the big picture - helping Metro understand future infrastructure needs, evaluate alternatives, prioritize investments, and develop strategies that support reliable and sustainable wastewater services.

The Planning Engineering Division works closely with Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, Finance, and other departments to understand organizational needs and develop comprehensive planning recommendations. You'll also lead and participate in Enterprise Planning Group activities and decision-support processes that help bring diverse perspectives together around Metro's long-term infrastructure needs.

Our work requires collaboration, thoughtful analysis, and the ability to navigate complex issues with competing priorities. You'll work with technical experts, organizational leaders, consultants, and stakeholders to evaluate challenging infrastructure decisions and develop solutions that balance today's needs with tomorrow's demands.

How to be Successful in the Role

We're looking for an experienced planning and engineering leader who can think strategically, evaluate complex information, and turn long-term goals into actionable programs. You'll lead multidisciplinary planning teams responsible for capacity assessments, alternatives analyses, infrastructure evaluations, and long-range planning studies.

Success in this role requires the ability to look beyond individual projects and understand how infrastructure decisions affect Metro's operations, regulatory obligations, financial resources, risk profile, and long-term objectives. You'll review technical planning recommendations, evaluate capital planning scenarios, and help establish prioritization frameworks that support consistent and informed decision-making across the organization.

Strong communication and relationship-building skills are essential. You'll facilitate planning workgroups, build consensus among stakeholders with different perspectives and priorities, and communicate complex technical and business issues to leadership, committees, and other audiences. You'll also need to influence decisions and gain cooperation across organizational boundaries, including when you do not have direct authority over the people involved.

You’ll lead complex planning projects and consultant engagements, overseeing scopes, budgets, schedules, deliverables, and stakeholder expectations. Your ability to anticipate risks, resolve issues, and maintain momentum will be important to delivering high-quality planning outcomes.

At Metro, we value excellence, integrity, inclusion, and collaboration. We seek a leader who shares these values and can help us make thoughtful, sustainable decisions about the future of Metro's infrastructure.

Your Future in this Role

As the Senior Planning Engineering Manager, you'll have a unique opportunity to influence Metro's long-term infrastructure strategy and help shape the future of wastewater treatment and transmission in our region.

You'll lead a major planning function with significant autonomy and accountability while partnering with the Director of Comprehensive Planning to develop and implement long-range infrastructure strategies. You'll have the opportunity to guide major planning studies, shape capital investment recommendations, and develop planning methodologies that influence how Metro evaluates and prioritizes infrastructure investments.

You'll also have the opportunity to build and develop a talented planning team. You'll establish work priorities, allocate resources, mentor staff, support succession planning, and help develop the technical capabilities needed to meet Metro's future planning needs. You'll foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, continuous improvement, and professional growth.

This position provides the opportunity to work across Metro at both the strategic and technical levels. You'll engage with leadership on long-range infrastructure decisions while working with engineers, planners, Operations, Maintenance, Finance, consultants, and other stakeholders to turn complex information into practical recommendations.

At Metro Water Recovery, we prioritize our employees' growth and development by offering a range of training and development opportunities. Our focus is on fostering well-rounded professionals who are equipped with the technical expertise, leadership skills, and tools needed to achieve their career goals. As the Senior Planning Engineering Manager, you'll have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on Metro's infrastructure strategy while helping develop the people and planning processes that will support Metro for years to come.

General Statement

Provides strategic leadership and functional oversight for Metro’s Planning Engineering Division related to the planning, research, study, maintenance, operation, and optimization of wastewater transmission and treatment facilities. Partners with the Director of Comprehensive Planning to define long-range infrastructure strategy and ensure effective execution of programs aligned with organizational goals. Leads multidisciplinary teams and major initiatives with significant organizational impact. Works under the general direction of the Director of Comprehensive Planning. Direct and supervise the work of Comprehensive Planning staff.

