Senior Engineer - Water Resources
Water Resources - Roseville, California
Position Summary
The Senior Engineer for Water Resources plays a central role in advancing sustainable water solutions for the communities BENEN serves. In this highly visible position, you will work in close partnership with the Water Resources Vice President to guide the team while managing the planning, design, and delivery of water supply, wastewater, and related infrastructure projects for public agencies and utility clients.
You will leverage water and wastewater engineering expertise to lead multidisciplinary teams from early planning and analysis through final design, permitting, and implementation. Your work will protect technical quality, regulatory compliance, constructability, and the long-term value of the systems BENEN delivers.
As a Senior Engineer, you will oversee core project deliverables, including analyses, models, reports, plans, specifications, and cost estimates. You will also help shape workload, project economics, staff development, delivery standards, and client continuity across the Water Resources practice while remaining close to the technical work.
Leadership Impact
This role combines senior technical authority, influence over the Water Resources team, and direct partnership with firm leadership. You can remain close to complex engineering work while shaping delivery standards, developing people, strengthening client continuity, and building the practice for the long term.
Essential Responsibilities
Internal Focus
- Provide technical leadership, planning direction, and rigorous QA/QC oversight for complex water and wastewater projects.
- Serve in responsible charge and guide the preparation and review of technical analyses, models, reports, plans, specifications, and cost estimates.
- Ensure project work complies with applicable federal, state, local, and client standards, codes, and regulatory requirements.
- Partner with the Water Resources Vice President to strengthen technical standards, delivery practices, resource priorities, and practice continuity.
Project and Staff Focus
- Lead multiple complex projects and guide project managers and delivery teams through scope, schedule, budget, risk, documentation, quality, and client commitments.
- Oversee an annual portfolio of multiple projects, balancing complexity, risk, concurrent assignments, financial performance, and leadership scope.
- Assign and coordinate staff and subconsultants, balance workload, monitor project financial performance, and intervene early when delivery is at risk.
- Manage and develop staff, including retention, career goals, timely performance feedback, and succession readiness.
- Encourage responsible learning from mistakes, reinforce clear team norms, and celebrate milestones.
External and Client Focus
- Serve as a senior point of contact for clients, providing clear communication, sound technical judgment, and reliable follow-through.
- Lead client and project meetings, facilitate progress discussions, and guide issue resolution to keep commitments on track.
- Collaborate with public agencies, utility partners, and regulatory bodies to support compliant and coordinated project delivery.
- Anticipate client concerns, communicate risk early, and develop practical solutions that protect trust and project outcomes.
- Help sustain client relationships across projects and teams through responsiveness, continuity, and consistent delivery.
Business Development Focus
- Prepare and contribute to proposals, including technical approach, scope definition, staffing, schedules, and fee development.
- Identify opportunities within existing client accounts and partner with leadership on strategic pursuits and client continuity.
- Represent BENEN at selected client meetings, industry events, conferences, and professional organizations to support strategic growth.
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in civil or environmental engineering from an accredited institution.
- Active California Professional Engineer (P.E.) license.
- 14 or more years of engineering design experience, including at least 3 years of progressively responsible project or team leadership.
- Substantive experience in municipal water, wastewater, and related water infrastructure planning, design, permitting, and project delivery.
- Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams and serving in responsible charge.
- Proven responsibility for project financials, technical quality, client communication, resource coordination, and multiple concurrent assignments.
- Familiarity with HEC-RAS, AutoCAD Civil 3D, and water or sewer modeling software.
- Strong communication, leadership, organization, judgment, and relationship-building skills.
Compensation
Salary aligned with senior technical and team leadership responsibilities: $140,000 - $190,000.
BENEN also offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes flexible work schedules, telework capabilities, health and wellness benefits, retirement and profit-sharing contributions, paid time off and holidays, professional development support, and performance-based incentives consistent with company policy.
