Wastewater Process Optimisation Technical Lead - Cork/Mallow

We are Uisce Éireann. Every day, we are responsible for the delivery of secure, safe, and sustainable water services for the people of Ireland. As Ireland’s national regulated water utility, our vision is a sustainable Ireland where water is respected and protected, for the planet and all the lives it supports.

Our purpose at Uisce Éireann is to rise to the challenge of delivering transformative water services that enable communities to thrive. That means we are proud to take on the responsibility of protecting our water supply and passing on a safe and secure water system to a rapidly growing population and empowering Ireland’s social and economic growth.

We are passionate about empowering our people, enabling them to make a positive impact on communities across Ireland. We are guided by a shared vision and purpose, grounded in values that define who we are and shape how we work, where we deliver for customers and communities, we work better together, we do the right thing, we aim high, and we keep each other safe. Our behaviours define how we interact, communicate, and succeed together. These values and behaviours apply to each one of us, across every role, location, and level.

Our goal is to attract and develop skilled and talented people from diverse backgrounds, who bring a dynamic range of expertise and insights to our work. With a strong, values-driven workforce, we ensure Uisce Éireann can continue advancing Ireland’s water services and meeting the needs of the communities we serve for generations to come.

The Role: 
The Asset Operations function forms the cornerstone of service delivery to customers, protecting the environment and meeting regulatory standards as well as managing the majority of operational expenditure. The Asset Operations function has responsibility for operational and maintenance strategy, policies, planning and standard operating procedures for Water operations both nationally and regionally, ensuring that value for money and customer service is delivered.       

Reporting to the Wastewater Process Optimisation Technical Manager, the Wastewater Process Optimisation Technical Lead will be responsible for supporting the provision of process optimisation services across wastewater and energy efficiency. The role will be responsible for ensuring that wastewater treatment plants are operated within the set level quality and operational parameters, ensuring that the quality of wastewater effluent meets all regulatory standards and that said assets are operated with a high consideration for energy efficiency.

The Wastewater Process Optimisation Technical Lead is also responsible for the provision of operational, scientific and technical advice and expertise from design through to operation and to identify where investment will be more effectively targeted in order to achieve optimised control of wastewater treatment processes.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

• Work collaboratively with regional operations and third party service providers to monitor and optimise wastewater treatment plant performance, ensuring compliance with statutory, licence and regulatory requirements. 

• Support wastewater treatment process reviews and site assessments, identifying operational, maintenance, energy and capital improvement measures to enhance plant performance and reliability.

• Identify and progress opportunities to optimise wastewater treatment processes, energy efficiency and chemical usage through data analysis, site engagement and best practice application.

• Contribute to the development, review and implementation of wastewater treatment best practices and Standard Operating Procedures to support consistent and efficient operation. 

• Advise on operational sampling programmes in line with regulatory and optimisation requirements, and review laboratory and operational data to assess process performance.

• Analyse operational and laboratory results to identify process performance issues, causes of non-compliance and opportunities for corrective actions, optimisation and energy improvement. 

• Support the development and implementation of risk mitigation, issue resolution and change management actions in coordination with regional teams and service providers to address operational and compliance issues.

• Provide regular progress, performance and technical reports to the Wastewater Process Optimisation Technical Manager in line with governance and reporting requirements.

• Deliver wastewater treatment process optimisation training and provide technical support to other areas of the business as required. 

• Contribute to achieving the targets and objectives of the Asset Operations Business Plan and wider Uisce Éireann transformation initiatives.

General Duties and Responsibilities 

• Collaborate with key internal stakeholders across the UÉ business.
• Responsible for promoting and delivering health and safety commitments across UÉ and its supply chain, reinforcing positive behaviours and delivering health and safety objectives and requirements to the highest industry standards. 
• Support the delivery of the Uisce Éireann Transformation Programme, driving results required within the Directorate and supporting organisation-wide objectives.
• Conducts duties and responsibilities in accordance with Uisce Éireann’s Information Security policies, standards, processes and controls to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of UÉ business information, and delivery of critical services, in accordance with the NIS Directive and any other relevant cybersecurity regulation.

• Other duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
 

• Minimum of 5 years relevant experience, 3 of which should be in Process Optimisation in the Water Industry

• Proven technical competence is essential along with a relevant third level qualification in engineering or scientific discipline or equivalent 

• Strong knowledge of wastewater process technologies, operational performance and energy efficiency is required

• Solid practical operational experience allied to technical knowledge (design, equipment selection and commissioning experience), together with an excellent understanding of the best operating practices is desirable

• Require in depth professional knowledge of operational control of wastewater treatment processes, design requirements, and scientific principles

• Require in depth knowledge of both risk assessment and relevant legislation/regulations, coupled with the practical ability to undertake auditing and provide recommendations for improvements

• We aim high - analytical and problem solving skills - e.g. ability to assess treatment performance to determine efficiencies, and to identify contingency procedures to minimise risk to public health and the environment when operational problems arise

• We do the right thing - Must be aware of the regulators expectations, targets and quality standards 

• Working knowledge of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 

• Ability to:

• Prioritise tasks, work with schedules and manage resources while remaining focused on team goals

• Develop relationships to accomplish team goals coupled with dealing effectively with differences of opinion and conflict management

• Establish courses of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently

• Clearly convey information through a variety of media to individual across the organisation

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to deliver training to operations staff

• We keep each other safe - experience/understanding of working within a strong health and safety culture

• Experience working within Water Services and/ or other Utilities is desirable 

• Knowledge of monitoring, load management and ICA (Instrumentation, Control and Automation) systems is desirable

The closing date for receipt of applications for this vacancy is 07/08/2026.

Please note that applications submitted after this closing date will not be accepted.

*Please be advised that if successful you will be placed on the salary range based on your skills and experience. Please note the Market reference point (midpoint) of the range is generally the upper end of the offer where someone is deemed to be fully competent to take on the duties of the role, and leaves room for the employee to progress through the pay range as their experience develops further.

Uisce Éireann is an equal opportunities employer.

We are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive place of work and have a robust strategy and framework called ibelong to enable this. We are an equal opportunity employer and through our recruitment process we welcome and encourage applications from interested and suitably qualified individuals regardless of gender, age, racial or ethnic origin, membership of the traveller community, religion or beliefs, family or civil status, sexual orientation/gender identity or disability.