Director of Water Systems

The person in this position will be assigned the responsibility as the Administrator for the planning, design, construction, commissioning, and operation of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System Project (ENMRWS) Project.

The ENMRWS Project is a $1B capital water infrastructure project spanning from Ute Reservoir to several Eastern New Mexico communities. Planning, design, and construction of the ENMRWS has begun and commissioning and start-up of the entire system is scheduled for 2031. ENMWUA will own and operate the system and deliver treated Ute Reservoir water to Clovis, Cannon AFB, Portales, Texico, and Elida.

The elements of the ENMRWS Project include the following major work items.

• 130 miles of pipelines including:
• 55 Miles of 42-inch Raw Water Welded Steel Pipeline
• 23 Miles of 39- and 33-inch Finished Water Welded Steel Pipelines
• 52 Miles of 20-inch, 16-inch, 8-inch, and 4-inch Finished Water Lateral Pipelines
• 28-mgd Ute Reservoir Intake Pump Station
• 28-mgd Caprock Pump Station
• 28-mgd Water Treatment Plant
• Two (2) 60-gpm Booster Pump Stations

Job Responsibilities
The ENMWUA Administrator will have the following primary responsibilities.

• Deliver fully integrated ENMWUA Project with an emphasis on meeting ENMWUA’s mission, schedule, budget, quality, and safety objectives.
• Provide contract administration for project consultants, ENMWUA legal counsel, engineering, Involvement in Procurement, and O&M contracts, track budget, scope, and schedule for various tasks and activities.
• Prepare monthly and annual budgets/financials for ENMWUA Board meetings and for approval.
• Serve as the primary contact during construction.

Participate or assign administrative support for the following:

• Coordinate and monitor operational interfaces with the design teams, contractors, stakeholders, and property owners.
• Attend and participate in weekly construction meetings for various construction projects.
• Coordinate with the Engineer on status updates, budget, spend downs, property owner concerns and issues, and other issues that arise during construction.
• Review & approve construction pay applications.
• Review change orders.
• Conduct analyses of contractor claims and participate in settlement negotiations.

Lead easement and property acquisition efforts including:

• Coordination with the engineering team during the right-of-entry period for design activities.
• Coordination with the engineering team and ENMWUA easement acquisition staff to complete legal descriptions, title work, and appraisals.
• Easement negotiation.
• Coordination with ENMWUA legal counsel.
• Support of condemnation proceedings.
• Close out of easement agreements.
• Coordination with property owners during construction and warranty periods.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Oversee federal, state, and local project funding allocation and tracking, reporting, design, and construction spend downs. Develop funding and project updates including presentations to USBR, State of New Mexico, ENMWUA Board, and ENMWUA
• Member Communities. Coordinate with Project Engineer on current and upcoming project funds to complete the next phases of the project.
• Provide leadership guidance on cost management issues.
• Conduct quarterly and monthly reviews of ENMWUA staffing resources including the deputy Director, Office Coordinator, Support Services Officer, Accounts
• Payable/Receivable, and Lead Maintenance. Review goals, performance, task assignments, and ability to meet ENMWUA project demands. Assist with preparing job descriptions, coordinating and participating in interviews, and hiring staff.
• Develop and update a training program for ENMWUA employees.
• Coordinate and direct Operation and Maintenance (O&M) activities of the system including coordination with the Maintenance Lead to ensure weekly, monthly, and quarterly operational checks and maintenance requirements of the system are being completed and properly reported. Coordinate with the Maintenance Lead on the replacement of equipment. Assist with utility call locates including coordination with USIC.
• Maintain and track O&M budgets.
• Coordinate with the Engineer and Assist ENMWUA Chief Procurement Officer during the bidding process of various projects. Review contract documents and assist with bidding requirements and schedule. Assist in monitoring the solicitation and contracting processes for all procurements. Assist with the evaluation of bidders for projects procured through RFP process and working with the Engineer to address the contractor’s questions. Review the Engineer's recommendation for bids. Assist Chief Procurement Officer, and ENMWUA legal counsel with bid protests.
• Review, comment, and approve consultant invoices, progress reports, schedules, and spending curves. Coordinate and input data into overall project funding tracking and reports.
• Oversee the project control functions including scope, scheduling, budget, risk, information management, reporting, document management, and project administration.
• Review and comment on consultant deliverables including technical memorandums, drawings, specifications, and meeting summaries.
• Develop and maintain various management plans, quality control plans, policies and procedures, and reporting plans.
• Assist ENMWUA legal counsel with the development of agreements between agencies, stakeholders, and ENMWUA Members including delivery of water, costs, loan requirements, member contributions, wheeling, and tie-ins.
• Support in preparation and attendance of periodic federal and state project audits. Follow up on needed corrective actions.
• Prepare and update the Health, Safety, Environment, and Security Plan for the ENMWUA Project and Employees.
• Coordinate construction permitting requirements with the Engineer including submittals, payment, and coordination with agencies.
• Participate in public involvement efforts in conjunction with PR Consulting Firm to prepare presentations, videos, and advertisements about the status of the project.
• Conduct outreach for the participation of local schools, community centers, colleges, and other programs to observe construction activities, participate in Engineering presentations, or other activities associated with the project.
• Present to ENMWUA Member Communities and stakeholders the status of the project, agreements, loan requirements, funding status, and schedule.
• Develop a risk management plan to identify, track, and monitor risks that could impact the success of the project and long-term operations. Establish proposed mitigation for each risk. Coordinate with the Engineer’s risk management plan. Communicate risks and proposed mitigation to ENMWUA committees and the ENMWUA Board. Update throughout the life of the project during design, construction, and operations.
• Maintain and disseminate lessons learned across the project teams.

