Program Supervisor - Willamette Treatment Plant

About the role

For over 75 years, the City of Eugene has relied on the McKenzie River and the Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant to meet all of the city's water needs. A single water source and single treatment plant puts customers at risk of extended outages from a chemical spill, natural disaster, or equipment failure. Because clean water is vital to public health, safety, and the economy, EWEB is planning to build a second water treatment plant on the Willamette River to provide much‑needed resiliency. This position will help create, guide, and provide oversight of this critical infrastructure project. The role provides primary leadership and supervision of the Willamette Water Treatment Plant project delivery team (engineering, planning, and technical staff), participates in detailed plan design review and contract management, reports to and partners directly with the Chief Water Operations Officer, and ensures the 19.4 million‑gallon‑per‑day conventional water treatment plant is delivered meeting EWEB’s stated objectives and values. The incumbent serves as liaison between the Project Team and key internal and external stakeholders. This is a once‑in‑a‑lifetime project for most water professionals – the largest EWEB has undertaken in the Water Utility since the Hayden Bridge facility was built. The Willamette Treatment Plant will bring water resiliency to Eugene, prevent public health impacts and economic losses from extended outages, and protect invaluable water rights for the community now and for future generations. EWEB offers a progressive work culture devoted to excellent public service, where creativity, innovation, involvement, teamwork, and professional development are supported. As a public utility, EWEB is chartered by the City of Eugene to serve the interests of its citizens, providing reliable, affordable water and electricity. Eugene is a university city big enough for excellent restaurants, arts, and events, yet small enough to feel like a community, with easy access to outdoor activities such as fishing, rafting, bicycling, hiking, and camping.

Responsibilities

• Manage full program life cycle with an organized and disciplined approach.
• Build program governance and advise on project approach, policies, and best practices.
• Identify key stakeholders, conduct needs assessments regarding potential project impacts, and develop mitigation plans.
• Engage with operations stakeholders to ensure the plant meets the highest standards of operability and user friendliness.
• Manage Owner’s Agent and other contracts to ensure consultant and contractor performance.
• Manage vendor resources and activities, overseeing bid processes, contract management, and renewal.
• Work cross‑functionally with staff, peers, customers, and external partners across various lines of business.
• Identify dependencies with other programs and collaborate with key stakeholders and sponsors to manage intersecting objectives and competing resources.
• Provide oversight, maintenance, and development of water rights and related activities pertaining to the project.
• Create and execute project work schedules, revising as needed to meet changing needs and ensure on‑time, on‑budget completion in accordance with EWEB’s goals.
• Assess initial and emerging risks and complications; respond with change control activities and mitigation strategies.
• Create plans, track progress, adjust as necessary to meet timelines and budgetary requirements, and satisfy program objectives.
• Create tools to monitor quality control and assurances; apply and quantify performance variances and graphic presentation of quality controls.
• Meet quality standards of expected deliverables during all phases of the project/program life cycle (initiating, planning, executing, controlling, closing).
• Manage resources and cross‑functional project teams; motivate and provide direction and support.
• Supervise and provide technical and functional oversight to staff by prescribing procedures, methods, formats, and training in project management areas where the incumbent is a subject‑matter expert.
• Schedule and assign tasks, monitor progress, review results, and evaluate performance.
• Prepare annual work plans and budgets for the program in coordination with EWEB financial staff.
• Manage financial objectives and budget by forecasting requirements, scheduling expenditures, analyzing variances, and initiating corrective actions.
• Ensure program documentation is created and maintained (project initiation documents, plans, risk and issue logs, change control documents, etc.).
• Use multiple reporting and communication strategies to convey project and program status to stakeholders at all levels, including presenting to EWEB’s Board of Commissioners.
• Develop key metrics and dashboards.

Requirements

• Eight (8) years of professional project or program management experience in high‑level or enterprise‑wide strategic Water/Wastewater Utility initiatives requiring coordination of activities and resources across multiple divisions/departments.
• Four (4) years of direct supervision in a multi‑functional work environment (an equivalent combination of senior, lead, or project management experience may satisfy this supervisory requirement).
• Oregon driver license required, or the ability to obtain one within 30 days of hire.
• Post‑offer background check required.
• Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States (EWEB cannot sponsor or take over sponsorship of an