The Role:
We are seeking a Process Design Lead - Ultrapure Water / Advanced Water Treatment within the Process & Hydraulic Engineering discipline. In this role, you will play a pivotal part in delivering advanced water treatment, high-purity process water and data centre cooling-water projects from concept through to construction, commissioning, and operations. You will take ownership of developing robust treatment solutions that meet client requirements and ensure successful project outcomes through to process commissioning.
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary engineering team, you will operate within a collaborative one-team culture while actively developing your own technical skills and leadership experience. While your primary focus will be on advanced water treatment, membrane processes, process hydraulics and system integration, you will also engage with and manage inputs and deliverables from other engineering disciplines, including Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control & Automation (MEICA), as well as civil and structural engineering.
This role offers exposure to a broad range of multi-disciplinary engineering challenges, including ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, dechlorination, antiscalant dosing, remineralisation, water treatment for cooling systems, blowdown recovery, rainwater reuse and process-water storage and distribution. You will also have the opportunity to develop client relationships, lead design discussions, and contribute to integrated, high-quality project delivery across all stages.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
Strategic Design Leadership
This role is a technical delivery-focused position, operating with a high degree of autonomy while working under the direction of the Head of Process & Hydraulic Engineering. The Process Design Lead - Ultrapure Water / Advanced Water Treatment is responsible for managing, coordinating and delivering defined packages of work, coordinating with other disciplines at regional level, and supporting senior, intermediate and junior engineers.
Develop and maintain a coherent design vision aligned with business objectives and long-term strategic goals.
Prioritise and lead high-impact design initiatives that enhance project outcomes and organisational capability.
Establish and refine consistent, efficient, and high-quality design workflows across all projects.
Promote a culture of innovation, sustainability, and continuous improvement within the design function.
Team Leadership, Line Management & Talent Development
Provide effective line management to the design team, including workload planning, performance management, and resource allocation.
Mentor, coach, and develop engineers and designers at all levels, enhancing technical capability, decision-making, and leadership skills.
Identify skills gaps and deliver structured development plans to build a high-performing, multidisciplinary team.
Foster a collaborative, knowledge-sharing culture that prioritises technical excellence and professional development.
Technical Design, Engineering & Equipment Assessment
Lead or oversee detailed technical assessments of advanced water treatment, high-purity water and process water equipment, ensuring appropriate specification, performance and integration into system designs.
Manage technical interfaces across MEICA disciplines, coordinating input from Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control & Automation teams to produce fully integrated, clash-free design solutions.
Work closely with ACC (Advanced Control & Communications) teams to develop intelligent, data-rich P&IDs and ensure accurate control-system integration within the design.
Develop and review process and hydraulic calculations across advanced water treatment systems, including ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, remineralisation, GAC, UV, chemical dosing, process-water storage, distribution and blowdown recovery processes.
Review membrane projections, antiscalant projections, recovery calculations, reject schedules, water balances and chemical dosing calculations for UF, NF, RO and associated treatment systems.
Define source-water quality requirements, treated-water quality limits, recovered-water acceptance criteria and reject / backwash / CIP waste requirements.
Assess scaling, corrosion, fouling and microbiological risks, including hardness, alkalinity, silica, chloride, conductivity, TOC/DOC, SDI, turbidity and oxidant control.
Develop and review treatment philosophies for evaporative / adiabatic cooling make-up, cooling-system blowdown recovery, rainwater reuse and non-potable process-water systems.
Produce and oversee technical deliverables, including:
Process & Mechanical Design Reports
Intelligent P&IDs and PFDs
Equipment selection and specifications
Whole Life Cost Assessments
Hydraulic & process calculations
Water balances, recovery calculations and reject schedules
Membrane and antiscalant projection reviews
Chemical dosing and storage calculations
Energy balances
Control philosophies and automation logic inputs
Motor & Instrument Lists
Constructability Assessments
Construction Sequence Narratives
Process Impact Plans (PIPs)
Interface Registers and Decision Logs
Support development of efficient, safe, and future-proofed site layouts, ensuring adequate space planning, operability, maintainability, and construction access.
Interdisciplinary Coordination & Stakeholder Engagement
Work as part of a "one team" environment to deliver multiple projects concurrently.
Collaborate closely with MEICA engineers, Digital team, planners, project managers, commissioning teams, equipment suppliers and client stakeholders to maintain technical alignment.
Engage with clients, equipment suppliers, AHU suppliers and third-party agencies to communicate design intent, challenge technical assumptions and resolve technical queries efficiently.
Support contract and project managers in defining project scope, budget, programme, and deliverables.
Design Assurance, Quality & Compliance.
Develop, review and validate design proposals to ensure compliance with internal standards, client specifications, water-quality requirements, membrane supplier requirements and statutory requirements.
Monitor design progress against baseline schedules, identifying risks, delays, or design constraints that may impact construction or commissioning.
Participate in design reviews, HAZOPs, ALMs, and constructability workshops, ensuring timely resolution of actions.
