SoCal Water Strategy & Reuse Leader

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves:
What is our impact on the world?

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Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

The Southern California Water Treatment and Reuse Leader is a key role within HDR’s growing Southern California Water Business Group. This position will help to develop and implement strategies for increasing HDR’s share of the water treatment market in Southern California and supporting the reuse market growth across California and the U.S. This is an exciting opportunity to join our industry leading 100% employee-owned firm in an influential local leadership role with high visibility, hybrid flexibility, and direct impact on marquee programs across the region.

In 2024 Engineering News Record ranked HDR sixth in size of business in the important Water category. We have more than 400 employees in our Drinking Water Sector nationally and over 340 California based Water staff, of which about 100 are based in Southern California. HDR's Water Business Group offers a uniquely comprehensive breadth of traditional and cross sector services enabling holistic approaches to One Water challenges.

Our services span utility master planning, water treatment, reuse, applied research, transmission and distribution, water supply, asset management, operations assistance, program management, construction management and inspection, funding and financing, strategic communications, advisory services, and more — helping clients meet water quality, reliability, regulatory, and long‑term supply goals.

What You’ll Do (high‑impact focus)

• Lead strategy and delivery for drinking water and potable reuse (IPR/DPR) pursuits and projects across SoCal; grow client accounts and win work.
• Guide advanced treatment process selection and design (UF/MF, RO/NF, UV/AOP, GAC/IX), pilots, and commissioning; troubleshoot operations and optimize performance.
• Build, mentor, and scale multidisciplinary teams; partner with technical directors on QA/QC and design excellence.
• Shape market presence through speaking, publishing, and committee leadership (AWWA, Wate Reuse, CWEA/WEF).
• Coordinate programmatic delivery (design‑build/CMAR/progressive design‑build), asset management, and digital enablement (SCADA, data analytics, digital twins).
• Support clients with funding strategy (WIFIA/SRF/grants), regulatory readiness (e.g., LCRR, PFAS compliance), and capital planning.

• The opportunity to grow water treatment and reuse capacity and capabilities in Southern California while shaping market strategy and a regional growth plan.
• The opportunity to grow and expand industry relationships with access to all the major local and National water treatment and reuse conferences, for example, ACE, Wate Reuse Symposium, Water Quality Technology Conference, WCW, UWI, WateReuse
  
  CA, and Southern California Water Coalition Quarterly Luncheons – with resources for abstracts, panels, and featured speaking.
• Leverage an expanding, diverse resume of nationally-recognized conventional and advanced treatment design projects, covering a wide range of facility capacities, treatment goals, delivery mechanisms and applications (e.g. surface water, potable reuse, impaired groundwater and desalination).
• Leverage cutting edge applied research, planning, and design work across critical areas of advanced treatment residuals management (liquid and solid streams); PFAS destruction technology; utility owned GAC reactivation.
• Leverage our applied research group, the One Water Institute, which supports HDR thought leadership across all water sectors, through technical expertise, laboratories, and field-ready treatment, monitoring, and other analytical…