Water System Mechanical Engineer

• ​​​​1 Year contract
• ​​​​​​​$85.83/hr
• On-site in Berkeley

Keep a world-class scientific facility running — one drop at a time

Somewhere behind the walls of a cutting-edge accelerator facility, an invisible network of pumps, exchangers, and ultra-pure water loops is quietly doing the hard work: pulling heat away from equipment that pushes the boundaries of physics. That network needs an owner. That's you.

We're looking for a Water Systems Engineer to take technical ownership of the cooling and process water infrastructure powering a major scientific research campus including a large-scale capital upgrade project currently underway. If you love solving real engineering problems with real consequences, and you want your fingerprints on systems that keep world-class science running 24/7, this is the seat.

Why this role is different

• You'll own something real. Not a slice of a system, the whole thing. Design, operation, reliability, and continuous improvement of cooling water infrastructure are yours to drive.
• High-stakes, high-trust work. These systems support sensitive scientific equipment where downtime isn't an option. Your decisions matter, and you'll be trusted to make them.
• Design and build and run it. This isn't a design-only or maintenance-only role. You'll architect systems, specify equipment, manage installation, and then operate what you built.
• Constant variety. One day you're deep in hydraulic calculations and P&IDs; the next you're troubleshooting a resin bed, coordinating a shutdown, or reviewing a contractor's installation work.

What you'll actually do

Design & engineer the systems

• Architect cooling water systems from the ground up — P&IDs, flow diagrams, hydraulic calculations, equipment specs
• Analyze heat transfer, fluid flow, pump sizing, pressure drops, thermal stability, and water quality
• Specify and oversee procurement of pumps, heat exchangers, filtration, expansion tanks, piping, valves, instrumentation, and treatment systems
• Ensure everything meets ASME, ANSI, California code, and lab engineering standards

Run the operation

• Own daily operation of closed-loop low-conductivity water (LCW) and deionized (DI) water systems resistivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, the works
• Manage chemical dosing, UV sterilizers, mixed-bed deionizers, and RO systems to fend off biological growth, scaling, and corrosion
• Build and run preventive maintenance programs; troubleshoot pump failures, resin degradation, leaks, and everything in between
• Plan and commission system expansions and retrofits, choosing the right materials (think PVDF, electropolished stainless) to protect ultra-pure water quality

Lead the projects

• Take water-system projects from concept through installation and commissioning
• Coordinate contractors, vendors, and installation crews
• Build schedules, cost estimates, and technical scopes
• Review installation quality against your own specs

Keep it safe and documented

• Participate in hazard analyses and readiness reviews
• Maintain clean, accurate engineering documentation and support change control
• Support lockout/tagout planning and safety procedures

What you bring

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (or closely related field)
• 8+ years of relevant engineering experience, with substantial time spent designing, operating, or maintaining industrial process or facility water systems
• Real, hands-on knowledge of low-conductivity and deionized water systems, you know how to protect purity, prevent corrosion, and troubleshoot fast
• Experience with closed-loop cooling systems, process utilities, and industrial piping
• Comfort reading and producing engineering drawings and P&IDs
• Working knowledge of pumps, heat exchangers, cooling towers, water treatment, and controls
• A troubleshooter's mindset and strong root-cause analysis instincts
• The ability to juggle multiple projects in a complex, live operational environment
• Communication skills sharp enough to brief both a technician and a director

Bonus points for

• A Professional Engineer (PE) license
• Experience with large scientific facilities, accelerators, semiconductor fabs, or other high-availability technical infrastructure
• Exposure to EPICS or industrial controls integration
• Experience with vibration-sensitive or thermally stable cooling systems
• Reliability-centered maintenance know-how
• Background in a national-laboratory or similarly regulated research environment

The day-to-day

Expect a mix of office, lab, mechanical room, and construction-site time. Occasional after-hours or weekend support may be needed during shutdowns or commissioning events, and some work happens in confined mechanical spaces around industrial equipment. If you'd rather be moving between problems than staring at the same spreadsheet all day, you'll feel right at home.

Why it matters

The systems you'll own are the thermal backbone of a facility pushing the edge of scientific discovery. Every degree of temperature stability, every part-per-billion of water purity, every minute of uptime you protect translates directly into research that couldn't happen without you. This is engineering with a mission behind it.

Ready to keep the mission running? Apply today.