Assistant Utilities Director

Mannik Smith Group; Bossier City (LA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

WEI Incentive Program

Healthy Workplace Program

Employee Referral Bonus

Competitive Health Benefits

Career Development and Training

Flexible/Hybrid Schedule

Community Service Opportunities

Job summary

Waggoner Engineering, Inc. in Bossier City, LA, seeks an Assistant Utilities Director to lead the municipal utilities program, partnering with the Director to translate priorities into action across treatment operations, capital projects, and regulatory compliance.

The role requires strong leadership, decision-making, and cross-functional collaboration with city administration, regulators, consultants, and clients.

Qualifications

• Executive leadership experience overseeing municipal utilities or public-private partnerships.
• Ability to translate priorities into actionable plans and budgets.
• Strong knowledge of water and wastewater operations, safety, and regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day priorities and cross-functional coordination for the utilities program.
• Coach and hold plant managers and staff accountable for performance.
• Establish clear communication, escalation paths, and workforce planning.
• Support safety culture and regulatory compliance across facilities.
• Represent the utilities practice with City administration, regulators, and stakeholders.
• Oversee planning, scoping, budgeting, and execution of capital and operational projects.
• Coordinate with internal teams, subconsultants, contractors, and City personnel.
• Identify risks and implement corrective-action plans.
• Support grant- and funding-related project development and regulatory coordination.
• Ensure project design considers maintainability and operability.

Skills

Leadership experience

Regulatory compliance understanding

Strategic planning

People management

Education

Louisiana Class IV operator certification

Tools

GIS

CMMS

Operational dashboards

Data analysis

Performance reporting tools

Job description

Assistant Utilities Director

Department: Civil/Municipal

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Bossier City, LA

Compensation: $110,000 - $130,000 / year

Description

The Assistant Utilities Director is a senior operational leadership position supporting Waggoner Engineering's management of the Bossier City utility program and the continued growth of the North Louisiana utilities practice. The role works closely with the Director of Public Utilities to translate priorities into accountable action across treatment operations, field services, capital projects, compliance, staffing, and client commitments.

The successful candidate will be capable of leading people, making sound decisions, resolving issues across organizational boundaries, and representing the utilities practice with City administration, regulators, consultants, contractors, and other stakeholders. This position is expected to take ownership of assigned functions and provide continuity of leadership when the Director is unavailable. It is not intended to be solely a senior technical or advisory role.

Key Responsibilities

Primary Scope

The position's primary assignment is the Bossier City utility system, with responsibility extending across the Water Treatment Plant; Red River and Northeast Wastewater Treatment Plants; water transmission and distribution; sewer collection; lift stations; environmental and laboratory services; utility administration; and associated capital improvement programs. The position will also support municipal utility clients, pursuits, and strategic initiatives throughout North Louisiana.

Staff Leadership and Operational Accountability

• Serve as the Director's principal deputy and assume delegated leadership responsibility for day-to-day priorities, cross-functional coordination, and issue resolution.
• Provide clear direction, coaching, and accountability to plant managers, division managers, project managers, technical staff, operators, and support personnel.
• Establish disciplined communication routines, performance expectations, follow-up practices, and escalation paths across the utility organization.
• Support workforce planning, recruiting, succession planning, certification development, shift coverage, training, and employee retention.
• Promote a culture of safety, service, regulatory compliance, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Act on behalf of the Director during absences or as assigned, within delegated authority and applicable client requirements.

Treatment Plant and Utility System Oversight

• Support reliable, compliant, and cost-effective operation of Bossier City's water and wastewater treatment facilities and related utility infrastructure.
• Review operating data, laboratory results, alarms, maintenance needs, process performance, chemical use, energy consumption, and key performance indicators to identify emerging risks and corrective actions.
• Coordinate operational readiness for outages, severe weather, equipment failures, water-quality events, permit concerns, emergency repairs, and other incidents affecting service continuity.
• Strengthen preventive maintenance, asset management, standard operating procedures, documentation, inventory controls, and operator training.
• Facilitate collaboration among treatment, transmission and distribution, sewer collection, lift station, environmental, engineering, and administrative teams.

Program and Project Delivery

• Lead or oversee planning, scoping, budgeting, scheduling, design coordination, procurement, construction, commissioning, and closeout for utility capital and operational improvement projects.
• Assign clear project ownership, monitor schedule and financial performance, resolve delivery constraints, and provide concise status reporting to the Director and client leadership.
• Coordinate internal disciplines, subconsultants, contractors, vendors, and City personnel while maintaining technical quality and continuity of utility service.
• Review technical memoranda, plans, specifications, estimates, proposals, change requests, pay applications, and other deliverables appropriate to the candidate's qualifications and delegated authority.
• Support grant- and funding-related project development, including scope definition, supporting documentation, regulatory coordination, and implementation planning.

