Early Career Water Resources Engineer - RTI International

Overview:

RTI International’s Center for Water Resources (CWR) delivers cutting-edge services across the spectrum of water resources including river forecasting, water supply modeling, and hydrologic risk analysis. These projects require expertise in data management and analysis, hydrologic, hydraulic, and water quality modeling, assessment of impacts on the natural and built environment, and analysis of economic and social outcomes. CWR has an opening for an entry-level or early career water resources engineer or scientist. As part of our team, your contributions will cover all aspects of water resources systems including collecting and analyzing hydrologic data, performing spatial analysis, and mapping of hydrometeorological data, calibrating, executing, and interpreting results from hydrologic and hydraulic models.

 

Our team includes a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and capabilities, but a common thread is our interest to continue learning and push the boundaries of what can be done to support our field. As a non-profit research institute, RTI also offers opportunities for internally funded research and development to help bring great ideas together for on-the-ground applications to help make a difference in the world. As part of the CWR team, the successful candidate will be exposed to and will contribute to a wide variety of water resources modeling projects. Therefore, the successful candidate should be able to demonstrate and explain skills or exposures through classwork/work experience across a wide range of skills.

 

This position will be based in RTP, North Carolina or Fort Collins, CO but telework is an option

Responsibilities:

This position is geared towards supporting CWR’s river forecasting projects and may involve developing hydrologic, hydraulic, and/or reservoir models and configuring decision support tools and systems. The successful candidate will have some experience in analyzing and manipulating time series and spatial data and can demonstrate an aptitude for hydrologic/hydraulic/reservoir modeling (i.e., has an understanding of inputs, model states, calibration, analysis of results). Additionally, the ideal candidate has a basic background and a strong interest in coding/programming to support data analysis and dashboard/tool development. We implement custom solutions for our clients, so our staff are well versed in multiple models and modeling systems. The end result of many of CWR’s projects include a water resources modeling system that our clients use regularly to make water management decisions.

 

CWR will provide training on the specific models and technology we use to motivated colleagues with the appropriate background, education, and aptitude. Our team includes a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and capabilities, but a common thread is our interest to continue learning and push the boundaries of what can be done to support our field. As a non-profit research institute, RTI also offers opportunities for internally funded research and development to help bring great ideas together for on-the-ground applications to help make a difference in the world.

Qualifications:

Master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree and 1 year of experience in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, or related field with emphasis in Water Resources.

 

Technical Qualifications

· Water resources systems modeling and systems experience:

• Reservoir or operations or water rights modeling such as RiverWare, MODSIM, HEC-ResSim, ResJ, or WEAP
• Hydrologic modeling such as HEC-HMS, SAC-SMA, or VIC
• Hydraulic modeling such as HEC-RAS, SWMM, or MIKE 11
• Operational or planning system configuration using applications such as Delft-FEWS or HEC-CWMS/HEC-WAT

· Use of open-source programming language (i.e., Python, R, C# or VB(.NET)) to perform data management, transformation, quality control, and/or statistical analyses (e.g., regression models)

· Use of ArcGIS or QGIS to perform basic geospatial processing, analysis, and map preparation

· Familiarity with relational databases (e.g., SQLite, SQL Server).

 

General Qualifications

· A positive and collaborative mindset while working independently on multiple projects in a team environment with diverse staff of project managers, hydrologists, engineers, scientists, economists, and IT developers

· Attention to detail as the candidate will be responsible for preparing, using, and conducting quality control on large and diverse datasets

· The ability to listen and communicate well both verbally and in writing and the ability to understand and follow written guidelines, policies, and procedures as provided by project managers.

· A willingness to learn new software and apply as a project requires, including self-led tutorials and exploration. The ability and desire to adapt applicable methods and principles from past experiences to current RTI project needs.

 

To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States and should not require now, or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status.

EEO & Pay Equity Statements:

For San Francisco, CA USA Job Postings Only: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Further information is available here.

RTI accepts applications to our job openings from candidates with criminal histories or conviction records in accordance with all applicable laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below. Our pay ranges represent national averages and may vary by location as a geographic differential may be applied to some locations within the United States. RTI considers multiple factors when making an offer including, for example: established salary range, internal budget, business needs, and education and years of work experience possessed by the applicant. Further, salary is merely one element to our offer.

At RTI, we demonstrate our commitment to rewarding individual and team achievement through a total rewards package. This package includes (among other things) a competitive base salary, a generous paid time off policy, merit based annual increases, bonus opportunities and a robust recognition program. Other benefits include a competitive range of insurance plans (including health, dental, life, and short-term and long-term disability), access to a retirement savings program such as a 401(k) plan, paid parental leave for all parents, financial assistance with adoption expenses or infertility treatments, financial reimbursement for education and developmental opportunities, an employee assistance program, and numerous other offerings to support a healthy work-life balance.

Hiring Salary Range:$77,000 - $95,000