Design Manager (Water / Wastewater)

GHD; Buffalo (NY); On-site; USD 107,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K

Paid time off

Holiday pay

Wellness reimbursement

Job summary

GHD is seeking an experienced Water & Wastewater Process Design Manager to lead multi-disciplinary design teams in delivering municipal and industrial water projects. You will coordinate across disciplines, manage technical scope with project managers and directors, and ensure schedule and budget compliance.

This hands-on role involves QA/QC, client reviews, procurement documentation, change management, and site involvement, contributing to impactful infrastructure with a high-performing team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Engineering or related technical field.
• Professional Engineering License or ability to obtain.
• 7+ years of technical, administrative and project experience managing design delivery for municipal/industrial water and wastewater projects.

Responsibilities

• Needs Assessment: identify issues, stakeholders and barriers.
• Culture of Innovation: foster cross-unit collaboration and creativity.
• Engineering Solutions Design: create design solutions aligned with standards and cost constraints.
• Engineering Standards Specification: draft and evaluate engineering standards.
• Knowledge Management: develop policies and share knowledge across teams.
• Health, Safety, and Environment: monitor HSE KPIs and ensure compliance.
• Technical Developments Recommendation: propose advanced technical improvements.
• Professional Supervision: supervise professionals and support development.
• Feasibility Studies: perform cost-benefit analyses for changes.
• Project Management: manage a portfolio of projects and report progress.
• Client & Customer Management: manage key client relationships.

Skills

Project management

Client management

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's or Master’s in Engineering

Professional Engineering License

Tools

BioWin

Job description

Job Description

Help us build the future and we'll help you build a rewarding and purposeful career. Our global network is made up of architects, designers, planners, engineers, and environmental scientists all working towards the same goal. Join a team that brings inspirational architecture, landscapes, townscapes and places to our world, and we'll provide you unlimited space to grow.

Who are we looking for?

We're looking for a driven and experienced Water & Wastewater Process Design Manager to join our Engineering Design Organization! In this role, you'll coordinate technical teams across multiple design disciplines, ensuring projects meet client needs and comply with all applicable regulations. You'll be responsible for executing the technical scope of projects, developing work plans in collaboration with Project Managers and Directors, and verifying progress against schedule and budget. You'll empower team leads with the resources they need, facilitate design decisions, and oversee QA/QC and client review processes. From finalizing procurement documents to managing change records and participating in site visits and proposal development, this is a hands‑on opportunity to shape impactful infrastructure projects with a collaborative, high‑performing team. Working with an energetic and high performing team, this position offers a variety of work and will see you involved in:

Responsibilities

• Needs Assessment: Uncover emerging issues or needs, identifying potential causes, barriers, and key stakeholders, as well as related issues.
• Culture of Innovation: Drive a culture of innovation by creating multistakeholder solutions that boost creativity, innovation, and collaboration across business units
• Engineering Solutions Design: Design engineering solutions and the associated validation process to enable the realization of a design brief (for example, in terms of functionality, performance, aesthetics, and cost) that conforms to organizational and/or regulatory standards.
• Engineering Standards Specification: Analyze information, draft engineering standards and specifications, and evaluate the effectiveness of those standards within own engineering discipline to ensure work of the required quality is delivered and to inform engineering work in the organization and/or of its suppliers, contractors, and consultants.
• Knowledge Management: Develop policies and processes, create best practices, set up case studies, and deliver internal knowledge-sharing sessions to capture and share knowledge among colleagues on project/program outcomes and innovative practices in a particular area of expertise and to support the practice.
• Health, Safety, and Environment: Monitor and review performance against health, safety, and environment (HSE) key performance indicators (KPIs) and patterns of behavior within the area of responsibility. Take action to improve performance and to resolve noncompliance with the organization's HSE policies, procedures, and mandatory instructions.
• Technical Developments Recommendation: Discuss and recommend more complex or innovative technical developments to improve the quality of the website/portal/application software and supporting infrastructure to better meet project needs.
• Professional Supervision: Lead and oversee the provision of professional supervision to ensure that there is effective professional supervision that supports practitioners' professional development and embeds reflective practice.
• Feasibility Studies: Conduct complex feasibility studies from a technological and organizational perspective and document findings to complete cost-benefit analysis on implementing changes to business processes, products, or business unit structure.
• Project Management: Manage a portfolio of projects while reporting to senior colleagues.
• Client & Customer Management (External): Manage important client relationships with guidance from senior colleagues.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's and/or Master's degree in Engineering or other technical discipline
• Professional Engineering License or ability to obtain
• At least 7 years of technical, administrative and project experience, managing the design delivery for larger, multi-discipline projects specifically for municipal/industrial water and wastewater treatment plants, facilities, or buildings preferred
• Knowledge of scheduling software and engineering and capital cost estimating techniques is preferred
• Process modeling such as bio-win a plus

Benefits

• 401K - Employees are eligible to participate on the first day of the month following 3 months of service
• Paid time off - Our PTO benefit is designed to provide eligible employees with a period of rest and relaxation, sick, and personal time throughout the year. PTO starts at 16 days per year and increases with years of service
• Holiday Pay - Holiday pay is provided for eligible employees. GHD observes 9 holidays per year. Holiday pay will be based on the regular set schedule for the employee
• Wellness Benefit- Regular full-term employees are eligible to participate in the wellness reimbursement program. GHD will reimburse 50% of the cost of the following to maximum of $250.00 reimbursement annually for such items as: Health club membership fees, home exercise equipment purchases, Bicycles, Race, run & marathon entrance fees, Smoking cessation programs, Weight loss programs (i.e.-Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig), Fitbits and Fitness Tracking devices

Salary Range

Salary range: $107,000-$196,000 based on experience

Equal Employment Opportunity

GHD is an equal opportunity employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, genetic information, national origin, sex (including same sex), sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, age, disability or handicap, citizenship status, service member status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.

About Us

Take on some of the world's toughest challenges - with GHD supporting you every step of the way. We'll give you control over your career, empower you to find innovative solutions and help you create a lasting impact. See where your commitment could take you with GHD. Our Pledge to You At GHD, we don't just believe in the power of commitment, we live and breathe it every day. That's why we pledge to empower our people to make a positive impact. Combining our deep technical expertise with the capabilities of our clients and partners, we respond to some of the most complex challenges facing our planet today. See where your commitment could take you. That's the #PowerOfCommitment Who we are GHD is a global professional services company that leads through engineering, architecture, and construction expertise. We are an employee-owned company with over 11,000 diverse and skilled individuals, across more than 200 offices spanning five continents. The Power of Commitment is our brand promise. It's what makes us different. We are bound to our stated vision and determination to address humanity's most urgent needs: to make water, energy and urbanisation sustainable for generations to come.