Principal Water Systems Engineer

The Principal Water Systems Engineer serves as Exentec’s senior-most technical authority for high-purity water (UPW), RO/DI, reclaim/reuse, and industrial wastewater treatment (IWT) systems supporting semiconductor fabs, advanced manufacturing sites, and mission-critical data centers. This role provides deep technical leadership across design, system performance, operations, troubleshooting, reliability engineering, contamination prevention, and environmental compliance.

The Principal Engineer establishes global engineering standards, leads complex investigations, ensures water quality and environmental stability, and provides high-level support for both facility expansions and high-volume daily operations. The role also interfaces with clients and supports new business pursuits by articulating Exentec’s technical approach and capabilities.

Operating in a 24O7 environment, this position requires exceptional technical depth, rigorous quality discipline, and the ability to support global teams with urgency and precision. Explore your tasks and responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Governance

• Serve as the global Subject Matter Expert (SME) for: Ultra Pure Water (UPW)/RODI systems, Industrial Waste Treatment (IWT) & Wastewater reclamation.
• Maintain Exentec’s global engineering standards, design criteria, material specifications, FAT/SAT/commissioning protocols, and quality thresholds.
• Create go-to-market strategies based on customer segmentation, competitive analysis and product positioning best practices
• Develop product pricing, budgeting, and positioning strategies to create a good balance between market share and revenue recognition
• Act as a partner with sales and service resources to increase product awareness and manage new opportunities

Water Quality, Reliability & Risk Management

• Own water quality standards and ensure compliance with client specifications
• Lead failure mode analysis, contamination investigations, abnormal water events, and system upsets.
• Develop high-reliability strategies for UPW, RO/DI, and IWT infrastructure, including redundancy planning and critical component monitoring.
• Analyze SCADA/PLC data for performance optimization, membrane health, mixed bed performance, oxidation events, and reclaim variability.

Operational Support & Escalation

• Provide Tier-3 engineering support to global sites for complex water-related issues
• Develop corrective actions, engineering countermeasures, and recovery plans for water quality deviations.
• Support emergency response during critical water events affecting fab tools, environmental discharge, or facility uptime.

Environmental Compliance & Safety

• Ensure compliance with environmental permits, discharge limits, hazardous waste regulations, and chemical handling requirements.
• Lead environmental risk assessments, spill response strategies, and incident investigations for water systems.
• Establish safe procedures for chemical injection systems (antiscalant, SBS, caustic, acid, ferric, polymer, chlorine, UV, etc.).
• Drive global compliance with safety standards and facility-level requirements for handling high-risk water treatment chemicals.

Standards, Training & Technical Development

• Develop training program content for UPW, RODI, WWT, IWT, analytical, etc
• Mentor engineers and technicians, strengthen technical talent, and lead global knowledge-sharing.
• Support creation of digital tools for water quality dashboards, reclaim optimization, lifecycle tracking, and automated reporting.
• Develop Auditing program to ensure sites are compliant with service delivery expectation

Client Engagement & Sales Support

• Act as the technical lead during client discussions on water quality requirements, discharge standards, optimization strategies, and capacity needs.
• Provide expertise during RFP responses, scope development, and solution design for new business pursuits.
• Participate in client workshops, site walkthroughs, and technical presentations to demonstrate Exentec’s capabilities.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities through reclaim optimization, energy/water efficiency, membrane upgrades, and chemical reduction strategies.

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years of experience with UPW, RO/DI, industrial wastewater treatment, or high-purity process water systems-semiconductor experience strongly preferred.
• Expert knowledge of UPW, WWT and/or water reclamation.
• Strong background in process controls, SCADA systems, and instrumentation.
• Proven ability to lead technical investigations, develop engineering countermeasures, and resolve contamination or discharge issues.
• Ability to travel 30-40% to support global sites., * Professional Engineering license (PE or international equivalent).
• Experience in semiconductor manufacturing (preferred) or similar high-purity water environments.
• Experience designing or optimizing reclaim/reuse systems and advanced treatment technologies.
• Familiarity with environmental permitting, sampling protocols, and regulatory reporting.

Key Competencies

• Technical Mastery: Deep expertise in UPW, RO/DI, and IWT systems and water quality control.
• Safety & Compliance: Strong understanding of environmental and chemical-handling risks.
• Reliability Engineering: Capable of diagnosing and preventing water quality instability or system failures.
• Leadership: Coaches technical teams and raises global engineering competency.
• Analytical Mindset: Uses data to improve system performance and predict risk.
• Sales Support: Communicates technical value to clients and supports new business growth.