Staff Industrial Water Systems Development Engineer

What to Expect

The Staff Water Development Engineer owns the full lifecycle of industrial water supply projects for Tesla manufacturing facilities — from source identification and hydrogeologic evaluation through treatment design, permitting, construction quality assurance, commissioning, and long-term operational oversight. This role secures reliable process, cooling, and utility water from groundwater, surface water, river offtakes, and alternative sources, with deep technical ownership across hydrogeology, water rights, purification, conveyance, pumping, and storage. Candidates should expect a fast-paced environment with high accountability, frequent consultant/contractor and regulatory interface, field time at drilling and construction sites, and direct ownership of technical outcomes from source development through sustained industrial water delivery.

What You’ll Do

• Lead front-end and detailed engineering for industrial water supply systems serving manufacturing facilities, from greenfield source development through issued-for-construction packages, commissioning, and operational turnover

• Evaluate, develop, and secure water sources including groundwater wells, surface water and river offtakes, wholesale interconnects, and alternative supplies; plan well programs, aquifer testing, intake design, and hydrogeological modeling to establish sustainable yield and long-term reliability

• Design, specify, and oversee industrial water treatment and purification systems (filtration, RO/membrane, ion exchange, softening, disinfection, chemical feed, and polishing) for process, cooling, and utility water quality targets

• Develop and own water balances, PFDs, P&IDs, hydraulic profiles, and control architectures; perform hydraulic calculations, pipeline sizing, surge analysis, pump selection, and network modeling for conveyance, pump stations, storage, and distribution

• Prepare Owner’s engineering specifications, data sheets, scopes of work, RFPs, and technical bid evaluations for consultants, drillers, treatment OEMs, and contractors; lead technical procurement and award recommendations

• Manage consultant, OEM, and contractor technical interfaces through design reviews, hold points, and change control; establish QA/QC requirements and review well logs, ITPs, material certifications, test packages, and vendor quality documentation

• Provide on-site engineering support during drilling, construction, and startup, including RFI resolution, field changes, mechanical completion, system turnover, commissioning procedures, performance testing, and punch-list closure

• Serve as technical owner for operating water assets, including production and treatment performance monitoring, reliability improvement, outage support, troubleshooting, and retrofit or capacity expansion projects

• Lead water rights and permitting strategy (withdrawal authorizations, GCD rules, surface water rights, and related environmental approvals) and ensure compliance with AWWA, NSF/ANSI, ASME, EPA CWA/SDWA as applicable, TCEQ, TWDB, Texas Water Code, and local requirements

• Mentor engineers and set technical standards for water development across Tesla sites; coordinate industrial water quality needs (process, cooling, fire water, potable) with environmental, facilities, and process partners, including reuse and low-/zero-liquid-discharge strategies where applicable

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering, Hydrogeology, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive engineering experience in water resource development, industrial water supply, hydrogeology, and/or water treatment systems serving industrial or large institutional facilities

• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of water development projects from source concept through construction, commissioning, and operational support — not limited to a single project phase

• Deep expertise in groundwater and surface water source development, including well design/drilling programs, aquifer testing, river/surface water offtakes, sustainable yield evaluation, and hydrogeological analysis/modeling

• Strong experience designing industrial water purification and treatment systems (filtration, RO/membrane, ion exchange, chemical treatment, disinfection) to meet manufacturing process and utility water quality requirements

• Proven ability to perform hydraulic calculations, pipeline sizing, pump station and storage design, and system modeling for raw and treated water conveyance under steady-state and transient conditions

• Proven track record supporting water rights, withdrawal, well, intake, and related environmental permits, with working knowledge of AWWA and NSF/ANSI standards and federal/state frameworks (CWA, SDWA as applicable, TCEQ, TWDB, Texas Water Code, GCD rules); multi-state experience preferred

• Ability to write specifications, lead bid evaluations, and manage technical interfaces with consultants, drillers, OEMs, and contractors, with hands-on field experience during drilling, construction, startup, and troubleshooting

• Proficiency with water resources and hydraulic software across a substantial subset of: MODFLOW or equivalent, AQTESOLV or similar; EPANET, WaterGEMS, or Info Water; PIPE-FLO or AFT Fathom; AutoCAD/Civil 3D or Plant 3D; Bluebeam; and familiarity with SCADA/historian platforms

• Willingness to travel domestically, approximately 25% of the time, and to be based in or relocate to Houston, TX or Austin, TX; strong executive and regulatory communication skills; PE license preferred (PG a plus); industrial manufacturing water, reuse/brine management, and AWWA/OSHA-related credentials preferred