Regulatory, Technical, and Risk Management

• Support compliance with applicable LDH, LDEQ, EPA, permit, reporting, sampling, and recordkeeping requirements.
• Provide or coordinate technical oversight for water treatment, wastewater treatment, pumping, distribution, collection, instrumentation and controls, residuals management, and related infrastructure.
• Identify operational, regulatory, safety, financial, and reputational risks; establish owners and corrective-action plans; and verify completion.
• Prepare for and support inspections, audits, incident reviews, regulatory meetings, and corrective-action responses.
• Ensure operational needs and maintainability are incorporated into project design, construction sequencing, startup, training, and acceptance.

Client and Stakeholder Leadership

• Maintain a visible, trusted working relationship with Bossier City administration, department leadership, plant and field staff, elected officials, and partner agencies.
• Translate technical and operational issues into clear recommendations, decisions, budgets, schedules, and public-facing explanations appropriate to the audience.
• Coordinate meetings, briefings, council-support materials, emergency communications, and follow-up actions as assigned.
• Resolve concerns promptly, communicate commitments accurately, and ensure the team follows through on agreed actions.
• Represent Waggoner and the client professionally in regulatory, community, industry, and business-development settings.

Practice Growth and Business Management

• Support strategic planning and responsible growth of Waggoner's North Louisiana utilities practice while protecting service quality for existing clients.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with municipal leaders, utility managers, funding partners, regulatory agencies, and teaming partners.
• Identify client needs and emerging opportunities; assist with capture planning, scopes, staffing strategies, fee development, proposals, and interviews.
• Support workload forecasting, resource planning, utilization, project financial performance, and coordination across the Louisiana Business Unit.
• Develop repeatable standards, tools, and management practices that improve consistency across utility programs and client engagements.

What you'll need

Preferred Qualifications

• Louisiana Class IV operator certification in one or more relevant water or wastewater categories, or demonstrated ability and willingness to obtain appropriate certifications.
• Leadership experience within a municipal utility, public-private operating partnership, owner-advisor program, or embedded client-service environment.
• Experience with membrane filtration, ozone, granular activated carbon, disinfection and distribution water quality, activated sludge, ultraviolet disinfection, pumping and lift stations, SCADA, and asset-management systems.
• Experience with municipal budgeting, public procurement, council or board processes, rate-funded capital planning, emergency procurement, and state or federal funding programs.
• Experience leading facility startup, commissioning, process optimization, emergency response, or major operational transitions.
• Familiarity with GIS, CMMS, operational dashboards, data analysis, and performance-reporting tools.

Core Leadership Competencies

• Operational ownership: Accepts responsibility for outcomes, closes gaps, and creates reliable follow-through.
• People leadership: Sets clear expectations, develops others, addresses conflict, and builds trust across teams.
• Judgment under pressure: Remains composed, assesses risk, and makes timely decisions during operational or client-critical events.
• Technical integration: Connects treatment, field operations, engineering, maintenance, compliance, and capital delivery into workable decisions.
• Client stewardship: Protects the client's interests, communicates candidly, and builds confidence through responsiveness and execution.
• Financial discipline: Understands budgets, fees, project performance, procurement constraints, and the long-term cost of operational decisions.
• Growth orientation: Recognizes opportunities, builds relationships, and expands capabilities without compromising current commitments.
• Public-service mindset: Exercises integrity, sound stewardship, discretion, and respect for the communities served.

Performance Expectations

Success in this role will be reflected by:

• The Director has a trusted second-in-command who can independently lead assigned operational, staff, project, and client responsibilities.
• Bossier City plant and utility priorities are translated into clear owners, schedules, decisions, and completed actions.
• Operational reliability, regulatory compliance, safety, preventive maintenance, and emergency readiness continue to improve.
• Capital and operational projects are delivered with disciplined control of scope, schedule, budget, quality, and service continuity.
• Managers and staff receive consistent direction, coaching, accountability, and opportunities for professional and certification development.
• Client confidence remains high while the North Louisiana utilities practice expands its relationships, backlog, and delivery capacity.

Work Environment and Availability

• The position is based in the Bossier office and requires regular on-site presence at active water and wastewater treatment facilities, pump stations, lift stations, field operations, construction sites, and client offices.
• Work may occur around operating equipment, chemicals, elevated noise, wet environments, uneven surfaces, confined operational areas, traffic, and seasonal outdoor conditions. Required personal protective equipment and site-specific safety procedures must be followed.
• The role requires the ability to access operating facilities, walk active sites, climb stairs and ladders where authorized, and occasionally lift or carry items weighing up to approximately 25 pounds, with reasonable accommodation as applicable.
• Occasional evening, weekend, or emergency availability is expected when utility operations, weather events, incidents, public meetings, or project activities require leadership support.

Why Join Our Team

We know work isn't only about what you do, it's also about who you work for and with! Waggoner Engineering provides a fun, family-friendly, and multicultural work environment that supports a work life balance, including:

• WEI Incentive Program
• Healthy Workplace Program
• Employee Referral Bonus
• Competitive Health Benefits
• Career Development and Training
• Flexible/Hybrid Schedule
• Community Service Opportunities

Waggoner Engineering, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

Pay Transparency

The base salary range for this role is indicated in the posting. This range reflects the company’s good faith estimate of the compensation for this position at the time of posting. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, internal equity, and geographic location.