Job Description

Our client is delivering a major industrial water infrastructure project involving the construction and commissioning of a Water Treatment Plant (WTP), Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), and Water Recovery Plant (WRP). The project incorporates advanced treatment technologies designed to support sustainable water management, wastewater treatment, water reuse, and resource recovery.

Key technologies include:

• Drum screening and dissolved air flotation (DAF) pretreatment
• Anaerobic and aerobic biological treatment systems
• Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology
• Ultrafiltration (UF)
• High-recovery Reverse Osmosis (RO)
• Activated carbon filtration
• Off-gas treatment systems
• Chemical dosing systems

Role Purpose

The Commissioning Engineer will be responsible for taking new water and wastewater treatment facilities from mechanical completion through commissioning, start-up, performance testing and operational handover.

Working closely with process, automation, construction and operations teams, you will ensure systems are commissioned safely, efficiently and in line with project performance requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare commissioning procedures, checklists and test documentation for systems and subsystems.
• Verify mechanical completion and carry out system walkdowns prior to commissioning handover.
• Execute cold commissioning activities including:
• Rotation checks
• I/O and loop testing
• Instrument and valve functionality checks
• Alarm and interlock testing
• Execute hot commissioning activities including:
• Water testing
• Biological process start-up and seeding
• Commissioning of membrane and reverse osmosis systems
• Chemical dosing system start-up
• Collaborate with automation engineers to test and optimise PLC and SCADA control strategies.
• Support Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), Installation Qualification (IQ) and Operational Qualification (OQ) activities.
• Manage and close commissioning punch-list items with suppliers and subcontractors.
• Coordinate specialist vendors during equipment start-up and testing phases.
• Conduct performance and reliability testing against project specifications.
• Deliver operator training and support the preparation of Operations & Maintenance (O&M) manuals and project handover documentation.

Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in Chemical, Process, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Minimum 5 years' commissioning experience within water treatment, wastewater treatment, utilities, or comparable industrial process environments.
• Hands-on experience commissioning:
• Pumps
• Blowers
• Valves
• Membrane systems (MBR, UF, RO)
• Chemical dosing equipment
• Experience with biological treatment process start-up, either anaerobic or aerobic, is highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of PLC and SCADA systems, control philosophies and P&IDs.
• Experience supporting FAT, SAT, IQ and OQ protocols is advantageous.
• Previous experience within food & beverage, life sciences, pharmaceutical or industrial manufacturing environments is beneficial.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills.
• Hands-on approach with the ability to work effectively in a live site environment.
• Excellent organisational and planning skills.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage operators, engineers, contractors and client representatives.
• Ability to work under pressure during critical commissioning and start-up phases.
• Team-oriented with a proactive attitude.
• Fluent English, both written and spoken.

Health, Safety & Quality

• Ensure all commissioning activities are carried out in accordance with permit-to-work, isolation and LOTO procedures.
• Assess and manage process safety risks prior to system energisation and start-up.
• Identify and mitigate hazards associated with chemicals, biological processes, biogas and H₂S.
• Report and investigate safety incidents, observations and near misses.
• Maintain compliance with all project health, safety, environmental and quality standards.