PFAS Water Treatment Technical Specialist

SupportFinity™; Vancouver (WA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

SupportFinity™ is seeking a Senior PFAS Water Treatment Technical Specialist in Vancouver, Washington. The role is focused on supporting industrial wastewater, landfill leachate, and remediation projects, integrating multidisciplinary teams.

Key responsibilities include leading design and pilot testing for PFAS treatments and mentoring team members. Ideal candidates will have a Master's degree in a related field and at least ten years of experience in environmental engineering.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in remedial investigation and design.
• Experience with landfill leachate and PFAS process engineering.
• Strong decision-making ability and leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead PFAS treatment design and pilot testing projects.
• Conduct field diagnostics and process optimization.
• Mentor teams and contribute to technical leadership.

Skills

PFAS treatment

Industrial wastewater processes

Data analytics

Environmental chemistry

Team leadership

Technical report writing

Education

Master’s degree in Environmental, Chemical, Civil Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering

Tools

WaterCAD

MATLAB

Microsoft Office

Job description

PFAS Water Treatment Technical Specialist

HDR is seeking a senior PFAS Water Treatment Technical Specialist to support industrial water, landfill leachate, and remediation projects. The role involves design, pilot testing, system optimization, and integration with multidisciplinary teams.

Introduction

As a senior technical specialist, you will lead PFAS treatment design, pilot testing, and integration across industrial, solid waste, and remediation projects.

Primary Responsibilities

• Provide technical expertise in PFAS treatment, industrial wastewater processes, and remediation system integration.
• Lead bench-scale and pilot-scale treatability studies, including adsorption, foam fractionation, membrane performance, AOP evaluation, destruction technologies, residuals management, and hydraulic stress testing.
• Conduct field diagnostics, process optimization, mass‑balance evaluations, and full‑scale performance validation for industrial and remediation systems.
• Support subject‑matter expertise and mentor team members.
• Perform data analytics and modeling for treatment design, including breakthrough analysis, fouling assessments, reactor sizing, and lifecycle cost evaluations.
• Prepare technical reports addressing PFAS feasibility studies, industrial wastewater characterization, remedial technology selection, and regulatory compliance.
• Mentor team and contribute to technical leadership within professional organizations, including committees, papers, conference presentations, and panels.
• Execute complex engineering assignments requiring independent judgment and advanced process evaluation.
• Make key technical decisions related to PFAS treatment configuration, concentrate management, and integration with remediation systems.
• Serve as a Technical Specialist or Project Manager on mid‑size industrial water, landfill leachate, and remediation projects.
• Supervise small teams in laboratory testing, field investigations, pilot deployment, and system startup.
• Support industrial water treatment and site remediation programs, collaborating with HDR practice groups.
• Leverage HDR's performance metric tools to monitor the health of your business class and drive success.
• Support development and application of remediation technical tools, standards, recommended practices, and techniques to enhance service quality and efficiency.
• Perform other duties as requested.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Environmental, Chemical, Civil, or related engineering field (Bachelor’s acceptable with significant experience).
• Experience with landfill leachate, industrial wastewater, or contaminated groundwater with PFAS process engineering.
• Expertise in water chemistry, industrial wastewater, and landfill leachate treatment, PFAS technologies, statistical analysis, and data interpretation.
• Experience supporting engineering deliverables for treatment plants, pump stations, distribution/collection systems, and remediation treatment systems meeting scope, schedule and budgets.
• Experience with soil remedial technologies.
• Strong decision‑making ability and accountability for technical outcomes.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary and geographically distributed teams.
• Leadership in defining and delivering concepts to operational systems for clients.
• Active participation in professional organizations such as WEF, AWWA, SWANA, NGWA, SERDP/ESTCP.
• Advanced experience with PFAS treatment technologies (e.g., IX, GAC, membranes, foam fractionation, destruction technologies).
• Pilot‑scale system design, deployment, and performance evaluation experience.
• Expertise in site remediation technologies (e.g., GWET, ISCO/ISCR, thermal remediation, PFAS mass‑removal strategies).
• Experience developing conceptual site models and performing fate‑and‑transport evaluations.
• Experience with both public and private clients.
• Familiarity with CERCLA, RCRA, and state cleanup programs.
• Proficiency with process modeling tools (WaterCAD, BioWin, GPS‑X, MATLAB, Python, etc.).
• Record of innovation in treatment process development or applied research.
• Participation in technical committees or research collaborations related to emerging contaminants.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering or a closely related engineering field.
• A minimum of 10 years of experience in remedial investigation, design and implementation of remedial actions, and some project management experience.
• Professional engineering license recognized by the licensing board for the location of the position (e.g., PE or P.Eng).
• Experience with Microsoft Office applications (including Access, Excel, Word).
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience with soil and groundwater remedial technologies.
• Commitment to active participation in an employee‑owned culture.

Location

Charlottem, North Carolina, United States.

Industry

Waste

Employment Status

Full‑time, Regular

Equal Employment Opportunity

HDR is committed to the principles of employment equity. We are an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.