Senior Environmental Engineer

Senior Environmental Engineer; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 104,000 - 142,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) with employer match

Job summary

Brown and Caldwell is seeking a Senior Environmental Engineer in California to lead complex environmental engineering work, including planning, analysis, and design for water protection and public health outcomes. You will apply advanced technical expertise with minimal supervision and collaborate across natural and engineered systems to deliver high-quality analyses and recommendations.

The role emphasizes membrane treatment, regulatory compliance, and multidisciplinary project delivery, with

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in environmental engineering or related field required.
• Typically certified in the SMS Framework, and progressing through its competencies.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in water, wastewater, or advanced treatment projects.

Responsibilities

• Independently perform technical analyses and evaluate sustainable environmental engineering solutions.
• Prepare, review, and finalize technical reports, calculations, and design documentation.
• Design environmental protection systems and infrastructure in accordance with regulatory and project requirements.
• Develop facility, watershed, or resource management plans with defined scopes and objectives.
• Provide technical support for permitting, regulatory approvals, and coordination with vendors and stakeholders.
• Support project execution through collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
• Adapt and execute additional assignments as needs evolve.

Skills

Environmental engineering principles

Analytical thinking

Project management

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in environmental engineering or related field

Job description

The Environmental Engineering role leads complex environmental engineering work involving the planning, analysis, and design of solutions that support environmental protection, water sustainability, and public health outcomes. Operating with minimal supervision, this role applies advanced technical expertise to solve complex problems without clearly defined solutions across natural and engineered systems. This position addresses environmental and public health protection, mitigation, and prevention of degradation of water, soils, air quality, and habitats. This role may lead technical efforts across water and wastewater treatment and conveyance, stormwater management, solid and hazardous waste management, and related practice areas. This role is responsible for delivering highâquality engineering analyses, designs, and recommendations with significant project impact.

Responsibilities

• Independently perform technical analyses and evaluate sustainable environmental engineering solutions.
• Prepare, review, and finalize technical reports, calculations, and design documentation.
• Design environmental protection systems and infrastructure in accordance with regulatory and project requirement
• Develop facility, watershed, or resource management plans with defined scopes and objectives. Analyze complex data sets and ensure technical accuracy and regulatory compliance of deliverables.
• Provide technical support for permitting, regulatory approvals, and coordination with vendors and stakeholders
• Support project execution through collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
• Flexibility to adapt and execute various additional assignments based on evolving needs.

Mentorship

• Mayprovide mentorship, guidance, support, and knowledge-sharing to help less experienced team members develop their skills and grow within their roles.

Skills and Competencies

• Proficient knowledge of environmental engineering principles, methods, and regulatory frameworks.
• Strong analytical and problemâsolving capabilities
• Ability to manage assigned tasks independently and meet project deadlines.
• Clear and effective communication skills for technical and nonâtechnical audiences.

Experience

• Typically,a minimum of5yearsofrelated workexperienceinEnvironmentalEngineeringor relatedfield.
• Experience in preparation ofplans and permit applications for environmental projects.
• Prior experiencein guidance anddevelopment of less experienced colleagues.
• Typically certified in the SMS Framework, and progressing through the SMS competencies.

Education

• Abachelor’sdegree in environmental engineeringor related field is required.
• Has achieved or is working towards achieving professional license.

Preferred Requirements

• Ability to lead advanced water treatment engineering work involving membrane system planning, process design, equipment selection, application engineering, operational evaluation, troubleshooting, and optimization for water, wastewater, recycled water, and potable reuse
• Knowledge of membrane system design principles from both consulting and manufacturer perspectives, including process selection, design criteria, hydraulic limitations, membrane element selection, array design, pressure vessel configuration, pretreatment requirements, chemical cleaning systems, membrane integrity testing, and system redundancy.
• Understanding of key membrane and advanced treatment performance metrics, including production, recovery, flux, permeability, transmembrane pressure, differential pressure, salt passage, normalized flow, cleaning frequency, membrane integrity, chemical use, and normalized performance trends.
• Ability to lead membrane operational evaluations, including fouling and scaling assessments, antiscalant and cleaning chemical performance reviews, clean-in-place effectiveness evaluations, integrity testing interpretation, process troubleshooting, optimization studies, and asset reliability recommendations.
• Ability to provide on-site engineering and application support during pilot testing, commissioning, membrane autopsies or inspections, clean-in-place activities, condition assessments, performance testing, membrane replacement planning, and full-scale facility optimization activities.
• Ability to manage multidisciplinary technical efforts, coordinate with owners, operators, membrane manufacturers, chemical vendors, contractors, and client representatives, develop scopes and budgets, track schedules and deliverables, and translate technical findings into practical engineering recommendations.

