Senior Utility Operations Consultant

Taleo Social Sourcing•Denver, CO

About The Position

HDR is seeking an experienced professional to join its Water Business Group within the Utility Management Services Business Class. The Senior Utility Operations Consultant provides high-level operational consulting to drinking water, wastewater, and potable reuse utilities, advising staff at all organizational levels. The role helps clients address operational challenges and improve process performance, reliability, regulatory compliance, asset stewardship, and workforce capabilities, while bringing an operations-informed perspective to facility planning and design. The consultant serves as a technical resource and trusted advisor, partnering with client development leaders, project managers, and design teams to deliver integrated solutions and support growth of HDR’s operations consulting practice. The role also contributes to planning and optimization projects, asset management programs, client development, quality assurance, staff mentoring, and professional and industry engagement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
At least 10 years of experience.
Strong communication and listening skills.
Ability to handle multiple assignments.
Good leadership and organizational skills.
Commitment to actively participating in HDR’s employee-owned culture.
Professional registration, license, or certification may be required based on the role.

Nice To Haves

High-level drinking water or wastewater operations license(s).
15 or more years of progressive experience in drinking water, wastewater, and/or reuse utility operations, including troubleshooting and process improvement.
Demonstrated experience developing and implementing operational and asset management strategies and programs.
Working knowledge of water, wastewater, and reuse regulatory requirements, such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, and reuse regulations.
Ability to review facility plans and designs from an operational perspective and communicate operability and maintainability recommendations to design teams.
Strong client relations skills and interest in client and business development.
Excellent communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to work effectively across integrated project teams and organizational levels.
Ability to travel to client sites and HDR offices as needed.
Commitment to quality, continuous improvement, and active participation in HDR’s employee-owned culture.
Drinking Water and/or Wastewater Operator licensure (Grade 3 or above) and/or a Professional Engineer (PE) license.
Master’s degree in civil, environmental, or a related technical discipline within the water sector.
Previous management or operations leadership experience within a municipal drinking water, wastewater, or reuse utility.
Hands-on experience with water reuse operations and advanced treatment processes.
Strong technical background in planning and design, including integrating operational perspectives into treatment design and facility planning.
Experience with asset management technology, condition assessment data management, and operational decision-support tools.
Active engagement in local and national industry organizations, such as AWWA, WEF, WateReuse, or state associations.

Responsibilities

Advise operators, supervisors, plant managers, and executive leadership at drinking water, wastewater, and potable reuse utilities.
Lead operational troubleshooting to diagnose and resolve process upsets, equipment and performance issues, and reliability problems across treatment, transmission, and distribution systems.
Improve operating processes, including unit processes, standard operating procedures, staffing and workflow, energy and chemical use, and overall operational efficiency.
Develop and implement asset management strategies and programs with HDR asset management teams, including asset inventories, criticality and condition assessments, remaining useful life, risk modeling, service-level objectives, and repair, renewal, and reinvestment planning.
Support regulatory compliance efforts for drinking water, wastewater, and reuse programs, including permit compliance and preparation for evolving requirements.
Provide expertise on direct and indirect potable reuse operations, treatment reliability, monitoring, and regulatory frameworks to support utility management of systems and protection of public health.
Review facility planning and design from an operational perspective, assessing operability, maintainability, constructability, safety, and life-cycle cost, and communicate design recommendations.
Support HDR’s Organizational Development practice by helping clients transfer knowledge from retiring water professionals and advance the skills of current operational professionals.
Support delivery of master and facility planning, business case evaluations, operations optimization studies, and asset management programs, including scope, schedule, and budget development.
Contribute to client development and pursuits by preparing proposals and estimates, participating in interviews, and building trusted-advisor relationships with municipal utility clients.
Perform quality assurance and quality control reviews and support quality and continuous improvement.
Mentor and develop technical staff and participate in professional and industry organizations, committees, conferences, and publications.
Perform composite performance evaluations and facilitate water treatment facility self-assessments to identify operational strengths, performance limitations, and improvement opportunities.
Develop and deliver operational protocols, tools, and methodologies to optimize process performance, improve system reliability, and advance operational excellence.
Assist clients in developing operational and leadership training programs to strengthen technical competency, supervisory effectiveness, and workforce development.
Travel to client sites and HDR offices as needed.