Water Systems Engineer

W3Global; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental insurance

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Retirement benefits

Job summary

W3Global is seeking an experienced Mechanical Engineer - Water Systems for the ALS-U upgrade in Berkeley, CA. The role focuses on design, operation, and reliability of cooling water, LCW, and DI water systems supporting accelerator facilities.

Responsibilities include developing P&IDs, performing thermal and hydraulic analyses, and coordinating with multidisciplinary teams. On-site work with a ~12-month duration at a national lab.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years in engineering of industrial process or facility water systems.
• Experience with LCW/DI water, water purity, and corrosion prevention.
• Proficient in developing P&IDs and hydraulic calculations.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, optimization of cooling water systems for ALS-U and ALS.
• Create piping diagrams, flow diagrams, and equipment specs.
• Perform heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and pump sizing analyses.
• Coordinate with accelerator, beamline, HVAC, and utility teams.
• Maintain drawings, procedures, and commissioning documentation.
• Support safety, compliance, and project change control.

Skills

Project coordination

Root-cause analysis

Thermal system design

Written/verbal communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

P&IDs

EPICS

Industrial control systems

Job description

• Retirement benefits

Mechanical Engineer - Water Systems (ALS-U)

Location: Berkeley, CA

Work Arrangement: On-site

Employment Type: Full-Time, Contract

Contract Duration: Approximately 12 months

Pay Rate: DOE

About The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Mechanical Engineer - Water Systems to support the Advanced Light Source Upgrade (ALS-U) project at a leading national research laboratory in Berkeley, California.

This role is responsible for the engineering, operation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of process and facility water systems supporting both the ALS-U project and ongoing Advanced Light Source (ALS) operations.

The selected candidate will serve as a key technical resource for cooling water infrastructure supporting accelerator systems, beamlines, experimental equipment, HVAC interfaces, and associated utility systems.

This opportunity is ideal for a mechanical engineering professional with extensive experience in industrial cooling water systems, low-conductivity water (LCW), deionized (DI) water systems, and high-reliability mechanical infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

Water Systems Design & Engineering

• Lead the design, engineering, and optimization of cooling water systems supporting ALS-U and existing ALS infrastructure.
• Develop piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), flow diagrams, hydraulic calculations, equipment specifications, and technical documentation.
• Perform engineering analyses involving heat transfer, fluid dynamics, pump sizing, pressure drops, thermal stability, and water quality.
• Specify and support the procurement of pumps, heat exchangers, filtration systems, expansion tanks, piping, valves, instrumentation, and water treatment equipment.
• Coordinate the integration of cooling water infrastructure with accelerator, beamline, cryogenic, HVAC, and facility utility systems.
• Ensure engineering designs comply with applicable ASME, ANSI, California mechanical and building codes, and laboratory safety standards.

Water Quality & System Reliability

• Oversee the operation and maintenance of closed-loop low-conductivity water (LCW) and deionized (DI) water systems.
• Monitor critical water quality parameters, including resistivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, and overall system performance.
• Manage and optimize chemical treatment processes, UV sterilization, mixed-bed deionization, and reverse osmosis (RO) systems.
• Identify and mitigate biological growth, scaling, corrosion, contamination, and water chemistry concerns.
• Troubleshoot equipment failures, leaks, pump malfunctions, resin degradation, flow instability, and thermal excursions.
• Evaluate piping materials, valves, and instrumentation to maintain system integrity and water purity.

Operations, Maintenance & Commissioning

• Develop and implement preventive and predictive maintenance programs for critical cooling water infrastructure.
• Evaluate equipment reliability, lifecycle conditions, and opportunities for operational improvement.
• Coordinate maintenance activities, repairs, shutdowns, and system upgrades while minimizing facility downtime.
• Support installation, startup, testing, balancing, and commissioning of new and modified water systems.
• Provide technical support during operational incidents and system failures.

Project Coordination & Documentation

• Manage engineering projects from conceptual design through installation and commissioning.
• Collaborate with engineering teams, contractors, vendors, facilities personnel, and scientific staff.
• Develop project schedules, cost estimates, technical scopes of work, and equipment specifications.
• Review installation quality and verify compliance with approved engineering requirements.
• Maintain engineering drawings, operating procedures, maintenance records, system inventories, and configuration documentation.
• Support engineering change control and continuous improvement initiatives.

Safety & Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure work complies with Integrated Safety Management (ISM), Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) requirements, laboratory policies, and applicable regulations.
• Participate in hazard analyses, readiness reviews, and safety assessments.
• Support lockout/tagout procedures, safe equipment isolation, and operational safety planning.
• Promote safe engineering and maintenance practices throughout facility operations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Minimum of 8 years of relevant professional engineering experience, including substantial experience designing, operating, or maintaining industrial process or facility water systems. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Demonstrated knowledge of low-conductivity water (LCW) and deionized (DI) water systems, including water purity, corrosion prevention, chemical treatment, and troubleshooting.
• Experience with closed-loop cooling systems, industrial piping, process utilities, and mechanical infrastructure.
• Strong understanding of hydraulic engineering, fluid flow, heat transfer, pressure management, and thermal system design.
• Experience developing, interpreting, and maintaining engineering drawings and P&IDs.
• Familiarity with pumps, heat exchangers, cooling towers, filtration systems, water treatment equipment, instrumentation, and controls.
• Demonstrated troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and equipment reliability experience.
• Ability to coordinate multiple engineering projects and operational priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary technical teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional Engineer (PE) license.
• Experience supporting scientific research facilities, particle accelerators, semiconductor manufacturing, or other high-availability technical environments.
• Experience with EPICS or industrial control systems integration.
• Familiarity with vibration-sensitive equipment and thermally stable cooling systems.
• Experience commissioning and starting up large-scale mechanical utility systems.
• Knowledge of reliability-centered maintenance and predictive maintenance methodologies.
• Previous experience supporting Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories or comparable research facilities.

Work Environment & Schedule

• Position is based on-site in Berkeley, California.
• Work may be performed in office, laboratory, mechanical equipment, and construction environments.
• Occasional after-hours or weekend support may be required during shutdowns, commissioning activities, or operational events.
• Duties may involve accessing mechanical spaces and working around industrial equipment.
• The assignment is anticipated to last approximately 12 months, with any extension dependent on project requirements and customer authorization.

Compensation & Benefits

Pay Rate: DOE

A competitive benefits package may be available to eligible employees and may include:

• Medical and dental insurance
• Paid time off
• Paid holidays
• Retirement benefits

Specific benefits and eligibility will be discussed during the recruitment process.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process, consistent with applicable law.