Following last week’s look at an opening for a Manager of Climate Action & Design Excellence at the American Institute of Architects, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Staff Architect - Wastewater Division at Parsons Corp.

The role calls for an individual to lead the company’s design efforts supporting their San Diego pure water project for wastewater and water treatment systems. Among the responsibilities will be to coordinate and manage design efforts for the company’s overall San Diego Pure Water project, and to manage specific design efforts for wastewater and water treatment facilities in San Diego City and County.

Why the role interests us

The open position at Parsons Corp offers us the opportunity to review the many initiatives underway across California with regard to water management. In March, we reported on the news that the state was to host the largest dam removal project in history which will see a $450 million effort to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. Meanwhile, last year saw California unveil a water security strategy to prevent a predicted 10% loss in supply by 2040.

Also in 2022, we reported on Project Nexus, an ambitious project to construct a network of solar panels over a segment of California’s canal system. The initiative was built on research by a UC Merced environmental engineering graduate, which we originally reported on back in May 2021.

The graduate, Brandi McKuin, was part of a team who demonstrated that covering California’s 4,000 miles of water canals in solar panels could potentially reduce water evaporation by 82%. This reduction would save 63 billion gallons of water per year, enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of 2 million people.

Further reading for interested candidates

• World’s tallest full-scale building earthquake test takes place at UC San Diego (May 2023)
• The U.S. is about to begin the largest dam removal project in history (March 2023)
• San Diego-Tijuana selected as the World Design Capital for 2024 (February 2023)
• California unveils water security strategy to prevent 10% loss in supply by 2040 (August 2022)
• California to build solar panels over canals following UC graduate’s research (February 2022)
• Archinect’s ongoing coverage of San Diego news
• Parsons Corp’s Archinect profile
• Archinect Tips: Employment Edition (November 2020)

Job Highlights is one of a number of ongoing weekly series showcasing the opportunities available on our industry-leading job board. Our Meet Your Next Employer series profiles and interviews interesting studios with open positions currently available on Archinect Jobs, while our weekly roundups curate job opportunities by location, career level, and job description.