Water & Wastewater Recruiter
Jacksonville, FL
JEA's septic-to-sewer conversion program, one of the largest in the Southeast, is targeting thousands of aging septic systems near the St. Johns River to address longstanding water-quality and environmental-justice concerns.
Specialized staffing for Jacksonville water infrastructure
Metro Associates runs a dedicated water and wastewater search practice across Jacksonville and North Florida, connecting firms and utilities with licensed Professional Engineers (PE), process engineers, and construction inspection specialists reviewed under JEA.
From treatment plant upgrades to collection-system rehabilitation and stormwater compliance, we match vetted talent to the regulatory, operational, and performance demands of complex water infrastructure programs.
2026 Jacksonvillewater & wastewater hiring
Heading into 2026, Jacksonville's market is shaped by aging-infrastructure replacement, PFAS and emerging-contaminant compliance, and federally funded resiliency work. Licensed process engineers and inspection specialists who can deliver permit-compliant, resilient systems remain in short supply.
Pay for these roles moves with local cost of labor and project mix, so we publish ranges nationally rather than implying a Jacksonville-specific figure we have not measured. See the national water & wastewater compensation ranges, or ask us what we are seeing in Jacksonville right now.
Supporting Jacksonvillewater & wastewater programs
What water and wastewater engineering in Jacksonville actually involves
Jacksonville's drinking water comes from the Floridan aquifer, and the regional constraint is how much of it can be permitted rather than how it is treated. Consumptive use permitting caps withdrawals, which pushes the utility toward conservation, reuse and alternative supply, and makes hydrogeology and permitting central to water supply engineering here rather than peripheral.
The wastewater program is dominated by a long-running effort to bring septic areas onto the public sewer. That is not a single project but thousands of connections, new trunk sewers, pump stations and treatment capacity, driven by nutrient loading to the St. Johns and the water quality obligations attached to it. Flat terrain and a high water table mean pumping rather than gravity, and dewatering on almost every excavation.
Who owns the systems
The utilities and districts that own most Jacksonville water and wastewater assets. Experience on their programs is the shorthand hiring managers here read first.
- JEA
- St. Johns River Water Management District
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection
- Florida Department of Health
- City of Jacksonville Public Works
- Florida Water Resources Advisory Council
Hardest Jacksonville roles to fill
Where demand in this metro runs ahead of supply, and the local reason why, which is usually a feature of the work itself rather than of the job market.
Collection system & septic conversion engineers
Bringing septic areas onto public sewer is a sustained program of trunk mains, pump stations and connections.
Pump station engineers
Flat terrain and a high water table make pumped conveyance the default rather than the exception.
Water supply & hydrogeology engineers
Permitted aquifer withdrawal makes supply a hydrogeological and regulatory problem before a treatment one.
Nutrient removal process engineers
River water quality obligations drive nitrogen and phosphorus limits on treatment across the region.
Licensure & operator credentials in Florida
Florida licenses engineers through the Board of Professional Engineers, with comity on an NCEES record the standard route. Water and wastewater operators are licensed separately by the Department of Environmental Protection by class, the Department of Health regulates onsite systems, and the regional water management district issues the consumptive use permits that govern how much water a utility may withdraw.
What else is being built in Jacksonville
Our other practices are working the same metro. The programs below are what they are staffing in Jacksonville right now, useful context if your project sits across more than one discipline, which most of them do.
- FDOT District 2 highway and bridge programs
- JTA transit and Ultimate Urban Circulator
- St. Johns River crossings and resiliency
- Mayo Clinic & academic medical center MEP
- Port and industrial-facility electrical
- Hospitality and high-rise mixed-use systems
- I-95/I-295 interchange resident engineering
- JAXPORT channel deepening inspection
- St. Johns River bridge inspection
- Septic-to-sewer conversion capital program
- Site plan review for annexation-driven growth
- Street resurfacing & drainage capital program
Water & wastewater recruiting in Jacksonville, FAQ
Do you place water and wastewater engineers in Jacksonville, FL?
Yes. Our water and wastewater search practice covers Jacksonville and North Florida, placing PEs, process engineers, and inspection specialists on treatment, distribution, and collection-system work.
What water/wastewater roles do you recruit for in Jacksonville?
We fill Water/Wastewater Project Engineer (PE), Senior Process Engineer, Water Resources Engineer, Utility/Pipeline Design Engineer, SCADA/Controls Engineer, and Director of Water/Wastewater Engineering roles.
How quickly can you fill a water/wastewater position in Jacksonville?
Our pre-vetted national pipeline usually puts a qualified FL shortlist in front of you within days, not weeks.
Do you recruit for NPDES permitting and utility compliance work?
Yes. We recruit engineers fluent in NPDES permitting, SCADA and instrumentation, and utility infrastructure rehabilitation, reviewed under JEA and Florida's regulatory requirements.
Hiring water & wastewater engineers in Jacksonville?
Tell us about the role. We'll deliver a vetted shortlist of licensed FL water and wastewater talent, screened against Florida licensure requirements.
Water & wastewater recruiting across the South Atlantic
Other engineering disciplines in Jacksonville