Examples of Duties

1. Lead a major functional area within the Comprehensive Planning Department (CPD). Leads long-range and comprehensive planning efforts and serves as a subject matter expert on facility and capital planning. Operate with significant autonomy within established strategic direction and advises and partners with the Director to develop long-range infrastructure strategies. Translate strategic direction into implementable programs and initiatives.
2. Manage development of facility planning studies and strategic infrastructure evaluations for wastewater treatment and transmission facilities. Direct and oversee planning staff conducting capacity assessments, alternatives analyses, infrastructure evaluations, and long-range planning studies.
3. Ensure planning recommendations appropriately balance operational, regulatory, financial, and risk considerations. Review and approve planning recommendations prior to submission to leadership.
4. Manage development and maintenance of the Capital Expenditure Schedule (CES). Ensure capital planning activities support organizational objectives, regulatory obligations, and infrastructure needs.
5. Oversees preparation of capital investment recommendations and prioritization analyses. Evaluate capital planning scenarios and recommend resource allocation strategies.
6. Manage planning governance processes, procedures, and oversees execution of Enterprise Planning Group (EPG) activities and associated decision-support processes. Recommend improvements to planning business processes, governance documents, and decision-making methodologies.
7. Ensure planning standards, methodologies, and prioritization frameworks are consistently applied across the organization.
8. Oversee complex planning studies, consultant contracts, and planning initiatives. Review project scopes, budgets, schedules, and consultant deliverables. Resolve issues related to planning project scope, schedule, budget, and stakeholder expectations. Ensure planning projects are completed in accordance with established objectives and quality expectations.
9. Negotiate and administer contracts for engineering activities.
10. Supervise and mentor staff and develop technical capabilities through training and targeted work assignments. Seek to support staff by listening to concerns with empathy and managing conflict through effective listening and a genuine desire to understand and resolve identified issues. Consult with the Director of Comprehensive Planning on workforce planning and knowledge development.
11. Responsible for maintaining and promoting a safe working environment. Ensure employees complete all required training on time, maintain compliance with organizational requirements, and follows all safety protocols. Ensures employees maintain required certifications.
12. Participate in workforce planning, succession planning, recruitment, and employee development activities. Recommend programs to improve the skills, knowledge and job performance of CPD staff. Participate in selection process, performance reviews, coaching and mentoring, and any disciplinary action as needed.
13. Establish work priorities, assign projects, and monitor staff performance. Develop workload projections and related resource requirements. Coordinate with others to fully utilize CPD staff. Approve project and divisional expenditures.
14. Coordinate planning activities with Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, Finance, and other departments to understand their needs and expectations. Present planning recommendations and technical information to leadership, committees, and stakeholder groups. Coordinate CPD support to other Metro departments.
15. Represent the department in internal planning efforts and external professional organizations.
16. Identify and support continuous improvement activities for the business processes and tools used in the CPD.
17. Lead planning process improvements and implementation of planning best practices. Monitors industry developments and emerging planning methodologies.
18. Support implementation of department initiatives established by the Director of Comprehensive Planning.
19. Responsible for maintaining and promoting a safe working environment. Ensure employees complete all required training on time, maintain compliance with organizational requirements, and follows all safety protocols. Ensures employees maintain required certifications.
20. Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

Knowledge of:

• Advanced principles, practices, and methodologies related to wastewater treatment and transmission facility planning
• Long-range infrastructure capacity planning, and alternatives evaluation methodologies
• Capital improvement planning, budgeting, forecasting, and portfolio management practices
• Project prioritization methodologies, decision-support frameworks, and risk-based planning approaches
• Integration of asset management information into capital planning processes
• Utility operations, maintenance, engineering, and regulatory compliance requirements affecting infrastructure planning decisions
• Public-sector budgeting, procurement, contract administration, and consultant management practices
• Program and project management principles
• Organizational governance processes, planning standards, policies, procedures, and decision-making frameworks
• Leadership, supervision, employee development, performance management, conflict resolution, and workforce planning principles
• Change management, business process improvement, and organizational development methodologies
• Applicable local, state, and federal regulations, industry standards, and environmental considerations governing wastewater systems
• Enterprise software systems used for planning, budgeting, scheduling, reporting, and asset management
• Safe work practices and organizational safety requirements

