Facilities Engineering & Operations Manager – Water & Wastewater Treatment

US01 Wolfspeed, Inc.; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

US01 Wolfspeed, Inc. is seeking a Facilities Engineering & Operations Manager - Water & Wastewater Treatment to lead a multi-site team in optimizing the performance and reliability of water systems across the U.S. You will focus on operational excellence, cost reduction, and infrastructure optimization.

The ideal candidate will have a bachelor's degree in Engineering and extensive experience in industrial water/wastewater operations. A hands-on leadership style and exceptional mentoring skills are a must for this role.

Qualifications

• 8-12+ years of experience in industrial water/wastewater engineering.
• Experience leading engineering teams and multi-site operations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical initiatives for water and wastewater systems.
• Develop predictive and preventive maintenance programs.
• Optimize system performance for cost efficiency.

Skills

System hardening

Cost reduction initiatives

Data analytics

Leadership and mentoring

Process optimization

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering

Master’s degree

Tools

PLC/SCADA systems

Data analytics tools

Job description

Job Summary

We are seeking a Facilities Engineering & Operations Manager - Water & Wastewater Treatment to lead a multi-site team of engineers, supervisors, and technicians responsible for the reliability, system hardening, and cost-efficient operation of water, wastewater, and reclaim systems across U.S. facilities. This role is focused on operational excellence, asset lifecycle optimization, and sustained OPEX reduction, with primary emphasis on strengthening and optimizing existing infrastructure rather than greenfield expansion. The position requires up to 20% domestic travel to support multi-site operations and improvement initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Engineering Leadership (System Hardening & Risk Reduction)
  • Provide enterprise-level technical leadership for water, wastewater, reclaim, and hazardous waste systems, including RO/DI, UF, ion exchange, and advanced wastewater treatment technologies.
  • Lead system hardening initiatives to enhance reliability, redundancy, and resilience of critical utility infrastructure.
  • Identify and eliminate single points of failure (SPOFs) through robust redundancy and design improvements.
  • Drive root-cause failure analysis (RCFA) and ensure implementation of sustainable corrective and preventive actions across all sites.
  • Establish and lead global improvement forums and steering committees to drive best known methods (BKMs) and cross-site knowledge sharing.
  • Champion FMEA and Facilities Change Review Board (FCRB) processes to proactively manage system risks and changes.
• Operational Excellence & Cost Optimization
  • Lead cross-site initiatives to reduce operating costs—chemicals, energy, consumables, and waste disposal—while maintaining or improving system performance.
  • Optimize system performance through setpoint tuning, recovery improvement, and process efficiency enhancements.
  • Define, track, and enforce KPIs such as cost per unit treated, chemical intensity, energy consumption, and system uptime.
  • Deploy Lean, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies to drive sustainable performance gains.
• Reliability Engineering & Maintenance Strategy
  • Develop and implement predictive and preventive maintenance programs for critical water and wastewater assets.
  • Standardize spares strategies, redundancy philosophies, and maintenance procedures across all sites.
  • Leverage condition monitoring, data analytics, and digital tools to reduce unplanned downtime.
• People Leadership, Mentoring & Engagement
  • Mentor and coach early-career engineers and supervisors, strengthening technical depth and problem-solving capability.
  • Foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and accountability across all sites.
  • Establish structured career development pathways, training programs, and competency frameworks.
  • Recognize high performance and proactively address skill gaps to build a motivated, high-capability team.
• Regulatory & Compliance
  • Ensure compliance with EPA, NPDES, and state regulatory requirements (e.g., NCDEQ, NYDEC). Support audits, inspections, and regulatory reporting.
• Targeted Capital & Retrofit Execution (ROI-Driven)
  • Lead brown-field retrofit and debottlenecking projects focused on reliability improvement and OPEX reduction.
  • Prioritize investments based on ROI, payback, and risk reduction, rather than capacity expansion.
  • Review and approve engineering designs, technical solutions, and vendor proposals.
• Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Partner with EHS, manufacturing, and corporate engineering to align on reliability, cost, and sustainability goals.
  • Lead technical support for incident investigations and corrective actions.
  • Communicate performance metrics, risks, and cost-saving opportunities to executive leadership in a clear, data-driven manner.

Desired Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Environmental, Mechanical Engineering, or related field (required)
• Master’s degree (preferred)
• 8-12+ years of experience in industrial water/wastewater engineering and operations
• Demonstrated success in system hardening, brownfield optimization, and cost reduction initiatives
• Experience leading and mentoring engineering and operations teams (preferred)
• Experience supporting multi-site or centralized engineering organizations
• Semiconductor or advanced manufacturing experience strongly preferred
• Proven track record delivering quantifiable OPEX savings and reliability improvements
• Deep expertise in:
  • Water systems: RO/DI, UF, ion exchange (IX), filtration, reclaim
  • Wastewater systems: chemical and advanced treatment processes
• Familiarity with emerging regulatory challenges such as PFAS, azoles, and POTW compliance (preferred)
• Strong understanding of process integration, automation, and PLC/SCADA systems
• Proficiency in data analytics, performance trending, and process optimization tools
• Ability to lead enterprise-wide initiatives without direct authority
• Strong coaching, mentoring, and talent development skills
• Excellent communication and stakeholder influence capabilities
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities
• Hands-on leadership style with a people-first, cost-focused mindset

Wolfspeed is an equal opportunity employer. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote regardless of race, sex, religion, color, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation and other protected status as required by law.