Water & Wastewater Recruiter
Portland, OR
Portland is constructing its first-ever filtration plant for the historically unfiltered Bull Run water supply, a response to new state turbidity requirements, alongside continued operation of the Big Pipe CSO tunnels.
Specialized staffing for Portland water infrastructure
Metro Associates is a leading water and wastewater engineering recruiter providing specialized staffing solutions across Portland and the Pacific Northwest. We help firms and utilities hire licensed Professional Engineers (PE), process engineers, and construction inspection specialists across treatment, distribution, and collection-system disciplines, for projects reviewed under Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) and beyond.
Whether it's a treatment plant upgrade, collection-system rehab, or stormwater compliance work, we match vetted talent to what each program actually demands, regulatory, operational, and technical.
2026 Portlandwater & wastewater hiring
Heading into 2026, Portland'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 Portland-specific figure we have not measured. See the national water & wastewater compensation ranges, or ask us what we are seeing in Portland right now.
Supporting Portlandwater & wastewater programs
What else is being built in Portland
Our other practices are working the same metro. The programs below are what they are staffing in Portland right now, useful context if your project sits across more than one discipline, which most of them do.
- ODOT bridge and highway programs
- TriMet MAX light-rail projects
- Seismic retrofit and resilient structures
- Semiconductor fab mechanical & electrical (Hillsboro)
- Hospital and healthcare-system infrastructure
- Building electrification & decarbonization retrofits
- I-5 Rose Quarter resident engineering
- Interstate Bridge Replacement inspection
- TriMet rail extension oversight
- Fixing Our Streets paving levy program
- Green stormwater infrastructure maintenance
- Land division & site development review
Water & wastewater recruiting in Portland, FAQ
Do you place water and wastewater engineers in Portland, OR?
Yes, we actively recruit water and wastewater engineers for Portland and the Pacific Northwest, from licensed PEs to process engineers and construction inspection specialists.
What water/wastewater roles do you recruit for in Portland?
Typical Portland searches include Water/Wastewater Project Engineer (PE), Senior Process Engineer, Water Resources Engineer, Utility/Pipeline Design Engineer, and SCADA/Controls Engineer.
How quickly can you fill a water/wastewater position in Portland?
With a national pipeline of pre-vetted water and wastewater professionals, we typically deliver a shortlist of qualified OR candidates within days, every placement backed by our guarantee.
Do you recruit for NPDES permitting and utility compliance work?
Yes. Candidates are screened for NPDES permitting, SCADA/instrumentation, and utility rehabilitation experience, matched against Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) and Oregon's regulatory requirements.
Hiring water & wastewater engineers in Portland?
Tell us about the role. We'll deliver a vetted shortlist of licensed OR water and wastewater talent, backed by our placement guarantee.
Water & wastewater recruiting across the Pacific West
Other engineering disciplines in Portland