Senior Water​/Wastewater Operations Specialist

Water/Wastewater Operations And Engineering Specialist

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?

We believe water is more than a resource; it's a shared responsibility. As part of our Water Business Group, you'll help shape how communities manage water for generations to come. From delivering safe drinking water and treating wastewater responsibly to developing sustainable water supplies and protecting lives and property through flood control, your work will directly support public health, environmental sustainability, and infrastructure resilience.

We bring together experts across disciplines to solve complex challenges with bold thinking and technical excellence. Whether you're modernizing aging systems or pioneering innovative approaches, your contributions will make a meaningful difference in people's lives.

HDR is seeking a Water/Wastewater Operations and Engineering Specialist to support municipal water and wastewater projects across the Mid-Atlantic region, with a primary focus on Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. This role is intended for a technically strong, field-oriented professional who brings both hands-on operations experience and engineering design/construction support capability. The position will support project managers, project engineers, and clients by improving constructability, operability, maintainability, commissioning readiness, and practical implementation of water and wastewater infrastructure projects.

The anticipated role balance is approximately 60 percent operations specialist support and 40 percent engineering/design support. The selected candidate will contribute to treatment plant, pump station, collection/distribution, SCADA, startup, commissioning, troubleshooting, condition assessment, and capital project delivery efforts.

In the role of Senior Water/Wastewater Operations Specialist, we'll count on you to:

• 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.
• Assist with 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.
• Support 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.
• Coordinate with HDR operations specialists throughout the region and nationally to share lessons learned, best practices, and practical operating experience across projects.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 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…