Senior Application Engineer
Senior Applications Engineer - Industrial Wastewater
Location: Remote (Midwest preferred but not required)
Travel: 10-20% domestic travel
Compensation: $140,000-$175,000 base + bonus (flexibility for exceptional candidates)
Reports To: Engineering Manager
Position Overview
Our client is seeking a Senior Applications Engineer to lead technical solution development for industrial wastewater treatment projects. This role serves as the bridge between business development and engineering, translating customer needs into competitive, compliant, and technically sound treatment solutions.
The ideal candidate will be a wastewater subject matter expert capable of evaluating customer RFQs, assessing wastewater characteristics and treatment requirements, developing process concepts, performing engineering calculations, sizing equipment, and creating winning technical proposals. This position is highly visible within the organization and will play a critical role supporting a growing wastewater business with a strong project backlog.
This is not an operations, compliance, or municipal wastewater role. The focus is industrial wastewater treatment, applications engineering, process design, proposal development, and system integration.
Key Responsibilities
Applications & Process Engineering
- Review customer RFQs, wastewater analyses, technical specifications, and project requirements.
- Develop treatment strategies and process flow schemes for industrial wastewater applications.
- Evaluate influent and effluent requirements and recommend appropriate treatment technologies.
- Perform process calculations, mass balances, hydraulic calculations, and equipment sizing.
- Create conceptual process designs, treatment narratives, and technical recommendations.
- Develop preliminary equipment layouts, process flow diagrams (PFDs), and P&IDs.
- Conduct technoeconomic evaluations and compare treatment alternatives.
Proposal & Commercial Support
- Serve as the technical lead during proposal development.
- Prepare technical narratives, scopes of supply, equipment lists, cost estimates, and supporting documentation.
- Collaborate closely with business development and sales teams to develop competitive solutions.
- Participate in customer meetings, technical presentations, and proposal clarification discussions.
- Support strategically important pursuits and competitively bid projects.
Project & Technical Support
- Support pilot testing, treatability studies, and technology validation efforts.
- Participate in project handoff and provide technical support during execution.
- Assist with troubleshooting, startup, commissioning, and process optimization activities.
- Interface with equipment vendors, consulting engineers, EPC firms, and end users.
- Conduct site visits, field assessments, and project walkdowns as needed.
Technical Leadership
- Serve as a wastewater subject matter expert across the organization.
- Mentor and coach junior engineers in process design, applications engineering, and proposal development.
- Help establish engineering standards, design practices, and proposal best practices.
- Support development of future wastewater technology offerings and solution platforms.
Required Qualifications
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Environmental, Mechanical, or Civil Engineering.
- Master's degree in a water or wastewater-related discipline is a plus.
Experience
- 8-15+ years of industrial wastewater process engineering, applications engineering, solutions engineering, or proposal engineering experience.
- Demonstrated experience developing treatment solutions from RFQ through proposal submission.
- Experience supporting industrial water and wastewater projects in consulting, OEM, systems integration, EPC, or technology provider environments.
- Strong client-facing technical experience with industrial customers, engineers, and project stakeholders.
Technical Expertise
Strong experience with several of the following:
Industrial Wastewater Treatment
- Physical/chemical treatment
- Metals precipitation
- Clarification and solids separation
- Biological treatment systems
- Advanced oxidation processes (AOP)
- Water reuse applications
- Industrial wastewater treatment system design
- Heavy industrial wastewater applications
Process Engineering
- Treatment process selection
- Mass and energy balances
- Process modeling
- Equipment sizing and selection
- Pump sizing and hydraulic calculations
- PFD and P&ID development
- Technical proposal development
- Cost estimating and technoeconomic analysis
Project Development
- Pilot testing
- Feasibility studies
- Vendor evaluations
- Regulatory consideration and compliance support
- Commissioning and troubleshooting
About the Opportunity
This is an opportunity to join a growing industrial water and wastewater technology organization where you'll have significant influence over solution development, proposal strategy, process design, and long-term business growth. The role offers substantial visibility, autonomy, and the ability to shape the future direction of the company's industrial wastewater practice.
FAQs
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