Design Manager (Water / Wastewater)

GHD; Harrisburg (Dauphin County); On-site; USD 107,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K

PTO 16 days

Holiday pay

Wellness reimbursement

Job summary

GHD in Harrisburg, PA is seeking a Water & Wastewater Process Design Manager to lead multi‑discipline engineering teams delivering municipal and industrial water projects. You will manage technical scope, schedule, and budget while mentoring team leads and coordinating with project managers and directors.

The role emphasizes QA/QC, design decisions, procurement, site visits, and client relationship management to deliver compliant, high‑quality infrastructure solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Engineering or related field.
• PE license or ability to obtain.
• 7+ years of multi-discipline project delivery experience.
• Familiarity with scheduling software and cost estimating.
• Knowledge of process modeling tools such as BioWin (optional).

Responsibilities

• LeadNeeds Assessment to identify stakeholders and issues.
• Drive a culture of innovation across units.
• Design engineering solutions and validation processes per standards.
• Develop and analyze engineering standards and specifications.
• Manage knowledge sharing and internal best practices.
• Monitor HSE KPIs and drive performance improvements.
• Recommend advanced technical developments to improve infrastructure.
• Provide professional supervision and mentorship.
• Conduct complex feasibility studies and cost‑benefit analyses.
• Manage project portfolio and report to senior staff.
• Maintain key client relationships and ensure satisfaction.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Process design

Regulatory compliance

HSE knowledge

Client relationship management

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Engineering

Tools

Scheduling software (Primavera/MS Project)

Cost estimating techniques

BioWin (process modeling)

Job description

Water & Wastewater Process Design Manager

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.

Key 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 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.
• Knowledge Management: Develop policies and processes, create best practices, set up case studies, and deliver internal knowledge‑sharing sessions.
• Health, Safety, and Environment: Monitor and review performance against health, safety, and environment (HSE) key performance indicators (KPIs) and take action to improve performance.
• 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.
• Professional Supervision: Lead and oversee the provision of professional supervision to ensure effective professional supervision that supports practitioners’ professional development.
• 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 another 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 (optional).

Benefits

• 401K – Employees are eligible to participate on the first day of the month following 3 months of service.
• Paid time off – 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.
• Wellness Benefit – Regular full‑term employees are eligible for a wellness reimbursement program, covering a range of health and fitness items up to $250.00 annually.

Salary range: $107,000–$196,000 based on experience.

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.