{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"2fc20b83a67b87a0e9cb05ff","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/2fc20b83a67b87a0e9cb05ff","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/2fc20b83a67b87a0e9cb05ff","title":"Water System Mechanical Engineer","description":"1 Year contract\n$85.83/hr\nOn-site in Berkeley\nKeep a world-class scientific facility running — one drop at a time\n\nSomewhere 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.\n\nWe'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.\n\nWhy this role is different\nYou'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.\nHigh-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.\nDesign 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.\nConstant 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.\nWhat you'll actually do\n\nDesign & engineer the systems\n\nArchitect cooling water systems from the ground up — P&IDs, flow diagrams, hydraulic calculations, equipment specs\nAnalyze heat transfer, fluid flow, pump sizing, pressure drops, thermal stability, and water quality\nSpecify and oversee procurement of pumps, heat exchangers, filtration, expansion tanks, piping, valves, instrumentation, and treatment systems\nEnsure everything meets ASME, ANSI, California code, and lab engineering standards\n\nRun the operation\n\nOwn daily operation of closed-loop low-conductivity water (LCW) and deionized (DI) water systems resistivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, the works\nManage chemical dosing, UV sterilizers, mixed-bed deionizers, and RO systems to fend off biological growth, scaling, and corrosion\nBuild and run preventive maintenance programs; troubleshoot pump failures, resin degradation, leaks, and everything in between\nPlan and commission system expansions and retrofits, choosing the right materials (think PVDF, electropolished stainless) to protect ultra-pure water quality\n\nLead the projects\n\nTake water-system projects from concept through installation and commissioning\nCoordinate contractors, vendors, and installation crews\nBuild schedules, cost estimates, and technical scopes\nReview installation quality against your own specs\n\nKeep it safe and documented\n\nParticipate in hazard analyses and readiness reviews\nMaintain clean, accurate engineering documentation and support change control\nSupport lockout/tagout planning and safety procedures\nWhat you bring\nBachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (or closely related field)\n8+ years of relevant engineering experience, with substantial time spent designing, operating, or maintaining industrial process or facility water systems\nReal, hands-on knowledge of low-conductivity and deionized water systems, you know how to protect purity, prevent corrosion, and troubleshoot fast\nExperience with closed-loop cooling systems, process utilities, and industrial piping\nComfort reading and producing engineering drawings and P&IDs\nWorking knowledge of pumps, heat exchangers, cooling towers, water treatment, and controls\nA troubleshooter's mindset and strong root-cause analysis instincts\nThe ability to juggle multiple projects in a complex, live operational environment\nCommunication skills sharp enough to brief both a technician and a director\nBonus points for\nA Professional Engineer (PE) license\nExperience with large scientific facilities, accelerators, semiconductor fabs, or other high-availability technical infrastructure\nExposure to EPICS or industrial controls integration\nExperience with vibration-sensitive or thermally stable cooling systems\nReliability-centered maintenance know-how\nBackground in a national-laboratory or similarly regulated research environment\nThe day-to-day\n\nExpect 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.\n\nWhy it matters\n\nThe 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.\n\nReady to keep the mission running? Apply today.\nVjxi3gIbK9","company":"Global","rawCompany":"global","city":"Berkeley","state":"CA","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-09-16T10:34:50.870Z","occupations":[{"code":"17-2141.00","title":"Mechanical Engineers","slug":"mechanical-engineers"},{"code":"17-2199.00","title":"Engineers, All Other","slug":"engineers-all-other"},{"code":"47-2152.00","title":"Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters","slug":"plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters"}],"industries":[{"code":"541330","title":"Engineering Services","slug":"engineering-services"},{"code":"221310","title":"Water Supply and Irrigation Systems","slug":"water-supply-and-irrigation-systems"},{"code":"238220","title":"Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors","slug":"plumbing-heating-and-air-conditioning-contractors"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Water System Mechanical Engineer","description":"1 Year contract\n$85.83/hr\nOn-site in Berkeley\nKeep a world-class scientific facility running — one drop at a time\n\nSomewhere 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.\n\nWe'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.\n\nWhy this role is different\nYou'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.\nHigh-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.\nDesign 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.\nConstant 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.\nWhat you'll actually do\n\nDesign & engineer the systems\n\nArchitect cooling water systems from the ground up — P&IDs, flow diagrams, hydraulic calculations, equipment specs\nAnalyze heat transfer, fluid flow, pump sizing, pressure drops, thermal stability, and water quality\nSpecify and oversee procurement of pumps, heat exchangers, filtration, expansion tanks, piping, valves, instrumentation, and treatment systems\nEnsure everything meets ASME, ANSI, California code, and lab engineering standards\n\nRun the operation\n\nOwn daily operation of closed-loop low-conductivity water (LCW) and deionized (DI) water systems resistivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, the works\nManage chemical dosing, UV sterilizers, mixed-bed deionizers, and RO systems to fend off biological growth, scaling, and corrosion\nBuild and run preventive maintenance programs; troubleshoot pump failures, resin degradation, leaks, and everything in between\nPlan and commission system expansions and retrofits, choosing the right materials (think PVDF, electropolished stainless) to protect ultra-pure water quality\n\nLead the projects\n\nTake water-system projects from concept through installation and commissioning\nCoordinate contractors, vendors, and installation crews\nBuild schedules, cost estimates, and technical scopes\nReview installation quality against your own specs\n\nKeep it safe and documented\n\nParticipate in hazard analyses and readiness reviews\nMaintain clean, accurate engineering documentation and support change control\nSupport lockout/tagout planning and safety procedures\nWhat you bring\nBachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering (or closely related field)\n8+ years of relevant engineering experience, with substantial time spent designing, operating, or maintaining industrial process or facility water systems\nReal, hands-on knowledge of low-conductivity and deionized water systems, you know how to protect purity, prevent corrosion, and troubleshoot fast\nExperience with closed-loop cooling systems, process utilities, and industrial piping\nComfort reading and producing engineering drawings and P&IDs\nWorking knowledge of pumps, heat exchangers, cooling towers, water treatment, and controls\nA troubleshooter's mindset and strong root-cause analysis instincts\nThe ability to juggle multiple projects in a complex, live operational environment\nCommunication skills sharp enough to brief both a technician and a director\nBonus points for\nA Professional Engineer (PE) license\nExperience with large scientific facilities, accelerators, semiconductor fabs, or other high-availability technical infrastructure\nExposure to EPICS or industrial controls integration\nExperience with vibration-sensitive or thermally stable cooling systems\nReliability-centered maintenance know-how\nBackground in a national-laboratory or similarly regulated research environment\nThe day-to-day\n\nExpect 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.\n\nWhy it matters\n\nThe 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.\n\nReady to keep the mission running? Apply today.\nVjxi3gIbK9","datePosted":"2026-09-16T10:34:50.870Z","dateModified":"2026-09-16T10:34:50.870Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Global","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Berkeley","addressRegion":"CA","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"2fc20b83a67b87a0e9cb05ff"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/2fc20b83a67b87a0e9cb05ff"}}