Entry Level Water Engineer Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Associate Water/Wastewater Engineer
Department: Water/Wastewater
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Aurora, IL
Compensation: $70,000 - $80,000 / year
Description
Are you a passionate water and wastewater engineer with a flair for designing innovative systems and analyzing treatment solutions? Fehr Graham is a fast-growing Midwest engineering and environmental firm looking for a motivated Associate Water/Wastewater Engineer to join our team. Here's the deal: we're all about shaping the future of our communities, and we need an enthusiastic engineer eager to tackle a wide range of projects. If you're hungry for knowledge, ready to make a difference, and dedicated to providing personalized attention to our clients, we want you on our team.
Grow Your Career with Blueprint
This role includes a guaranteed seat in Blueprint, our new early career leadership program for engineers looking to grow beyond the typical entry-level experience. Over six months, participants take part in a hands-on curriculum covering professional development, business acumen, and project delivery - including case studies, simulations, and role-play exercises. The program covers topics like project economics, communication, and leadership fundamentals, and concludes with an in-person capstone event where participants present their work and outline goals for the year ahead.
Your Future Starts With A Plan.
Where you'll work
The position is based in any of our 12 offices in Illinois, Iowa or Wisconsin. At Fehr Graham, we pride ourselves on delivering personalized attention and building trust with our clients. We believe in the power of skilled professionals who provide exceptional service. We also believe in work-life balance, and that includes injecting a healthy dose of fun into everything we do. It's even part of our Core Values! We celebrate milestones and enjoy friendly team-building activities and office outings after work. A happy and engaged work team is a successful one. Each of our offices brings an environment filled with positive energy and enthusiasm. We encourage our teams to connect on multiple levels and support each other's personal and professional growth.
What you'll do
As an Associate Water/Wastewater Engineer, you'll have the chance to unleash your potential and take on projects that expand your skills. You will:

• Provide water engineering design support, from water treatment plant upgrades to lead service line replacements.
• Provide wastewater engineering design support, from wastewater treatment plant retrofits to correcting effluent exceedances.
• Apply standard practices and techniques in specific situations, adjust and correlate data, and follow established procedures through detailed steps and processes.
• Draft reports, prepare plans, assist with specifications, and support preliminary equipment selections.
• Work directly with clients to gather data and share information.

What it takes
A bachelor's degree in Civil or Environmental Engineering (or related field). This role is designed for early career engineers - 2 to 4 years of professional experience, including recent grads with relevant internship experience. Ideally, you'll also:

• Be a team player, working across departments to support firm goals.
• Speak and write well.
• Have strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Be eager to learn and grow within a structured mentorship environment.

What you'll get
You'll have plenty of opportunities to grow professionally at our progressive firm, which started in 1973. Our people-first organization is focused on giving our employees the opportunity for growth. In addition to a competitive salary, we also offer:

• Medical/dental/vision
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• 401K Retirement Plan
• Profit-sharing bonus plan
• Paid time off
• An awesome work environment.

Learn more about Fehr Graham's people, culture and projects on our website.
Benefits & Pay Transparency
The base salary range for this role is indicated in the posting. This range reflects the company's good faith estimate of the compensation for this position at the time of posting. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, internal equity, and geographic location.
We may use AI-powered tools to support administrative aspects of recruiting, including sourcing support and note-taking. These tools do not evaluate candidates or influence screening, interview, or hiring decisions. Every candidate is reviewed and assessed by human recruiters and hiring managers.
Fehr Graham provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.