Principal Water & Wastewater Engineer — Lead Planning

Tonkin + Taylor; Auckland; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Leave purchase option

Wellbeing allowance

Professional development support

Chartership support

Overtime paid

Job summary

Tonkin + Taylor in New Zealand seeks a Principal Water + Wastewater Engineer or Hydraulic Modeller to lead our water network planning teams. You’ll guide planning, modelling, and designs for renewals and new infrastructure, including reticulation, pump stations, and resilience strategies.

You'll manage client relationships, senior staff mentoring, and project delivery across NZ offices. A strong technical background and leadership mindset are essential for this role.

Qualifications

• Degree in Civil, Environmental, Water Engineering or related discipline.
• At least 15 years' experience in water or wastewater design, hydraulic modelling or related field for a Principal Engineer, or 5+ years for a hydraulic modeller.
• Experience in engineering consultancy or local government is advantageous.
• Experience in network modelling, hydraulic analysis, infrastructure planning, strategies or design.
• Ability to interpret and quality-check engineering, GIS and asset data.

Responsibilities

• Lead proposals, project planning and business development.
• Lead water supply and wastewater projects from planning through design and delivery.
• Develop, update and review hydraulic network models.
• Assess network performance, capacity and resilience.
• Support growth planning and infrastructure investment decisions.
• Develop network strategies and masterplans; investigate constraints and improvements.
• Lead development of designs for concept to detailed stages for treatment and reticulation.
• Prepare and review reports and technical deliverables.
• Collaborate with clients, project teams and specialists.
• Mentor junior staff and grow water planning capabilities.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Collaboration

Analytical skills

Education

Civil/Environmental/Water Eng degree

Tools

Hydraulic modelling software

GIS

CAD

Job description

Tonkin + Taylor in New Zealand seeks a Principal Water + Wastewater Engineer or Hydraulic Modeller to lead our water network planning teams. You’ll guide planning, modelling, and designs for renewals and new infrastructure, including reticulation, pump stations, and resilience strategies.

You'll manage client relationships, senior staff mentoring, and project delivery across NZ offices. A strong technical background and leadership mindset are essential for this role.