Job Description

Who are we? Discover Saur!

Saur, a specialist in water and essential services, supports local authorities and industrial clients in the sustainable management of water resources.

With over 12,000 employees, 20 million customers served and a presence in more than 20 countries, the Group works every day towards a common goal:

💧 to restore water to the value it deserves.

YOUR DAY-TO-DAY WORK AT SAUR

Building on its sustained growth over recent years, the SAUR Group aims to accelerate its development by strengthening its Group Technical Department.

As the key driver of our operational excellence and the roll-out of our current and future solutions, the Group Technical Department plays a major role in supporting our Business Units both in France and internationally, across both municipal and industrial sectors.

With this in mind, we are seeking our Senior Industrial Water Group Expert.

Within the Group’s Technical Department, you will help to develop the practices, skills and technical standards that underpin the SAUR Group’s growth and transformation ambitions. In this role, you will lead strategic expertise relating to industrial water and the performance of treatment processes.

Your area of responsibility covers the various stages of the processes involved in the production of process water, wastewater treatment and the management of associated emissions, within an industrial context.

Working closely with operational teams, subject matter experts and innovation projects, you act as a point of reference and validation within the Group. Through your expertise and your ability to anticipate future challenges, you support the professional development of teams, inform strategic technical decisions and help to develop solutions that will address the environmental, health and regulatory challenges faced by different countries.

In this Group-level role, you will be responsible for leading the community of experts within our business units specialising in your field, both to support them and to mediate and/or approve their decisions.

Taking on this role means playing an active part in the transformation of a major player in the water sector, committed to innovation, sustainable performance and operational excellence. You will have the unique opportunity to make an impact across the Group by helping to modernise our business lines and develop the services that will shape the sustainable management of water in the future.

The main activities are divided between these two areas of responsibility as follows:

• Developing and promoting the Group’s technical expertise
• Defining the Group’s strategic and technical direction, particularly in the field of innovative solutions;
• Leading communities of experts in its field;
• Structuring and maintaining the Group’s technical knowledge base;
• Identifying and developing synergies between the Group’s various entities to accelerate the sharing of best practic consolidating, harmonising, validating and disseminating the Group’s technical knowledge;
• Supporting business unit experts in developing the business;
• Supporting staff skills development and training;
• Ensuring the technical consistency of marketing and sales proposals;
• Initiate and lead innovation programmes in collaboration with R&D teams and business units.

Strengthen the Group’s risk management

• Validate the Group’s complex or strategic proposals;
• Provide technical support for crisis management at Group level;
• Identify, formalise and manage relationships with external partners on behalf of the Group and the business units;
• Support the delivery of major contracts or those involving high technical complexity;
• Help to ensure the smooth start-up phases of new contracts;
• Monitor technological, regulatory and competitive developments;
• Apporter son expertise aux Achats dans l'évaluation et la sélection des fournisseurs stratégiques ;

Représenter le Groupe et coordonner sa participation aux instances professionnelles, techniques et associations sectorielles

YOUR PROFILE

Engineer or PhD in Process Engineering or Chemical Engineering, specialising in Water Treatment or the Environment.

At least 15 years’ experience (20 years preferred) in a design consultancy specialising in water treatment and/or with expertise in operations, construction or R&D.

Technical expertise

Treatment processes

• Sand filtration, multi-bed filtration, activated carbon filtration, membrane filtration (microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis), ion exchange filtration, ceramic membrane filtration
• UV disinfection, chlorination, ozone disinfection
• Water softening, ion-exchange demineralisation, mixed-bed polishing, electrodialysis (EDI)
• Pre-treatment, screening, grease treatment, DAF
• Activated sludge processes (high-load and conventional)
• Moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), membrane bioreactor (MBR), membrane aerated bioreactor (MABR)
• Sequencing batch reactor (SBR), Anammox
• Metal treatment

Hydraulics

• Calculation of head losses, sizing of pumping stations, mixing systems (static and dynamic mixers) and backwash networks

Emissions management

• Chemical/biological scrubbing, carbon adsorption
• H₂S and N₂O management

Biological processes

• Nitrification, denitrification, dephosphatisation, anaerobic digestion, biofilm formation, disinfection kinetics, biodegradability

Physico-chemical processes

• Coagulation/flocculation, chlorination/ozonation, adsorption and membrane processes.
• Water quality, compliance and regulatory developments (DERU2, continuous monitoring)
• Understanding of clients and industrial contexts.

Skills in the areas of sensors (Redox, O₂, pH, conductivity, NH₄, NO₃, COD, etc.) and process modelling (SUMO, LPWIN, BioWin) would be an advantage.

Required skills

• Proven technical leadership and a team-oriented approach
• Rigorous approach and attention to detail
• Project management
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to listen and persuade
• Ability to work across departments
• Results-oriented
• Ability to teach and share knowledge
• Proactive approach
• Sense of responsibility and ability to mediate and make decisions
• Curiosity

Languages:

• Fluent English essential (full writing proficiency),
• Knowledge of another language is desirable.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Travel within France and internationally is to be expected.

YOUR SALARY AND BENEFITS AT SAUR

• You will join the Saur Group without any probationary period.
• Your fixed remuneration will consist of a basic salary of between 50,000 euros and 60,000 euros depending on your profile, paid over 14 months
• The target bonus is 10% acording to company policy, individual objectives, pro-rata to the accrual etc
• You will, of course, be entitled to 22 days’ paid annual leave

Joining Saur means joining a Group that will offer you excellent and attractive career development opportunities. The #missionwater is waiting for you!

OUR COMMITMENT

As a committed employer, the Saur Group promotes diversity and considers all applications on the basis of equal merit.

Saur also places great importance on ethics, putting integrity and transparency at the heart of its activities. Join us to help create a working environment where ethical principles guide every decision and action.