Environmental Engineer

RTI International’s Center for Water Resources (CWR) is looking for an entry-level or junior environmental engineer or scientist to support a variety of watershed-based assessments and research. CWR‘s projects involve river and reservoir operations forecasting, water supply modeling, and hydrologic risk evaluation. As part of the team, your contributions will cover all aspects water resources systems including data collection and analysis, modeling, optimization, system integration, and stakeholder communication and training.

This position will be based in RTP, North Carolina or Fort Collins, CO but telecommuting is an option. Please apply if you have expertise related to these requirements (experience related to all is not necessary) – we will provide specific model training to motivated colleagues with the appropriate background and aptitude. The Center for Water Resources (CWR) 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.

Desired general experiences or exposures through completed classwork include hydrologic, hydraulic, watershed and/or water quality model set up, calibration, and assessment/interpretation; spatial, time series, and generalized data collection, organization, quality assurance, and interpretation; and project documentation and report writing.

The successful candidate will support a wide variety of water projects by:

• Preparing and running hydrologic, hydraulic and watershed models (e.g., HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS, RTI WaterFALL, Hydro-BID and others);
• Assessing the vulnerability of water supplies to future conditions such as climate change, land development, or population growth;
• Appling water systems operation models (e.g., MODSIM, RiverWare, WEAP) and modeling systems like RTI-WaterALLOC;
• Performing data management and scripting activities to support projects and modeling tasks;
• Designing, implementing, and configuring operational decision support systems (e.g., Delft-FEWS, CWMS).

Qualifications

The candidate must have the following talents:

• 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.

Required

The candidate should be able to demonstrate and explain skills or exposures through classwork/internships across a selection of the following potential work areas (experience in all areas is not required)

• Hydrologic modeling using applications such as HEC-HMS, SAC-SMA, or VIC
• Hydraulic modeling using applications such as HEC-RAS
• Operational or planning system configuration using applications such as Delft-FEWS or HEC-CWMS/HEC-WAT
• Water resources systems modeling, including operations and water rights, such as MODSIM, RiverWare or WEAP
• Watershed modeling using applications such as HSPF, SWAT, GWLF, or PRMS
• Water quality modeling using applications such as CE-QUAL-W2, QUAL2K/2E, BATHTUB, or statistical methods
• Use of open-source programming language (i.e., R, Python, 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 at least basic geospatial processing, analysis, and map preparation
• Use of relational databases (e.g., SQLite, SQL Server).
• Development of or conducting trainings on modeling applications and outcomes

Required Qualifications Include

• Master Degree in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Environment Engineering, Environmental Science or related with emphasis in Water Resource or a Bachelor’s degree and 1 year of experience.
• Verbal and written technical language fluency in Spanish is a plus.
• Domestic and international travel flexibility is a plus.
• 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.

“Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background. We will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education, and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.”

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.

Additional Information

• Minimum Salary: $61,000