Facilities Engineering & Operations Manager – Water & Wastewater Treatment
On-siteDurham, North Carolina, United States
Job Summary
Lead enterprise-level technical leadership for water, wastewater, reclaim, and hazardous waste systems, including RO/DI, UF, ion exchange, and advanced treatment technologies. Drive system hardening initiatives to enhance reliability, eliminate single points of failure, and implement root cause failure analysis across multi-site operations. Optimize operating costs through setpoint tuning, Lean, and Six Sigma methodologies while defining and enforcing KPIs for chemical intensity, energy consumption, and system uptime. Develop predictive maintenance programs, standardize spares strategies, and lead brownfield retrofit projects focused on ROI-driven reliability improvements. Mentor engineering teams, establish career development pathways, and ensure strict compliance with EPA, NPDES, and state regulatory requirements. Partner with EHS and manufacturing to align on sustainability goals and communicate performance metrics to executive leadership.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Environmental, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
- 8–12+ years of experience in industrial water/wastewater engineering and operations
- Demonstrated success in system hardening, brownfield optimization, and cost reduction initiatives
- Experience supporting multi-site or centralized engineering organizations
- Proven track record delivering quantifiable OPEX savings and reliability improvements
- Deep expertise in: Water systems: RO/DI, UF, IX, filtration, reclaim
- Deep expertise in: Wastewater systems: chemical and advanced treatment processes
- Strong understanding of process integration, automation, and PLC/SCADA systems
- Ability to lead enterprise-wide initiatives without direct authority
- Strong coaching, mentoring, and talent development skills
- Excellent communication and stakeholder influence capabilities
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities
- Hands-on leadership style with a people-first, cost-focused mindset
- Up to 20% domestic travel to support multi-site operations and improvement initiatives
Desired Qualifications
- Master's degree
- Experience leading and mentoring engineering and operations teams
- Semiconductor or advanced manufacturing experience
- Familiarity with emerging regulatory challenges such as PFAS, azoles, and POTW compliance
- Proficiency in data analytics, performance trending, and process optimization tools
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