Water Resources Engineer - Modeler

Overview

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected. We foster a culture of inclusion and ask:
What is our impact on the world? This position is in HDR's Water Business Group and focuses on shaping how communities manage water for generations to come. Your work will support public health, environmental sustainability, and infrastructure resilience.

This role is well-suited for an experienced water resources professional with a strong technical foundation in project delivery, client interaction, and technical leadership. The ideal candidate will have depth in reservoir system operations, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, watershed hydrology, and climate change analysis, and will contribute to team leadership and mentoring. Our clients include local, state, and federal agencies across complex water resources challenges in California and the western U.S.

• Provide advanced technical support and task leadership on water resources projects related to:
• Water supply and reservoir operations modeling
• Hydrology development and analysis
• Reservoir simulation, optimization, re-operation, and decision support
• Hydrologic and climate change modeling, including ensemble and statistical analyses
• Flood risk management, FERC relicensing, and ecological enhancement projects
• Contribute to and, where appropriate, lead technical tasks within multi-disciplinary project teams
• Support project management activities for small- to medium-sized projects, including scope, schedule, and budget tracking
• Mentor junior staff and support knowledge transfer, technical review, and staff development
• Participate in client coordination, including technical meetings, work sessions, and preparation of client-facing deliverables
• Apply strong QA/QC practices, ensuring clear documentation, reproducible analyses, and high-quality deliverables
• Contribute to the development and improvement of HDR's technical tools, workflows, and best practices
• Provide project engineering and task management, conduct difficult to complex hydraulic and hydrologic modeling; conduct stormwater collection systems modeling and design; collect, assimilate and present data in reports, memos and public forums; lead production of design calculations and technical reports; and lead preparation of engineering plans and specifications for detention facilities, storm drains, flood control facilities and other hydraulic structures
• Work independently in addition to planning, organizing and assisting groups of medium to large teams of professionals and technicians dependent on project/task
• Conduct water resources planning, plan formulation and concept development, and develop planning documentation
• Assist in water resources permitting efforts
• Perform other duties as needed

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or equivalent field
• Previous experience in water resources engineering projects
• Professional engineering license recognized by the licensing board for the location of the position offered (e.g., PE/P.Eng)
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Active participation in an employee-owned culture

• 5 or more years of experience
• Graduate degree
• Experience with water infrastructure planning studies, extreme hydrology, and/or consequence analysis
• Experience with water supply operations modeling such as Cal Sim and Cal Lite
• Experience with climate change analytical tools and datasets
• Experience with reservoir and system modeling
• Experience with water temperature and water quality modeling (e.g., HEC-5Q, CE-QUAL-W2)
• Experience with risk-based planning and risk-informed decision making
• Familiarity with integration of resiliency into the planning process
• Linear programming, optimization, and decision-support modeling
• Scripting and automation using Python/Jython, WRESL, VBA, or similar tools
• Familiarity with NEPA and ESA processes, including supporting environmental compliance, biological assessments, effects analyses, and coordination with environmental and regulatory teams

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