Utility Management Services Business Class Lead

HDR; Bentonville (AR); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

HDR is seeking a Utility Management Services Business Class Lead to lead a team within the Water Business Group in Bentonville, Arkansas. The role involves overseeing utility management operations, providing technical mentorship, and engaging with various professional disciplines. Candidates should have a Bachelor's degree and at least 10 years of progressive experience in utility engineering, coupled with excellent project management and communication skills. This position is full-time and supports HDR's commitment to employment equity.

Qualifications

• 30+ years of progressive experience in drinking water, wastewater, and/or stormwater utility engineering.
• 5 or more years of demonstrated leadership experience in the engineering field.
• Self-motivated with excellent organizational and time management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of utility management services for water, wastewater, and stormwater systems.
• Oversee the engineering team and manage project tasks and client coordination.
• Foster collaborative relationships across business class practice and project teams.

Skills

Leadership experience

Project management

Technical oversight

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in a Professional, Architecture, Engineering or related field

MS in Civil or Environmental Engineering or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

ArcGIS

Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS)

Job description

At HDR, the Utility Management Services (UMS) Business Class Lead will be part of our Water Business Group team in North Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The role involves leading teams in the delivery of utility management services for drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and/or water reuse systems.

Responsibilities

• Implement a range of best management practices with water, wastewater, and/or stormwater utilities including program management, business process improvement and change management, asset management and maintenance management.
• Lead preparation of organizational assessments, infrastructure renewal and rehabilitation studies, alternative analyses, cost analyses, capital project development, and/or preliminary designs.
• Provide operational management (e.g., workload management, supervisor responsibilities) of the Utility Management Services team, which is comprised of 8-10 engineering professionals.
• Provide technical oversight and mentorship of Utility Management Services team members. Manage workloads to ensure staff utilization targets are met.
• Serve as the project manager for utility management projects, with responsibility for task order development (e.g., scopes and fees), supervision and leadership of the project team, budgetary and schedule controls, and client coordination.
• Establish strong, productive, collaborative relationships through involvement with business class practice and professional discipline groups, project teams and activities to continually improve standards and best practices.
• Active engagement in selected professional conferences and industry associations with presentations, committee assignments, and leadership positions.
• Perform additional assignments as requested by senior management.

Preferred Qualifications

• MS in Civil or Environmental Engineering or related field a plus
• 20+ years of progressive experience in drinking water, wastewater, and/or stormwater utility engineering
• 5 or more years of demonstrated leadership experience
• Experience with planning and implementation of infrastructure inspection and condition assessment programs; business process assessments, operations optimization, regulatory support, system conveyance, master planning, data management/visualization, or financial planning and utility rates
• Project management experience
• Understanding of financial and administrative aspects of technical projects
• Proven leadership and mentoring skills. Demonstrate strong written and verbal communication and negotiating skills
• Willingness to learn and grow technical and professional skills to meet client and market needs
• Self‑motivated, able to work independently and within a team environment, and possessing excellent organizational and time management skills
• Must have excellent communication skills and thrive working in a team environment
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as well as project management system, project scheduling, scoping, budgeting, cost analysis, resource analysis, and reporting
• Working knowledge of ArcGIS, maintenance management systems (CMMS) and hydraulic modeling for planning and design highly desired
• Infrastructure design experience
• Experience working for a public, municipal, or investor‑owned water and/or wastewater utility, public works department, or engineering consulting firm is beneficial
• Existing quality relationships with water utilities in the DFW, Oklahoma, and Arkansas area

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a Professional, Architecture, Engineering or closely related field
• 10 years of experience
• Committed to quality, improvement and HDR values
• Maintains a professional or engineering registration and has related technical experience
• Experienced in development and management of diverse teams
• Works cooperatively with other area business class leaders, operations managers, technical directors and marketing managers on business class efforts
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee‑owned culture is a must

Primary Location: United States‑Texas‑Dallas
Other Locations: United States‑Texas‑Tyler, United States‑Arkansas‑Bentonville, United States‑Texas‑Fort Worth, United States‑Arkansas‑Little Rock, United States‑Oklahoma‑Oklahoma City, United States‑Oklahoma‑Tulsa, United States‑Texas‑El Paso
Industry: Water
Schedule: Full‑time
Employee Status: Regular
BusinessClass: Utility Management Services
Job Posting: Apr 17, 2026

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity. We are an Aff…(https://www.hdrinc.com/equal-employment-opportunity-employer). We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.