Project Manager / Sales Engineer

US Desalination, LLC; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

US Desalination, LLC is seeking a Project Manager / Sales Engineer to coordinate commercial, technical, and project-management activities for BWRO and SWRO development projects. You will act as a central coordinator among customers, vendors, engineering partners, and Board members.

Responsibilities include managing schedules, feasibility studies, site development, and procurement planning, while supporting technical sales and customer engagements from feasibility to handoff to operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in chemical, mechanical, civil, environmental, electrical, or related engineering discipline preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in water infrastructure, desalination, membrane treatment, EPC project delivery, industrial water, or technical sales.
• Ability to manage multiple complex workstreams and stakeholders in a fast-moving development environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively with customers, engineers, contractors, vendors, executives, Board members, and public-sector stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate project schedules, milestones, and deliverables for BWRO and SWRO projects.
• Interface with customers, vendors, engineers, and EPC partners to define scopes and proposals.
• Prepare technical proposals, budgets, schedules, and meeting materials for customers.
• Support meetings, site visits, and commercial discussions through development of water-supply agreements.
• Travel as required for site visits, meetings, and project development activities.

Skills

Project management

Technical sales

Water treatment

Stakeholder coordination

MS Office Excel

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

Microsoft Project

CRM software

Job description

Project Manager / Sales Engineer – Water Development Company

Reports to:

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Type:

Full-Time | Project Management & Technical Sales

Position Summary:

The Project Manager / Sales Engineer is responsible for coordinating the commercial, technical, and project-management activities required to advance US Desalination's brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) and seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) projects at scale. The position serves as a central point of coordination among customers, technology and equipment vendors, engineering and EPC partners, strategic partners, consultants, and US Desalination Board members. The role combines disciplined project execution with technical sales support to move opportunities from early feasibility and customer engagement through design, permitting, procurement, contracting, construction, commissioning, and handoff to operations.

Key Responsibilities:

Project Management & Execution

• Manage project schedules, workstreams, action registers, decision logs, milestones, and deliverables for multiple concurrent BWRO and SWRO development projects.
• Coordinate feasibility, site development, source-water characterization, intake and concentrate-disposal concepts, interconnections, engineering, permitting, procurement, construction planning, commissioning, and startup activities.
• Identify critical-path items, schedule or scope risks, unresolved technical issues, and commercial dependencies; drive resolution and elevate material issues to executive leadership as appropriate.
• Maintain organized project files, technical documentation, data-room materials, meeting records, and document-control processes to support timely execution and third-party diligence.

Technical Sales & Customer Development

• Interface directly with municipal, utility, industrial, port, commercial, and other prospective customers to understand water demand, required water quality, delivery parameters, schedule, reliability requirements, and commercial objectives.
• Translate customer requirements into preliminary technical solutions and scopes of work in coordination with internal leadership, technology providers, engineering firms, and EPC partners.
• Prepare and coordinate technical proposals, presentations, budgets, schedules, responses to requests for information or proposals, and other customer-facing materials.
• Support customer meetings, site visits, technical workshops, follow-up actions, and commercial discussions through execution of development and water-supply agreements.
• Serve as a day-to-day interface with membrane suppliers, reverse-osmosis technology vendors, process engineers, equipment suppliers, EPC contractors, civil contractors, electrical and controls vendors, and other project participants.
• Solicit, organize, and compare budgetary quotations, technical submittals, equipment lead times, performance data, warranties, guarantees, and commercial terms.
• Coordinate design reviews, constructability reviews, value-engineering sessions, technical workshops, and cross-functional meetings to keep engineering and procurement activities aligned with project objectives.
• Track vendor and partner commitments and ensure required information, proposals, drawings, schedules, and decisions are delivered on time.

Board & Stakeholder Coordination

• Interface with US Desalination Board members, executive leadership, advisors, strategic partners, investors, and project stakeholders as required to maintain alignment and accelerate decision-making.
• Prepare concise project updates, dashboards, meeting materials, decision memoranda, action lists, and other reporting for executive and Board review.
• Represent US Desalination professionally in customer, vendor, partner, and industry meetings and maintain appropriate confidentiality regarding project and commercial information.

Commercial, Cost & Procurement Support

• Support development of capital and operating cost estimates, lifecycle-cost assessments, water-pricing inputs, procurement strategies, and project economic analyses.
• Coordinate technical and commercial inputs used in project financial models, financing materials, public-private partnership structures, grant applications, and lender or investor diligence.
• Assist with scope definition, bid packages, proposal leveling, vendor selection, purchase recommendations, and change-management processes in coordination with executive leadership and project partners.

Permitting & Regulatory Support

• Maintain project-specific permit matrices, schedules, dependencies, and deliverable requirements in coordination with environmental, engineering, legal, and regulatory consultants.
• Support technical documentation related to drinking-water standards, environmental review, source-water intake, concentrate management and discharge, construction, and other applicable approvals.
• Coordinate timely responses to consultant, agency, customer, and partner requests for technical and project information.

Other Responsibilities

• Perform other project-development, technical-sales, procurement, commercial, and operational duties required to facilitate the timely execution of US Desalination BWRO and SWRO projects at scale.
• Travel as required for customer meetings, project sites, vendor facilities, industry events, Board meetings, and project-development activities.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in chemical, mechanical, civil, environmental, electrical, or related engineering discipline preferred; other technical degrees or equivalent project-development experience will be considered.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in water infrastructure, desalination, membrane treatment, EPC project delivery, industrial water, or technical sales.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex workstreams, third-party deliverables, schedules, priorities, and stakeholders in a fast-moving development environment.
• Strong technical aptitude and ability to understand process flow diagrams, P&IDs, site plans, equipment specifications, design criteria, and vendor proposals.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively with customers, engineers, contractors, vendors, executives, Board members, and public-sector stakeholders.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and project-management or scheduling tools; ability to prepare professional customer and Board materials is required.

Preferred Experience:

• Direct experience with large-scale BWRO or SWRO development, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations, or technical sales; working knowledge of RO process design and major treatment systems is preferred.
• Experience with municipal or industrial water customers, EPC procurement, proposal development, cost estimating, commercial negotiations, or large capital projects.
• Experience supporting public-private partnerships, infrastructure financing, water purchase or offtake arrangements, or project-finance diligence is a plus; PMP, PE, EIT, or comparable credentials are also a plus.