Watershed Progressive is a mission-driven landscape design-build and watershed solutions firm focused on integrated water strategies, regenerative landscapes, and resilient communities.
Our work brings together stormwater management, greywater reuse, rainwater harvesting, climate-appropriate planting, watershed restoration, hazard mitigation, and community water security. We work across disciplines with environmental scientists, ecologists, engineers, planners, landscape architects, designers, and field/construction teams to create practical, nature-based water management solutions.
Our mission is: Connecting communities with their watersheds through integrated strategies for a healthy, resilient future.
Watershed Progressive is seeking a licensed Civil / Stormwater Engineer to support and lead technical design work for integrated stormwater and watershed-based projects throughout California.
This role is ideal for a California-licensed Civil Engineer who has strong stormwater, drainage, grading, and green infrastructure experience and is interested in applying those skills in a collaborative, mission-driven environment. The right candidate will bring both technical expertise and a willingness to work across disciplines, helping translate engineering requirements into practical, buildable, and community-centered water management solutions.
This position will support projects at a variety of scales, including site-level design, regional planning, green infrastructure implementation, stormwater BMPs, technical calculations, modeling, permitting support, construction documentation, and project collaboration.
In this role, you will:
Lead civil and stormwater engineering design for projects involving stormwater BMPs, grading, drainage, green infrastructure, and low-impact development.
Prepare and review technical calculations, stormwater reports, design narratives, construction documents, and permitting materials.
Support California stormwater permitting processes and ensure project work aligns with applicable regulatory requirements.
Work closely with landscape architects, designers, ecologists, planners, field/construction staff, and project managers to develop integrated, buildable solutions.
Support project teams from site assessment and concept design through construction documentation and implementation.
Provide technical review and quality control for stormwater, grading, drainage, and related design work.
Help communicate technical stormwater concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Support technical writing for proposals, grants, reports, and project development.
Mentor and teach internal team members on stormwater management practices, design considerations, and engineering approaches.
Contribute to Watershed Progressive’s evolving tools and practices related to integrated water strategies, nature-based solutions, and climate-resilient design.
The ideal candidate will have:
An active California Professional Engineer license in Civil Engineering.
At least 2 years of licensed civil/stormwater engineering experience.
Professional experience with Civil 3D AutoCAD.
Experience with California stormwater permitting.
Experience with grading, drainage, and stormwater design from site assessment and concept development through construction documents.
Experience working with green infrastructure, LID, stormwater BMPs, and nature-based solutions.
Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities at one time.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to work collaboratively across disciplines and with team members who may not have an engineering background.
Comfort working in a mostly remote environment, while being available for occasional travel to California project sites, company offices, and team meetings.
The following qualifications are not required, but would be beneficial:
Experience calculating, modeling, and communicating water-quality, water-volume, or multiple-benefit outcomes.
Experience with construction administration and field support during the construction phase.
GIS experience, including ArcGIS/ArcView or related platforms.
Experience with GIS/CAD integration.
Python knowledge for GIS data analysis or modeling.
Cost estimating experience at various project phases.
Experience with agricultural systems, watershed planning, or community-based water infrastructure.
Experience supporting grant-funded projects or public-sector project deliverables.
Within the first month, you will begin learning Watershed Progressive’s systems, project types, internal platforms, and integrated approach to water management. You will start supporting active stormwater engineering design and calculations.
Within the first three months, you will be contributing to multiple technical stormwater projects, understanding our project partners and stakeholders, and beginning to provide technical review and guidance to team members.
Within six months, you will be able to manage and lead technical stormwater design work, collaborate across hubs and disciplines, support QA/QC, contribute to proposals and technical writing, and help strengthen Watershed Progressive’s stormwater engineering capacity.
Watershed Progressive offers:
Mostly remote work Health care stipend Annual training funds Paid holidays Vacation and sick time Collaborative, mission-driven team environment Opportunities for professional development and cross-disciplinary learning
This is a mostly remote position; however, the role requires availability for occasional travel to project sites, construction sites, team meetings, and company offices in California. Candidates should be located in, or able to reliably support work in, Southern or Central California, including the Ojai and Sierra Nevada regions.
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Watershed Progressive is not currently able to provide visa sponsorship for this position.
Watershed Progressive is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a respectful, inclusive, and professional workplace. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.