Engineer, Water Resources

Job Description and Duties

The single greatest advantage of working for the Department of Water Resources is that you can practice civil engineering in its purest form. Because we are the owner and operator of the facilities, our engineers are empowered to make the right choices in design, detailing, and materials to ensure public safety and longevity of the infrastructure. Our engineers are at the forefront on design and construction projects, and they make design decisions based on good engineering practice for safety, durability, and performance—in that order.

At DWR you will have the advantage of numerous resources to support your work and your professional growth—including training, organizational memberships, and knowledgeable colleagues, of which many are under one roof and all of which collaborate for project success.

We hope you’ll check out the Duties and Desirable Qualifications below and apply for this great career opportunity to join our team and help deliver water to over 26 million Californians as well as contribute to protecting our environment and species conservation efforts.

This position is open to engineers of varying levels of experience. Actual assigned duties will be commensurate with skill level. In this position, the incumbent performs engineering studies, writes reports, and prepares the designs, drawings, and specifications for construction of a variety of public civil-works projects related to flood control, environmental protection, water conveyance facilities, species conservation, and recreation. Such work will include the design and analysis of site drainage, canals, check structures, levees, storm and sanitary sewer systems, gates, weirs, siphons, pipelines, penstocks, turnouts, roads, culverts, spillways, retaining walls, fish screens, fish ladders, pump houses, site accessibility, and many other related facilities. The incumbent must provide a broad working knowledge of civil design, reinforced concrete design, structural steel design, masonry design, hydrology and hydraulics, soils and rock mechanics, applicable design and building codes, and engineering analysis computer applications.

You will find additional information about the job in the .

Special Requirements

Must possess a valid California Driver's License to safely operate State and/or personal vehicles as part of the duties of the position. Travel on short notice and overnight lodging will be required on some trips. Range D incumbents in this classification must possess a valid certificate of registration as a civil engineer issued by the California State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers.

Desirable Qualifications

In addition to evaluating each candidate's relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

Candidates will be evaluated based on their relative ability as demonstrated by the quality and extent of their experience. Therefore, our ideal candidate’s application and resume will clearly and concisely address as many of the following desirable qualifications as possible: Candidate will have relevant civil engineering/construction engineering work experience; possess strong written and verbal communication skills; has the ability to take direction; is engaged; works as a contributing team member; has strong problem-solving ability; is a highly-motivated self-starter and works autonomously; is detail and quality oriented; can manage multiple tasks and projects at the same time; is organized; goes the extra mile to meet deadlines and is conscientious of budgets; is dependable; and has computer skills in spreadsheets, computer-aided drafting, hydraulics and hydrology analysis programs, structural analysis programs, geotechnical analysis program, ArcGIS, word processing, and has the ability to learn new computer applications; has knowledge or experience with public works construction contracts; has knowledge or experience writing and reviewing technical specifications; Civil Engineering degrees (BS/MS/PHD) are preferred; Possession of a valid certificate of registration as an engineer-in-training (EIT) or Professional Engineer’s license for the State of CA is preferred but not required.

Benefits

to read about the outstanding benefits offered to eligible employees.

Personal Leave Program 2025: Effective July 1, 2025, state employees are subject to temporary wage reductions in exchange for Personal Leave Program (PLP) accruals. The specific rate and hours earned were negotiated and agreed upon by each bargaining unit. The actual monetary impact of these temporary reductions can vary based on your bargaining unit and/or federal and state tax withholdings. For additional information please visit

Special Instructions

Submit a State Employment Application (STD 678) along with a resume and a cover letter briefly introducing yourself and explaining what qualities you possess that demonstrate you are a qualified candidate for this position. Please reference SAP Position Numbers 50000152, and Job Control Number JC-531219 in the Explanations section of your application.

Resumes, cover letters, and/or other attachments will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application. Failure to provide requested documents and information may result in automatic disqualification from the hiring process. The hiring unit will receive only the documents specified in the Required Application Package Documents section.

, clicking on Exam/Assessment Search, entering Exam Code “0PBEA,” clicking “Search,” click to view the Exam Bulletin, and then clicking the “ Training and Experience Evaluation ” under the Taking the Examination section.

. This survey is for research purpose only and will not affect the application status.

Required Application Package Documents

The following items are required to be submitted with your application. Applicants who do not submit the required items timely may not be considered for this job:

• Current version of the State Examination/Employment Application STD Form 678 (when not applying electronically), or the Electronic State Employment Application through your Applicant Account at All Experience and Education relating to the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification should be included to demonstrate how you meet the Minimum Qualifications for the position.
• Resume is required and must be included.
• Other - Cover Letter