Ensure designs incorporate operational, maintenance, lifecycle, and whole-life performance considerations from the outset.
Lead design constructability assessments and facilitate the development of safe, practical, and cost-efficient construction methodologies in line with CDM Regulations.
Provide responsive technical support during construction, commissioning and performance testing to ensure design intent and treated-water quality requirements are correctly implemented and validated.
Liaise with site teams to address technical issues, update drawings and documentation, and support testing and commissioning activities.
Conduct site assessments and produce clear engineering reports with actionable recommendations.
Tools, Systems & Digital Engineering
Develop, manage, and validate intelligent P&IDs, ensuring accurate metadata, tagging, and integration with automation/control systems.
Collaborate with the EICA teams on the relevant CDE (ACC) to ensure control, telemetry, and automation requirements are fully represented in design outputs.
Proficiently use the Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, etc.) for documentation, reporting, scheduling, and technical analysis.
Support digital workflows and system integration to enhance design quality and efficiency.
Continuous Improvement & Business Support
Contribute to tender-stage design proposals, providing innovative and robust technical inputs for advanced water treatment, membrane, recovery and high-purity water systems.
Capture lessons learned and support continuous improvement of design processes, tools, and standards.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry standards, regulations, technologies, and best practices through continuous professional development (CPD).
Undertake any additional duties required to support project delivery or organisational needs.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
The ideal candidate will demonstrate a combination of technical expertise, leadership capability, and client-focused delivery. Key requirements include:
Qualifications & Professional Background
Minimum Level 8 Honours Degree in Chemical, Water/Wastewater, Environmental, Process, Mechanical or a closely related Engineering discipline.
Minimum of 10-15 years relevant experience in water treatment, advanced water treatment, ultrapure / high-purity water, industrial water, membrane systems or process engineering.
Professional accreditation (e.g., Chartered Engineer status) is desirable.
Experience in data centre, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, industrial utilities or mission-critical water systems is desirable.
Technical Knowledge & Expertise
Strong expertise in process and hydraulic engineering for advanced water treatment, including design, calculations and equipment selection for high-purity, industrial and data centre water treatment systems.
Detailed knowledge of ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, dechlorination, antiscalant dosing, remineralisation, GAC, UV, cartridge filtration and chemical dosing systems.
Proven ability to review membrane projections, antiscalant projections, source-water analysis, ionic balances, recovery calculations, reject schedules and supplier proposals.
Competent in preparing, reviewing and managing process documentation including PFDs, P&IDs, control philosophies, process design reports, water balances, hydraulic calculations and constructability assessments.
Experience in water treatment for evaporative / adiabatic cooling systems, cooling-system blowdown recovery, rainwater reuse, recovered-water acceptance and process-water storage and distribution.
Strong understanding of scaling, corrosion, fouling and microbiological risk, including hardness, alkalinity, silica, chloride, conductivity, TOC/DOC, SDI, turbidity and oxidant control.
Experience developing site layouts and integrating design solutions across MEICA disciplines (Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control & Automation).
Proficient in digital engineering and collaborative platforms such as BIM360, ACC, ProjectWise, or similar Common Data Environments (CDEs).
Client Management & Stakeholder Engagement
Strong ability to establish, maintain, and manage professional relationships with clients, client representatives, and third-party stakeholders.
Experience leading design discussions, workshops and presentations to clients, suppliers and multidisciplinary teams, ensuring design intent, water-quality risks, programme and quality expectations are clearly communicated.
Skilled in managing client and supplier queries, resolving issues and providing timely updates on project progress and technical matters.
Leadership & Team Collaboration
Ability to mentor, coach, and develop junior and intermediate engineers and designers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence in advanced water treatment design.
Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams to develop integrated, innovative and technically robust water treatment design solutions.
Capable of providing leadership under pressure while delivering high-quality outputs within programme and budget constraints.
Personal Attributes & Other Skills
Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to adapt to changing project requirements, water-quality data, supplier proposals or commissioning challenges.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex water chemistry, membrane and treatment-process risks clearly to diverse audiences.
Highly motivated, proactive, and able to work independently while contributing effectively to a team.
About Glanua
Glanua is an industry leader in providing innovative and sustainable engineering solutions to design,
build, operate and maintain critical water and wastewater infrastructure across Ireland and the UK.
We are a trusted provider to the municipal and industrial sector where our clients include Ireland and the UK's largest water utilities, Uisce Eireann (formally Irish Water), Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Affinity Water and Northern Ireland Water.
Glanua is passionate about solving today's environmental challenges and delivering a decarbonised and sustainable world. We know that to build successful creative teams we need a diverse workforce that can deliver new innovative ways of thinking. We provide an environment where you will have the freedom to develop and grow to your full potential. We champion our core values and uphold the highest standards of Safety and Well-being, Innovation, Integrity, Collaboration, Courage, Agility, Accountability, Diversity and Inclusion in everything we do.
We have a talented team of 450 people across Ireland and the UK and are rapidly expanding our workforce across several disciplines to meet our ambitious growth plans.