Job Qualifications
The desired candidate must be able to demonstrate the following experience and qualifications.

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written. Must have the ability to brief ENMWUA committees and the ENMWUA board.
• Ability to effectively communicate and brief property owners, stakeholders, community members, engineers, consultants, contractors, and legal counsel.
• Good people management skills: team-oriented with the ability to work closely with staff and consultants.
• Ability to delegate, motivate, and empower individuals and teams. Fosters a collaborative environment and promotes team-oriented work practices.
• An inspirational leader with a positive approach when delivering challenging projects.
• Sound business acumen with an understanding of budgets, risk management, and project controls.
• Ability to exercise sound technical and financial judgment and decision-making in complex situations.
• Good organizational skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Have strong data analysis and technical problem-solving skills.
• Bring a strong organizational approach to delivery.
• Demonstrated experience in a management position within a similar organization.
• Problem solver experienced with clearly identifying problems, evaluating alternative solutions, assessing risks, and making sound recommendations to decision-makers.
• Demonstrated ability to work with a diverse project team with demanding schedule, budgetary, safety, quality, and coordination objectives.
• Ability to set priorities that support the ENMWUA project objectives.
• Experience working as a key member of an integrated project team including ENMWUA staff and providing direction to project consultants, accountants, engineers, and legal counsel.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate information, identify problem trends, and develop and implement action plans to improve overall project performance.
• Demonstrated construction experience on a wide range of water projects including planning construction logistics for multiple, concurrent projects. Familiar with most types of construction contracts. Has a focus on quality and safety.
• Ability to effectively manage team members and consultants and build a collaborative environment that promotes the achievement of common objectives.
• Successful experience working with a large and diverse group of stakeholders and reconciling differences is desirable.
• Experience developing policies and procedures, budgets, various management plans, and plans.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate information, identify problem trends, and develop and implement action plans to improve overall performance.
• Demonstrated understanding of assets, capital programming, project controls, project delivery, scheduling, cost control, and other key disciplines necessary to deliver a capital improvement project.
• Ability to develop long-term plans (12-24 months) while managing daily operations and managing resources to meet short-term objectives.
• Must be a self-starter, creative, and able to work closely with ENMWUA staff, consultants, engineers, contractors, stakeholders, and ENMWUA Member Communities.
• Experience in public works, operations, and/or project, design, and construction management functions on large capital projects, or similar years of experience working in similar roles in the public works, consulting, or operations sectors.
• Four-year college degree in Public Management, Construction Engineering Management, Construction Management, or Management field preferred.