Freese and Nichols is seeking an experienced Senior Water Resources Planning Engineer to join our growing team in either our Denver or Loveland, Colorado office to support and help grow our Colorado Water Resources Planning practice with a strong emphasis on Colorado water rights, basin-scale hydrology, and long-range water supply planning.
This position will support public-sector clients throughout Colorado and nationally, including municipal and regional water providers, special districts, and state or basin-driven planning entities. The successful candidate will have a seller/doer role, helping to identify, pursue, win, and manage technically complex planning and water rights-related projects while providing senior technical leadership within multidisciplinary teams.
This role is intended to support Freese and Nichols’ strategic expansion of water resources planning services in Colorado with close integration across water/wastewater planning, environmental services, and infrastructure planning disciplines, nationally. Project focus will include geographically and technically diverse efforts across Freese and Nichols geographies.
What you'll do:
- Serve as Project Manager and/or Technical Lead for complex Colorado water resources planning projects, including:
- Long‑range water supply and integrated water resources plans
- Water rights evaluations and strategy support
- Basin‑scale hydrologic and yield analyses
- Scenario‑based planning related to climate variability, demand growth, storage, reuse, and operational constraints
- Provide technical support to water rights applications and processes, including:
- Support for water court change cases (engineering analyses, yield impacts, depletion accounting)
- Evaluation of conditional and absolute water rights
- Analysis of augmentation plans, substitute supply plans, and conjunctive use operations
- Coordination with legal counsel on water rights matters
- Lead or contribute to development of quantitative planning and decision‑support models, including surface water and/or integrated surface water–groundwater systems
- Prepare and review technical memoranda, reports, exhibits, and expert‑support documentation suitable for planning studies, regulatory review, and legal proceedings
- Support business development by:
- Assisting in preparation of proposals (scope, staffing, fee)
- Participating in client meetings and industry events
- Leveraging existing and developing new client relationships across Colorado
- Supervise and mentor engineers, planners, and analysts; provide technical guidance and quality control
- Coordinate with multidisciplinary internal teams (environmental, water/wastewater, planning) and subconsultants
- Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or related engineering discipline
- Professional Engineer (P.E.) license in the State of Colorado (or ability to obtain via comity within a defined timeframe)
- 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in water resources planning and/or water rights analysis
- Demonstrated experience working in Colorado’s prior appropriation system
- Experience supporting or leading projects involving Colorado water rights administration, such as:
- Augmentation plan support
- Change of water right analyses
- Yield and reliability analyses
- Conjunctive use or replacement water evaluations
- Strong technical writing and presentation skills
- Experience preparing scopes, schedules, and budgets for professional services
- Ability to work independently while functioning as part of a collaborative team
Preferred Qualifications:
- Direct experience working with or supporting:
- Municipal or regional water providers in Colorado
- Basin roundtables or Colorado Water Plan–related efforts
- State agencies such as the Colorado Water Conservation Board or Division of Water Resources
- Modeling experience relevant to Colorado water rights and planning, such as:
- StateMod
- RiverWare
- StateCU
- Experience with groundwater flow modeling (e.g. MODFLOW or equivalent), particularly for:
- Stream–aquifer interaction analyses
- Well depletions and lagged response evaluation
- Support of water rights and augmentation planning decisions
- Planning‑level evaluation of groundwater supplies as part of integrated municipal or regional water supply portfolio
- Experience with scenario‑based and risk‑informed planning approaches
- Familiarity with climate‑driven hydrologic stressors affecting Colorado supply systems
- Experience collaborating with legal teams on water rights matters; May provide technical support for water court proceedings, including preparation of engineering analyses and coordination with legal counsel
- Existing professional relationships within the Colorado water community (utilities, agencies, or legal firms)
- Advanced degree preferred but not required
The annual salary range for this position is $128,260 - $188,601 and is dependent on candidate's qualifications as compared to minimum and preferred requirements. Exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay at a straight-time hourly rate for any hours over forty (40) hours per week. Employees are eligible for annual bonuses and amounts are determined by company profitability and growth, and for employees at higher compensation grades, group and personal performance are also considered.
We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical insurance, prescription drug coverage, dental insurance, vision insurance, healthcare advisory services, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, health reimbursement account, family and medical leave, short-term medial leave/short-term disability, long-term disability, 401(k) matching, life insurance, critical illness insurance, accident insurance, legal/ID shield, tuition reimbursement program, employee assistance program, paid parental leave, paid holidays, paid time off, travel assistance, pet insurance, access to company cabins and partner discounts. For more information, see the benefits section of our web site .
At the heart of our culture is our LEADS values ( L earn continuously, E ngage as family, A ct with integrity, D eliver quality, and S erve always). Each year, our employee engagement survey confirms that our leaders and our employees live our values.
We strive to be the firm of choice for clients and employees through innovative approaches, practical results, and outstanding service. For more than 130 years, we have been planning and designing the infrastructure our communities need: developing water supplies, designing roadways and bridges, preparing for natural disasters, and much more.
Our unique benefits include paid overtime for salaried employees, an annual bonus, and access to company cabins in Red River, New Mexico and Banner Elk, North Carolina. We are proud of our flexible work environment which includes a hybrid schedule with up to 40% of remote work, and an alternative work schedule program which provides a day off every other Friday.
In addition, we offer medical insurance, prescription drug coverage, dental insurance, vision insurance, healthcare advisory services, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, health reimbursement account, family and medical leave, short-term medical leave/short-term disability, long-term disability, 401(k) matching, life insurance, critical illness insurance, accident insurance, legal/ID shield, tuition reimbursement program, employee assistance program, paid parental leave, paid holidays, paid time off, travel assistance, pet insurance, access to company cabins and partner discounts. See more at Benefits That Work for You .
Join our team of 1,300+ employees as we grow from Virginia to Colorado. Learn more about working here at Working at Freese and Nichols .
Freese and Nichols is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and prohibits employment discrimination for employees and applicants based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.
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