Principal Water Engineer

Position Overview

We are looking for a strong leader, with deep expertise in process engineering, treatment optimization for advanced water/wastewater knowledge. As a Principal Water Engineer at Kiewit, you’ll be the technical force behind some of the most complex and meaningful water treatment projects in North America. This is a role for a true Municipal Water expert, someone who not only understands advanced treatment technologies, but has the passion and ability to turn them into safe, constructible, cost‑effective solutions that work in the real world. At Kiewit, your designs don’t stay on paper; they become facilities built by one of the largest and most capable self‑perform contractors in the industry.

You’ll guide multidisciplinary engineering teams, shape treatment strategies, and serve as the trusted technical voice during pursuits, design development, and project execution. From early process modeling to startup and commissioning, you’ll influence every stage of delivery—ensuring quality, innovation, and constructability are embedded into every decision. This is an opportunity to lead with expertise, mentor the next generation of water engineers, and help communities and industries secure reliable, resilient water infrastructure for decades to come.

District Overview

The Kiewit Water Engineering team, which includes process, mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation and control, structural, and civil disciplines, is a multi-faceted division of Kiewit with best-in-class technical expertise focused on collaborative Design-Build (progressive and/or fixed price) and EPC delivery models for complex water projects. The team brings project solutions to life across North America in the following areas:

• Water Treatment
• Potable Municipal and Groundwater Desalination
• Advanced Water Reuse
• Groundwater Remediation
• Storm water Recycling
• Industrial Water Treatment
• Wastewater Treatment
• Biosolids Treatment
• Pipelines and Conveyance

Clients are turning to Kiewit during all stages of design-build projects to lead and manage multi-disciplined design teams to work together to improve schedule, track design progress, control costs and minimize risk. We are a high performing team of engineers and designers that leads the water engineering process and collaborates with Kiewit’s construction teams to approach construction-driven engineering with a focus on safe, cost effective, and innovative designs, all working to develop the best possible delivery of water facility projects to our clients.

Location

This role can be based in our Lenexa, Kansas, Lone Tree, Colorado, Houston or Dallas/Fort worth offices. We will consider remote options in other locations for uniquely qualified Water Experts.

We do provide relocation assistance to our office locations.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical and engineering leadership for Municipal Water treatment design, which includes selecting and sizing treatment technologies, development and validating of process flow diagrams and mass balances.
• Serve as technical authority as the “go to” expert for treatment process decisions, approve critical design deliverables and technical calculations.
• Mentor Senior and mid-level engineers within the team.
• Establish and enforce Kiewit’s water design standards and best practices.
• Ensure designs are constructible, cost effective and aligned with field execution. This includes participating in model reviews, constructability workshops and value engineering, as well as supporting procurement of major equipment packages.
• Lead proposals and pursuits, shaping technical strategy for major water pursuits. Develop process narratives, basis of design documents and proposal content, and support client interviews and presentations.
• Oversee project delivery through managing multi-disciplinary design teams, while ensuring quality control across all engineering deliverables for your project.
• Support permitting, startup, commissioning and operator training
• Communicate/present industry trends, competitive situations or technology/regulatory issues.
• Actively participate in professional organizations. Be a practice leader for Kiewit in the Water market.

Qualifications

Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemical, Mechanical, or Civil/Environmental Engineering or related engineering discipline.
• Minimum of 15 years’ experience in process development, conceptual and detailed design with a background in the municipal and/or Industrial water market.
• Professional Engineer (PE) registration preferred
• Understanding of federal, state and local regulations and requirements related to water characterization, treatment and discharge
• Experience as process design engineering lead on design-build projects is preferred
• Must be willing and available to accommodate intermittent travel (20-30% maximum expected) if located at one of our main office facilities. If working remotely, travel may be up to 50% but would be scheduled travel.
• Preferred experience utilizing AFT Fathom or AFT Arrow hydraulic simulation software (or equivalent) and/or experience with process modeling and simulation software applications such as Biowin, GPS-X, Hysys and/or Aspen, WatPro, AqMB, SIMBA etc. #LI-JB1

Other Titles: Water Expert, Lead Water Engineer, Senior Water Engineer, Lead Water/Wastewater Engineer, Senior Process Engineer - Water Treatment, Principal Water/Wastewater Engineer, Principal Process Engineer, Water/Wastewater Tecnical Lead, Design Lead - Water Treatment, Discipline Lead - Water/Wastewater,