Senior Water/Wastewater Operations Specialist

HDR • Glen Allen, VA

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

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.

Requirements

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in plant operations
• Ability to handle multiple, diverse assignments
• Commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture

Nice To Haves

• 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.
• Microsoft Office experience.
• 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.

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.
• 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.

Benefits

• 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.
• Fostering a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities.
• Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior