Nestled at the crossroads of the Rio Grande Valley just 20 miles from the border of Mexico, the City of Harlingen is known for its diverse businesses, natural beauty, and incredible quality of life. From shopping to hunting, hitting the town or heading out to the coast, this community of just under 72,000 residents has something for everyone. The Harlingen Waterworks System is the public water and wastewater utility of the City of Harlingen, serving approximately 80,000 customers in Harlingen, Primera, Palm Valley, and other water supply corporations. Harlingen’s City Charter assigns the managing control and operation of the Harlingen Waterworks System to a five-member Board of Trustees. 

The City of Harlingen seeks an experienced and innovative utilities professional to help lead the Harlingen Waterworks System into the future as its new General Manager. Under the direction of the utility’s Board of Trustees, Harlingen Waterworks System’s General Manager is responsible for developing and implementing organizational and technological strategies to address and ensure service and manage supply and demand. This includes overseeing infrastructure generation, expansion, and capacity issues, creating and coordinating policies and protocols to meet the service expectations of various regulatory agencies, and representing the utility to a mix of professional, governmental, and community bodies and organizations, including serving as its spokesperson as needed.

The next General Manager will have extensive knowledge of water and wastewater systems and treatment plant operations, including their finances, regulatory requirements, and capital project management. The right fit for this role is someone who exercises sound judgment, ensuring accuracy in all tasks, and can establish work procedures and performance standards that align with the vision and policies of the utility’s Board of Trustees. The ideal candidate will be adaptable to the challenges and changes within the water and wastewater industry, open to new ideas and approaches, and committed to customer service excellence.

This position requires a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in business administration, accounting/finance, public administration, or a related field, with a master’s degree preferred. Degrees in civil or environmental engineering and status as a licensed Professional Engineer are also preferred. If able, the selected candidate will be asked to attain their PE within six months of hire if they do not already possess it and will be required to maintain a Texas driver’s license throughout their tenure. In addition, candidates should have five (5) to seven (7) years of engineering and management experience in public or private environments, including experience with utility administration and direct customer relations, water and wastewater plant design and operations, water distribution and wastewater collection systems design and operations, and construction. Experience working with city, state, and federal regulatory and permitting agencies such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and EPA is a plus, and being bilingual is preferred. Please note that the selected candidate must establish residency within three months of hire.

The Harlingen Waterworks System is offering a competitive salary for this position, starting at $180,000 minimum, commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Please apply online.

For more information on this position, contact:
Marsha Reed, Sr. Vice President
MarshaReed@GovernmentResource.com
806-789-9641

About Harlingen Waterworks System

SGR exists to help local governments be more successful by Recruiting, Assessing, and Developing Innovative, Collaborative, Authentic Leaders. SGR provides a comprehensive scope of executive recruitment services. Each executive recruitment is tailored to meet the client's specific needs, providing a high degree of personal attention to each search conducted. Our role is to find the person who is the very best possible match for your organization. SGR devotes tremendous energy to understanding your organization's unique culture, environment, and local issues to ensure a great "fit" with regard to values, philosophy, and management style.

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