Preferred Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of experience supporting water, wastewater, recycled water, or advanced treatment projects, with substantial experience in membrane treatment systems such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis, including experience with membrane manufacturers and/or RO specialty chemical vendors.
• Experience developing membrane system design criteria, process flow concepts, equipment sizing assumptions, hydraulic profiles, array configurations, membrane element selection considerations, chemical dosing and cleaning approaches, and design recommendations for new, expanded, or rehabilitated treatment facilities.
• Experience preparing and reviewing technical memoranda, basis-of-design reports, performance evaluations, membrane projections or design assumptions, calculations, specifications, operating recommendations, product or chemical application guidance, and client-facing engineering deliverables.
• Experience leading membrane system operational evaluations, including review of transmembrane pressure, flux, permeability, recovery, differential pressure, specific flux, normalized permeate flow, salt passage, cleaning frequency, integrity testing results, and production trends.
• Experience troubleshooting membrane system performance issues, including particulate fouling, organic fouling, scaling, biological activity, oxidant exposure, pretreatment impacts, antiscalant selection, chemical cleaning effectiveness, instrumentation limitations, and equipment constraints.
• Experience applying manufacturer and specialty chemical vendor knowledge to evaluate membrane compatibility, antiscalant performance, cleaning chemical selection, warranty considerations, operating limits, and lifecycle impacts of treatment decisions.
• Experience planning and implementing pilot testing, demonstration-scale evaluations, and full-scale optimization studies for advanced treatment systems, including development of work plans, sampling plans, testing protocols, chemical treatment strategies, evaluation methods, and technical findings.
• Experience providing on-site engineering and technical service support during facility evaluations, start-up and commissioning activities, membrane cleanings, performance testing, equipment inspections, membrane autopsies or inspections, field investigations, and coordination with operations and maintenance staff.
• Experience coordinating directly with operators, engineers, contractors, membrane manufacturers, specialty chemical vendors, and client staff to understand facility workflows, confirm operating constraints, resolve technical issues, and develop recommendations that are practical for implementation.
• Experience supporting membrane replacement planning, asset condition assessments, procurement evaluations, vendor coordination, bench-scale or field testing, lifecycle planning, performance warranty review, and evaluation of alternative operating or rehabilitation
• Experience communicating technical recommendations to clients and facility staff based on membrane product knowledge, chemical treatment practices, operating history, field observations, and long-term asset performance considerations.
• Experience managing technical tasks or project elements, including scope development, budget and schedule tracking, coordination of multidisciplinary team members and external vendors, quality review of deliverables, client communication, and implementation of project management procedures.

Learn more about our work:

• Climate Change and Resilience - Brown and Caldwell
• Data Center Water - Brown and Caldwell
• Emerging Contaminants and PFAS - Brown and Caldwell
• Digital Solutions - Brown and Caldwell
• News - Brown and Caldwell
• Projects - Brown and Caldwell
• Industrial Water - Brown and Caldwell

Salary Range:Theanticipatedstarting payrange for this position is based on the employee’s primary work location and maybemore or lessdependingupon skills, experience,and education. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Location B: $104,000 - $142,000

Benefits and Other Compensation: We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee health, performance, and success which includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time off and parental leave, paid holidays, 401(k) retirement savings plan with employer match, performance-based bonus eligibility, employee referral bonuses, tuition reimbursement, pet insurance and long-term care insurance. Click here to see our full list of benefits.

About Brown and Caldwell

Headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, Brown and Caldwell is a full-service environmental engineering and construction services firm with 50 offices and over 2,100 professionals across North America and the Pacific. For more than 75 years, we have created leading-edge environmental solutions formunicipalities, private industry, and government agencies. We strive to be the company of choice—to our clients, who benefit from our passion for delivering exceptional quality, and to our employees, present and future, who share our commitment to client service, collaboration, and innovation. Join us, and you will find a home where you can do your best work, reach new levels of expertise, and enjoy exceptional development opportunities. For more information, visit www.brownandcaldwell.com

This position is subject to a pre-employment background check and a pre-employment drug test.

Notice to Third Party Agencies: Brown and Caldwell does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously signed agreement and approved engagement request with Brown and Caldwell, Brown and Caldwell reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency.

Brown and Caldwell is proud to be an EEO/AAP Employer. Brown and Caldwell encourages protected veterans, individuals with disabilities, and applicants from all backgrounds to apply. Brown and Caldwell ensures nondiscrimination in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

#LI-Hybrid