The Role:
We are seeking a Process Design Lead - Ultrapure Water / Advanced Water Treatment within the Process & Hydraulic Engineering discipline. In this role, you will play a pivotal part in delivering advanced water treatment, high-purity process water and data centre cooling-water projects from concept through to construction, commissioning, and operations. You will take ownership of developing robust treatment solutions that meet client requirements and ensure successful project outcomes through to process commissioning.
The Role:
We are seeking a Process Design Lead - Ultrapure Water / Advanced Water Treatment within the Process & Hydraulic Engineering discipline. In this role, you will play a pivotal part in delivering advanced water treatment, high-purity process water and data centre cooling-water projects from concept through to construction, commissioning, and operations. You will take ownership of developing robust treatment solutions that meet client requirements and ensure successful project outcomes through to process commissioning.
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary engineering team, you will operate within a collaborative one-team culture while actively developing your own technical skills and leadership experience. While your primary focus will be on advanced water treatment, membrane processes, process hydraulics and system integration, you will also engage with and manage inputs and deliverables from other engineering disciplines, including Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control & Automation (MEICA), as well as civil and structural engineering.
This role offers exposure to a broad range of multi-disciplinary engineering challenges, including ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, dechlorination, antiscalant dosing, remineralisation, water treatment for cooling systems, blowdown recovery, rainwater reuse and process-water storage and distribution. You will also have the opportunity to develop client relationships, lead design discussions, and contribute to integrated, high-quality project delivery across all stages.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
Strategic Design Leadership
- This role is a technical delivery-focused position, operating with a high degree of autonomy while working under the direction of the Head of Process & Hydraulic Engineering. The Process Design Lead - Ultrapure Water / Advanced Water Treatment is responsible for managing, coordinating and delivering defined packages of work, coordinating with other disciplines at regional level, and supporting senior, intermediate and junior engineers.
- Develop and maintain a coherent design vision aligned with business objectives and long-term strategic goals.
- Prioritise and lead high-impact design initiatives that enhance project outcomes and organisational capability.
- Establish and refine consistent, efficient, and high-quality design workflows across all projects.
- Promote a culture of innovation, sustainability, and continuous improvement within the design function.
- Team Leadership, Line Management & Talent Development
- Provide effective line management to the design team, including workload planning, performance management, and resource allocation.
- Mentor, coach, and develop engineers and designers at all levels, enhancing technical capability, decision-making, and leadership skills.
- Identify skills gaps and deliver structured development plans to build a high-performing, multidisciplinary team.
- Foster a collaborative, knowledge-sharing culture that prioritises technical excellence and professional development.
Technical Design, Engineering & Equipment Assessment
- Lead or oversee detailed technical assessments of advanced water treatment, high-purity water and process water equipment, ensuring appropriate specification, performance and integration into system designs.
- Manage technical interfaces across MEICA disciplines, coordinating input from Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control & Automation teams to produce fully integrated, clash-free design solutions.
- Work closely with ACC (Advanced Control & Communications) teams to develop intelligent, data-rich P&IDs and ensure accurate control-system integration within the design.
- Develop and review process and hydraulic calculations across advanced water treatment systems, including ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, remineralisation, GAC, UV, chemical dosing, process-water storage, distribution and blowdown recovery processes.
- Review membrane projections, antiscalant projections, recovery calculations, reject schedules, water balances and chemical dosing calculations for UF, NF, RO and associated treatment systems.
- Define source-water quality requirements, treated-water quality limits, recovered-water acceptance criteria and reject / backwash / CIP waste requirements.
- Assess scaling, corrosion, fouling and microbiological risks, including hardness, alkalinity, silica, chloride, conductivity, TOC/DOC, SDI, turbidity and oxidant control.
- Develop and review treatment philosophies for evaporative / adiabatic cooling make-up, cooling-system blowdown recovery, rainwater reuse and non-potable process-water systems.
- Produce and oversee technical deliverables, including:
- Process & Mechanical Design Reports
- Intelligent P&IDs and PFDs
- Equipment selection and specifications
- Whole Life Cost Assessments
- Hydraulic & process calculations
- Water balances, recovery calculations and reject schedules
- Membrane and antiscalant projection reviews
- Chemical dosing and storage calculations
- Energy balances
- Control philosophies and automation logic inputs
- Motor & Instrument Lists
- Constructability Assessments
- Construction Sequence Narratives
- Process Impact Plans (PIPs)
- Interface Registers and Decision Logs
- Support development of efficient, safe, and future-proofed site layouts, ensuring adequate space planning, operability, maintainability, and construction access.
Interdisciplinary Coordination & Stakeholder Engagement
- Work as part of a "one team" environment to deliver multiple projects concurrently.
- Collaborate closely with MEICA engineers, Digital team, planners, project managers, commissioning teams, equipment suppliers and client stakeholders to maintain technical alignment.
- Engage with clients, equipment suppliers, AHU suppliers and third-party agencies to communicate design intent, challenge technical assumptions and resolve technical queries efficiently.
- Support contract and project managers in defining project scope, budget, programme, and deliverables.
- Design Assurance, Quality & Compliance.
- Develop, review and validate design proposals to ensure compliance with internal standards, client specifications, water-quality requirements, membrane supplier requirements and statutory requirements.
- Monitor design progress against baseline schedules, identifying risks, delays, or design constraints that may impact construction or commissioning.
- Participate in design reviews, HAZOPs, ALMs, and constructability workshops, ensuring timely resolution of actions.
- Ensure designs incorporate operational, maintenance, lifecycle, and whole-life performance considerations from the outset.
- Lead design constructability assessments and facilitate