Group Lead - Water/Wastewater Facilities

Ardurra is seeking an experienced Group Lead - Water/WastewaterFacilities to join our team in Seattle, Bellevue, or Tacoma, WA. This position offers a hybrid work arrangement.

Ardurra is seeking an experienced and dedicated Group Lead to drive business development, lead projects, and grow our water and wastewater facilities practice in the Puget Sound region. This role blends client engagement with technical project delivery and operational leadership, offering the opportunity to build relationships, develop solutions, mentor staff, and execute impactful infrastructure projects across municipal, industrial, and private clients.

The Group Lead will work across our Puget Sound teams to strengthen treatment facilities and collection system capabilities, position Ardurra as a trusted regional partner, and cultivate a collaborative, growth-oriented environment focused on technical excellence and client service.

Primary Function:

This position will provide strategic and operational leadership for the water and wastewater facilities group across the Puget Sound region, driving growth, technical excellence, and client satisfaction. The Group Lead will set technical direction and standards for the group, lead regional business development strategy, identify market opportunities, cultivate client relationships, develop pursuit plans, and support proposal and presentation efforts.

The Group Lead will oversee resource planning, staffing, and financial performance for the group; support project scoping, budgeting, pricing, profitability, and utilization; and ensure rigorous QA/QC, risk management, and regulatory compliance. This position will coordinate cross-office collaboration, represent Ardurra with clients, regulators, funding agencies, and industry partners, and mentor senior- and mid-level staff to strengthen technical depth and business development capability. We are also interested in Senior Project Managers with a strong seller/doer background, particularly candidates with treatment-plant expertise who can source and deliver treatment-side work.

Primary Duties:

• Identify, pursue, and secure new business opportunities in the water and wastewater markets, focusing on municipal, and private sector clients.
• Build and maintain client relationships to understand their needs and position Ardurra as a trusted partner throughout the Puget Sound region.
• Lead proposal strategy, preparation, presentations, and negotiations to win projects and grow the firm's regional presence.
• Oversee the planning, design, and execution of complex water and wastewater projects, including treatment plants, conveyance and collection systems, and pumping stations.
• Act as principal-in-charge, group lead, or project manager on priority projects, ensuring technical oversite, budget adherence, schedule delivery, and client satisfaction.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams and subcontractors to deliver innovative, sustainable, and client-focused solutions.
• Oversee resource planning and staffing, balance workloads across offices, support recruiting and retention, and guide career development and succession planning.
• Mentor and develop senior, mid-level, and junior staff; cultivate a collaborative, growth-oriented group culture and strengthen business development capability.
• Support financial performance for the group through sound project scoping, budgeting, pricing, profitability, and utilization practices.
• Ensure rigorous QA/QC, risk management, safety, and regulatory compliance; serve as the technical escalation point for complex project challenges.
• Represent the firm at client meetings, interviews, conferences, industry events, and community or stakeholder meetings, strengthening Ardurra's reputation and visibility.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Civil, Environmental, or related engineering field; Master's degree preferred.
• Approximately 10-15+ years of progressive experience in the water and wastewater industry, including a mix of technical project delivery and business development.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license in Washington required, or PE in another state with demonstrated commitment to obtain Washington licensure.
• Demonstrated experience managing teams, mentoring staff, and delivering complex water/wastewater projects including treatment plants, conveyance/collection systems (particularly large diameter and force main), and pumping stations.
• Strong leadership, client relationship, communication, and negotiation skills, with the ability to inspire confidence and build lasting relationships.
• Familiarity with Washington municipal clients, funding mechanisms, and regulatory environment.
• Experience managing design project delivery and coordinating multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience with relevant design and project management software/tools.

Compensation and Benefits:

Compensation is based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors. The expected salary range for this position is $150,000 to $200,000 annually. The firm also offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, paid time off, paid holidays, and a 401(k)-retirement savings plan.

Why Ardurra?

While Ardurra offers competitive compensation and rich benefits programs, it is our culture that truly sets us apart from our peers. We nurture a family-like culture, striving to create a work environment that is enjoyable, challenging and rewarding but also fun. We are acutely focused on developing our staff, whether through our internal Ardurra Academy or through our industry-leading Leadership program. We have made a deliberate and focused commitment to nurture a people-centric culture where people are: valued as individuals; supported in their professional and career development with multiple, varied career paths; provided the tools and resources to be successful, engaged, and satisfied in their work; and positive benefits, time-off programs, and flexibility to help maintain a healthy balance between work and home.

Ardurra is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or sexual orientation.

NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES:

Ardurra does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Agency Agreement, Ardurra will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter fee. If a resume or candidate is submitted to any hiring manager without a previously signed agreement, Ardurra reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. These candidates will be considered property of Ardurra. We’re not currently looking to add any more agencies to our list of approved vendors, so please do not contact any of our managers or recruitment team with sales calls or details of your candidates.

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