Date Opened: Monday, April 14, 2025 12:00 AMClose Date: Monday, April 28, 2025 12:00 AMDepartment: Charlotte Water DepartmentSalary: $0.00 – $0.00 Commensurate with Experience
SUMMARY
Charlotte’s local government, with more than 7,000 employees and a $2.39 billion budget, works hard to ensure that the community will be a winning city for everyone – a truly remarkable place to live, work, learn, and play.
Charlotte Water is an enterprise department of the City of Charlotte and one of the largest public water and sewer service providers in the southeast with 300,000 customer accounts and over 1000 employees. Our service area includes the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and the towns of Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, Mint Hill, Matthews, and Pineville. Charlotte Water’s FY 23 budget is $535M and a five-year capital program of $2.5 billion. We enjoy the highest credit ratings from all three major credit rating agencies as a result of sound financial planning and management and strong support from our City Council. We value competent, skilled candidates with a customer service focus to work in a team environment.
SALARY: $31.00 Hr.
JOB SUMMARY:
The City of Charlotte, Charlotte Water Department, is accepting applications for the Water Resource Recovery Research Program. The individual will work under the supervision of the Environmental Management Division’s (EMD) Research and Development group. The candidate must be a current student at an institution of post-secondary or graduate education majoring in a related field of study i.e. civil/environmental engineering, chemistry, biology, or environmental science.
Applicants will be required to submit a brief project proposal as part of the application process. The proposed project should contribute to the academic research required to complete a postgraduate degree. Areas of particular interest to EMD include:
- Densified or granular activated sludge
- Mainstream and/or side-stream nitrogen removal using anammox
- Biological phosphorus removal stability
- Attached growth activated sludge systems (e.g. IFAS, MBBR, MOB)
- Beneficial reuse of biosolids
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
In addition to carrying out the proposed research project, the successful applicants for this position will learn the following tasks as it pertain to the daily work:
- Assist the Process Engineer in planning, coordination, and completion of water resource recovery research, development, and innovation projects and evaluations.
- Assist in the planning and coordination of wastewater treatment equipment and technology pilots, demonstrations, evaluations, and chemical trials.
- Coordinate closely with internal team members including treatment plant operations and maintenance professionals, biosolids, water quality, and continuous improvement professionals and procurement staff and external team members including engineering consultants, vendors, and contractors.
- Travel to and frequently perform duties at the seven water resource recovery facilities located throughout Mecklenburg County.
- Perform laboratory analyses on wastewater samples to recommend/implement operational changes.
- Use biological/chemical parameters to analyze overall wastewater treatment plant operations, reports anomalies.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK:
- Valid Driver’s License
- Post-secondary experience, current or recent graduate in an accredited college or university with major course work in environmental engineering, chemistry, biology, environmental science, or a related field of study
- Pursuing a postgraduate degree
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s Level Degree in environmental engineering, chemistry, biology, environmental science, or a related field of study
EMPLOYMENT TYPE:
Full-time (preferred) and part-time (20+ hours/week) will be considered if the applicant can demonstrate that proposed research can be completed within one year on a part-time schedule.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/ WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Standing, walking, bending, and light lifting in a primarily indoor environment.
PROGRAM BENEFITS:
- Assigned mentor/trainer and workplace readiness skills
- Hands-on experience in the wastewater treatment industry
- Interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Exposure to a wide array of projects from planning level through conceptual design, piloting, construction, operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
This job description is not intended to be and should not be construed as an inclusive list of all the responsibilities, skills, or working conditions associated with the position. While it is intended to accurately reflect the position activities and requirements, management reserves the right to modify, add or remove duties and assign other duties at any time. This job description does not constitute a written or implied contract of employment.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may be reasonably considered to be incidental in the performing of their duties just as though they were written out in this job description.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry, and motor vehicle records check.
Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.
Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test and/or participate in other assessments.
The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.
The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.
Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.
Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.
The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
HOW TO APPLY
Apply online.
Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.
You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby where we have workstations available. Our office is located at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.
For questions about your application or the hiring process, please email Careers@ci.charlotte.nc.us.
The City of Charlotte is committed to making the job application process accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternate formats, language access, and other reasonable accommodations or modification will be provided. To make a request, please email HRADAAdministration@charlottenc.gov, call 704-962-6168, or visit us in person at 700 4th St., Charlotte, NC 28202.
BENEEFITS
The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to all employees.
Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.
The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.
