Assistant Water Services Director - Utility

Phoenix Water Services provides high-quality, reliable water to the City of Phoenix, serving over 1.7 million residents. The department is committed to maintaining water quality, promoting sustainability, and ensuring compliance with all local, state, and federal regulations. The City of Phoenix Water Services Department, as a government agency, is free-driven and thereby self-supporting and does not rely upon taxes for its operation. A staff comprised of about 1500 employees - trained engineers, technicians, and office and field service people - provides the department's services to customers within its 540-square-mile service area. Additional department resources consist of a $485 million annual operating budget, and five-year capital improvement budgets of $2.49 billion for water system improvements and $1.69 billion for wastewater improvements. The majority of Water Department employees are represented by two Unions and one Association under local meet and confer and meet and discuss ordinances.

The City of Phoenix is seeking an Assistant Water Services Director to direct, manage, and provide leadership over the activities of various divisions of the Water Services Department. Specific areas of oversight are flexible to the business needs and the strengths of the selected candidate, but key priorities include either the Water Utility (water production, distribution, water meters, water engineering) or the Wastewater Utility (wastewater treatment/reclamation, collection and wastewater engineering).

The work involves responsibility for making decisions regarding the utility, for the formulation of long-range plans and programs, and for oversight of the operational and capital improvement budgets. Overarching all these responsibilities is the expectation to lead a complex agency within the Council Manager system. The Assistant Water Services Director must be able to work as a team member of the Water Services leadership team and communicate clearly and regularly with the City Manager and staff, Mayor and City Council and the larger communities of interest.

The position is also responsible for interacting with other City departments and representing the City when working with other governmental and outside agencies.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

Candidates must have prior experience working with municipal water/wastewater utility experience. Ideally, you will have either a PE or ADEQ Grade IV operate designation in at least one specialty area.

Strong candidates will have the foresight to anticipate issues of concern, thoroughly research and analyze problems, evaluate risks, as well as have the ability to ascertain information quickly. The ideal candidate should be an articulate, engaging, and decisive professional with excellent political acumen and situational awareness to solve problems, think strategically, identify alternative courses of action and provide recommendations.

This leader must be a person with very high ethical and moral standards and able to display transparency as well as exemplify the standards outlined in PHXRespect. Candidates should possess exceptional interpersonal, analytical, and public speaking skills to bring credibility to this role, the humility to listen intentionally to understand the needs, perspectives, concerns and values of others, as well as the emotional intelligence to navigate difficult situations.

SALARY

Up to $230,672.00 annually. Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Pay Range Explanation:

• Pay range is the entire compensation range for the position classification.
• Hiring range is an estimate of where you can receive an offer. The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors, including your skills, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, training, and internal equity.
• The City contributes 9% of salary into 457/401(a) plans with no matching required. $6,000/annual car allowance and $1,440/annual cell phone allowance.

BENEFITS

A comprehensive Executive benefits package is offered which includes:

• Traditional pension with employer and employee contributions, click here for more details: Pension Information
• 401(a) and 457 plans with employer contributions
• Choice of generous medical HMO, PPO, or HSA/HDHP plans
• Medical enrollment includes a monthly $150 City contribution to a Post-Employment Health Plan
• Wellness incentive of up to $720 annually
• Dental, vision, and life insurance options
• Employer paid long-term disability
• Free Bus/light rail pass
• Tuition reimbursement program up to $6,500 per year
• Paid time off includes 13.5 paid holidays, 12 vacation days, and 15 sick days and personal leave days
• Paid Parental Leave for eligible employees up to 480 hours (12 weeks) of paid leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child during a 12-month period
• Federal Student Loan Forgiveness offered through Savi

For more details, visit: Executive Benefits.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Five years of professional experience in a technical, administrative, or operations capacity engaged in water or wastewater systems.
• Three years supervising professional staff.
• Bachelor's degree in public administration or a related field.
• Other combinations of experience and education that meet the minimum requirements may be substituted
• All finalists for positions are subject to a criminal background check applicable to the department or position.
• Some positions require the use of personal or City vehicles on City business. Individuals must be physically capable of operating the vehicles safely, possess a valid driver's license and have an acceptable driving record. Use of a personal vehicle for City business will be prohibited if the employee is not authorized to drive a City vehicle or if the employee does not have personal insurance coverage.
• For information regarding pre-screening and driving positions, click here.
• The City job description can be found here.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

The minimum qualifications listed above, plus:

• Professional Engineer (PE) license or ADEQ Grade IV water operate certification.
• Experience working in municipal government in a Council/Manager context.
• Experience supervising a multi-disciplinary team.
• Experience managing large operating and/or CIP budgets.
• Experience working with elected officials, boards or commissions.

RECRUITMENT DATES

Recruitment closes October 6, 2025. All materials must be received by 11:59 p.m. on this date.

This is a position-based recruitment and will not result in any ongoing eligibility list. This recruitment and any selection processes resulting from this recruitment may be used to fill other related vacancies within the organization now or in the near future.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online by completing the required information and attaching, as one document, your cover letter and resume. Please include your experience as it relates to the qualifications stated above. Only the highest qualified may be posted to the eligible to hire list. The results of the resume screening process will be sent to your primary email address.

WE ARE HERE TO HELP

• Job interviews may be held by video or audio conference.
• If you are in need of computer resources, click here for free options.
• Arizona at Work has frequent classes to help with resume writing, interviewing skills, and general career guidance. Click here for more information.
• Explore other Employment Opportunities with the City of Phoenix.
• Subscribe to receive e-mail notifications about new employment opportunities.
• If you require assistance at any stage of the application process due to an accessibility issue, please contact the Human Resources Department by phone at (602) 495-5700 or by text at (800) 367-8939. You may also fill out and submit a Reasonable Accommodation Request Form.

REFERENCE

Asst Water Services Dir, JC:51430, ID# 51430, 09/09/2025, USM, MA, Benefits: Executive

Building the Phoenix of tomorrow.

#DoWorkThatMakesPhoenixWork

City of Phoenix is an equal opportunity employer. AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and other national service alumni who meet the required qualifications are encouraged to apply.