Water & Wastewater Recruiter
Seattle, WA
The newly completed Ship Canal Water Quality Project, a 2.7-mile deep storage tunnel, anchors Seattle's ongoing combined sewer overflow control program alongside King County's regional plant upgrades.
Specialized staffing for Seattle water infrastructure
Metro Associates is a leading water and wastewater engineering recruiter providing specialized staffing solutions across Seattle 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 King County Wastewater Treatment Division / Seattle Public Utilities 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 Seattlewater & wastewater hiring
In 2026, the the Pacific Northwest market is defined by aging-infrastructure replacement, PFAS and emerging-contaminant compliance, and federally funded resiliency programs. Demand for licensed process engineers and inspection specialists who can deliver permit-compliant, resilient systems is at an all-time high.
Pay for these roles moves with local cost of labor and project mix, so we publish ranges nationally rather than implying a Seattle-specific figure we have not measured. See the national water & wastewater compensation ranges, or ask us what we are seeing in Seattle right now.
Supporting Seattlewater & wastewater programs
What water and wastewater engineering in Seattle actually involves
Combined sewer control is the region's defining wastewater programme, and Seattle has chosen storage at tunnel scale to deliver it. That gives the market a steady supply of deep conveyance and hydraulic work, alongside the treatment and pumping needed to empty storage back into the system after a storm.
The constraint that makes this market distinctive is ecological. Salmon recovery obligations run through everything: outfall siting, water quality limits, fish passage at supply infrastructure and the timing of in-water work. Engineers here are expected to design to those constraints from the outset rather than to treat permitting as a downstream step.
Who owns the systems
The utilities and districts that own most Seattle water and wastewater assets. Experience on their programs is the shorthand hiring managers here read first.
- Seattle Public Utilities
- King County Wastewater Treatment Division
- Cascade Water Alliance
- Washington State Department of Ecology
- Washington State Department of Health
Hardest Seattle 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.
Conveyance & storage tunnel engineers
Overflow control here is being delivered as deep storage, and that experience does not transfer readily from surface collection work.
Hydraulic modellers
Sizing storage against a permit obligation is a modelling exercise the region runs continuously as the programme proceeds.
Treatment process engineers
Regional plants are in an upgrade cycle at the same time as the storage programme, competing for the same people.
Permitting-literate water resources engineers
Endangered species and water quality obligations shape design here, so engineers who can carry a scheme through that review are valued above pure designers.
Licensure & operator credentials in Washington
Washington registers engineers through the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, with comity for equivalent out-of-state licences. Water system operators are certified by the Department of Health and wastewater operators by Ecology, which is a split worth knowing when a role touches both. Familiarity with the state's environmental review process is frequently listed alongside the licence itself.
What else is being built in Seattle
Our other practices are working the same metro. The programs below are what they are staffing in Seattle right now, useful context if your project sits across more than one discipline, which most of them do.
- WSDOT highway, ferry, and bridge programs
- Sound Transit light-rail expansion
- Seismic retrofit and resilient structures
- Tech-campus mechanical & electrical (Amazon, Microsoft)
- Life-science and lab-space build-outs
- Seattle Energy Code compliance & electrification
- Sound Transit Link extension inspection
- SR 520 floating bridge oversight
- SR 99 tunnel materials testing
- Move Seattle levy bridge & street program
- Ship Canal combined sewer overflow tunnel
- Land use & site development review
Water & wastewater recruiting in Seattle, FAQ
Do you place water and wastewater engineers in Seattle, WA?
Yes. Our water and wastewater search practice covers Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, placing PEs, process engineers, and inspection specialists on treatment, distribution, and collection-system work.
What water/wastewater roles do you recruit for in Seattle?
Typical Seattle 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 Seattle?
With a national pipeline of pre-vetted water and wastewater professionals, we typically deliver a shortlist of qualified WA 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 King County Wastewater Treatment Division / Seattle Public Utilities and Washington's regulatory requirements.
Hiring water & wastewater engineers in Seattle?
Tell us about the role. We'll deliver a vetted shortlist of licensed WA water and wastewater talent, backed by our placement guarantee.
Water & wastewater recruiting across the Pacific West
Other engineering disciplines in Seattle