Senior Water/Wastewater Operations Specialist

About the role

This role supports municipal water and wastewater projects across the Mid-Atlantic region, with a primary focus on Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. It is intended for a technically strong, field-oriented professional with both operations and engineering design/construction support capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Support project managers and technical leaders on water and wastewater treatment, pumping, conveyance, and facility improvement projects requiring operations-centered input.
• Review drawings, specifications, control narratives, process design documents, and construction submittals for operability, maintainability, constructability, startup readiness, and operator safety.
• Participate in planning, design, and construction-phase workshops with clients, engineers, contractors, operators, maintenance staff, instrumentation and controls specialists, and vendors.
• Aid in startup, commissioning, functional testing, factory acceptance testing, operational checks, and witness testing for treatment plant systems, pump stations, SCADA/control systems, and related equipment.
• Develop and review startup plans, commissioning plans, operating procedures, method-of-procedure plans, temporary operations strategies, operator training materials, and project-specific transition plans.
• Perform operational troubleshooting and evaluations for municipal water and wastewater treatment facilities, pumping stations, lift stations, odor control facilities, tanks, metering sites, and related infrastructure.
• Assist with condition assessments and asset management evaluations for treatment, pumping, collection, and distribution facilities using field observations, operating data, maintenance history, and engineering judgment.
• Contribute to hydraulic, process, equipment sizing, treatment, pumping, disinfection, and facility planning analyses under the direction of project engineers and senior technical staff.
• Prepare or contribute to technical memoranda, basis of design reports, process design reports, study-level reports, cost estimates, meeting materials, training materials, and client-facing summaries.
• Support design production for water and wastewater facilities, including plan review, drawing markups, specification input, equipment selection support, subconsultant coordination, RFI responses, and construction administration tasks.
• Represent the perspective of facility owners, operators, maintenance staff, and end users during planning, design, construction, startup, and commissioning.
• Collaborate with HDR operations specialists throughout the region and nationally to share lessons learned, best practices, and practical operating experience across projects.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Environmental Engineering, or a related engineering field.
• Engineer in Training (EIT) certification, with interest in progressing toward professional engineering licensure.
• Minimum 10 years of combined water/wastewater experience in operations, engineering consulting, construction, commissioning, or utility-side capital project support.
• Demonstrated water/wastewater operations, engineering, construction, commissioning, or facility troubleshooting experience.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, control narratives, process information, operating data, and technical reports.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical and operational considerations to engineers, clients, contractors, and operators.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment, including collaboration with project managers, project engineers, operators, and specialty discipline staff.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel to project sites within the Mid-Atlantic region.
• Water and/or wastewater operator licensure; high-level wastewater operator license strongly preferred.
• Experience with municipal water treatment facilities, water reclamation facilities, pump stations, lift stations, potable water pumping, storage, distribution, sewer collection, odor control, and SCADA systems.
• Experience reviewing or developing control narratives, method-of-procedure plans, startup procedures, operations plans, SOPs, and operator training materials.
• Experience with startup, commissioning, factory acceptance testing, functional testing, PID tuning, abnormal condition testing, and operational readiness reviews.
• Experience coordinating with capital engineering, operations, maintenance, instrumentation/electrical, contractors, vendors, and consulting engineers.
• Familiarity with AutoCAD and/or MicroStation, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, computerized maintenance management systems, SCADA/HMI systems, and operating data trends.
• Team leadership experience is a plus.
• Local or regional candidate preferred, with ability to support projects across Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

Preferred Qualifications

• Preferred qualifications include a Master’s degree in civil engineering, Environmental Engineering, or a related engineering field.
• Experience with municipal water treatment facilities, water reclamation facilities, pump stations, lift stations, potable water pumping, storage, distribution, sewer collection, odor control, and SCADA systems.
• Experience reviewing or developing control narratives, method-of-procedure plans, startup procedures, operations plans, SOPs, and operator training materials.
• Experience with startup, commissioning, factory acceptance testing, functional testing, PID tuning, abnormal condition testing, and operational readiness reviews.
• Experience coordinating with capital engineering, operations, maintenance, instrumentation/electrical, contractors, vendors, and consulting engineers.
• Familiarity with AutoCAD and/or MicroStation, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, computerized maintenance management systems, SCADA/HMI systems, and operating data trends.
• Team leadership experience is a plus.