Skilled at

• Leading complex infrastructure planning programs and multidisciplinary planning initiatives
• Evaluating facility planning alternatives and developing technically sound recommendations
• Managing capital planning processes, project prioritization efforts, and resource allocation analyses
• Reviewing and approving technical engineering documents
• Developing, negotiating, administering, and managing professional service contracts
• Identifying potential project risks, developing mitigation plans, and addressing issues promptly to minimize impact on project success
• Managing program budgets, expenditures, and staffing resources
• Facilitating planning workgroups, stakeholder meetings, and decision-making processes.
• Building consensus among stakeholders with differing perspectives, priorities, and objectives
• Interpreting and applying planning policies, governance requirements, standards, and procedures
• Identifying process improvement opportunities and implementing operational improvements
• Effectively communicating complex technical issues
• Establishing collaborative relationships across departments and organizational levels
• Monitoring industry trends and applying emerging planning practices and methodologies
• Managing multiple projects, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously
• Active and empathic listening skills
• Team building and team management
• Managing disagreements, de‑escalating conflicts and negotiating win‑win solutions
• Direct supervisory responsibilities including candidate selection, coaching, performance management and enforcing procedures

Ability to

• Lead, inspire, motivate, and develop a major planning function with a high degree of independent judgment and accountability
• Translate departmental strategic direction into actionable work programs, priorities, and initiatives
• Balance operational, regulatory, financial, and risk considerations when making recommendations
• Perform workforce planning, succession planning, recruitment, and employee development.
• Evaluate complex technical information and make sound decisions with incomplete or competing information
• Develop and implement effective planning programs that support organizational objectives.
• Establish priorities and allocate financial, consultant, and staff resources to achieve desired outcomes
• Anticipate issues and proactively develop solutions to planning, program, project, and organizational changes and challenges
• Influence decisions and gain cooperation from stakeholders without direct authority
• Foster collaboration across organizational boundaries and functional disciplines
• Successfully lead teams through organizational, procedural, and technological changes
• Develop staff capabilities through coaching, mentoring, training, and targeted development opportunities
• Manage sensitive employee, stakeholder, and organizational issues with professionalism, empathy, and discretion
• Evaluate consultant performance and hold internal and external parties accountable for results
• Effectively communicate technical and business issues to technical staff, management, and leadership audiences
• Promote a culture of safety, accountability, continuous improvement, and customer service
• Represent the department effectively in internal committees, external organizations, and professional forums
• Align group goals to Metro's values and mission
• Effectively supervise staff

Education

Master’s degree in engineering or other related field or equivalent experience. A combination of education and relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.

Licensing, Certification, and other Requirements

Registration as a Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Colorado. If registered as a PE in another state, must apply for PE reciprocity in CO.

Working Conditions

Typical Work Environment

Variety of floor surfaces including concrete, gravel, asphalt, dirt, tile, loose stones, uneven surfaces, slippery surfaces, and wet surfaces; Inside environment; Outside environment all year in all weather conditions and temperatures; Residential and Commercial Wastewater/Biosolids; Chemicals; Lighting conditions including natural light, fluorescent, head lamps, incandescent, and low light; and low light; Vibration; Moving equipment; Work in confined spaces

Body Position Demands

Standing; Walking; Climbing stairs; Climbing ladders; Reaching forward and overhead; Balancing; Object handling; Simple hand/ Firm hand grasping; Operating controls; Sitting; Stooping; Kneeling; Crouching; Crawling; Typing; Fine hand coordination

Physical Demands

Max Weight Lifted: 50 lbs
Max Weight Carried: 50 lbs
Max Force Pushed: 94 lbs
Max Force Pulled: 100 lbs

Sensory Requirements

Wide field of view; Perception - Spatial; Olfactory (Smelling); Vision - Near; Depth perception; Color discrimination; Perception - Form; Feeling without seeing; Speaking; Vision - near and far; Hearing

Metro Water Recovery is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Applicants for employment with Metro Water Recovery must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

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