Water Civil Engineering Intern - Summer 2027

Start Building Your Career Before You Graduate

Interested in using engineering to solve problems that communities face every day?

As a Water Engineering Intern at HR Green, you’ll work alongside experienced engineers on projects that help communities manage, protect, and improve one of their most important resources: water.

Depending on your team and location, you may gain experience in Water Resources, working on challenges involving stormwater, flooding, drainage, and streams, or Water/Wastewater, helping plan and design the systems that deliver clean water and safely collect and treat wastewater.

Why HR Green

For more than 110 years, HR Green has partnered with communities to design and build the infrastructure people rely on every day. From the roads you travel and the water you use to the communities where people live and work, our mission is simple: Building Communities. Improving Lives.

Our people are at the heart of that mission. We’re proud to be recognized as a Great Place to Work and consistently ranked among Engineering News Record’s Top 500 Design Firms in the United States.

As an intern, you’ll contribute to real projects, learn from experienced engineers, and have people invested in helping you grow. You’ll also have opportunities to explore different areas of civil engineering, build relationships across HR Green, and start discovering where you want your career to take you.

What You’ll Experience in Water

Water engineering is about solving real problems that impact communities and the environment. As an intern, you’ll work alongside experienced engineers and gain exposure to projects involving water, wastewater, stormwater, flooding, and other critical infrastructure.

During your internship, you may:

• Support the planning, design, and analysis of water infrastructure projects
• Assist with data collection, engineering calculations, modeling, drawings, reports, and project documentation
• Gain exposure to stormwater and flood reduction, pipelines, pumping stations, treatment facilities, streams, and drainage systems
• Participate in field visits and project meetings to see how engineering solutions move from planning and design into the real world
• Work alongside engineers and design professionals while building your technical skills and understanding of water engineering

You don’t need to arrive knowing how to do all of this. That’s what the internship is for.

More Than a Summer Job

Your project work is only one part of your experience at HR Green. Our internship program is designed to help you learn, explore, and start figuring out where you want your career to go.

Throughout the summer, you’ll have opportunities to:

• Follow a structured intern learning curriculum
• Connect with a mentor and experienced professionals invested in your development
• Participate in intern roundtables focused on engineering, consulting, professional development, and your career
• Learn about other HR Green business units and, when opportunities are available, shadow other teams
• Continue developing your skills through LinkedIn Learning and other training resources
• Build relationships with interns, engineers, and leaders across HR Green

You don’t have to have your entire career figured out before you get here. You may discover a passion for Water Resources or Water/Wastewater, or your summer may introduce you to another area of civil engineering that interests you. 

We want to give you the experiences and exposure to help you find where you fit.

Qualifications

To be considered for this internship, you must:

• Be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, or a related engineering discipline
• Be available to work full time during the Summer 2027 internship program, beginning between mid May and early June and ending in early August
• Be able to participate in office and field work based on project needs

Compensation

$18-28/hr

The expected compensation range for this position is displayed in accordance with the Illinois Salary Transparency amendment to the Equal Pay Act of 2003. The final agreed-upon compensation is based on a number of factors, including but not limited to: individual education, qualifications, skills, prior work experience, competencies, and geographic work location. The total annual compensation package may consist of a base salary and eligibility to participate, after a qualifying period, in our performance and discretionary incentive bonus program(s).

Click here to hear from our past interns.

HR Green is proud to be an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or other classification protected by applicable federal, state or local law.