Deputy Director of Utilities - Water Resources Division chez City of Santa Maria, CA

About the Department

This recruitment will remain open until filled. 

To be considered in the first application review, apply by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 17, 2025. 

The City of Santa Maria is seeking an accomplished and visionary professional for the position of Deputy Director of Utilities - Water Resources Division (Organizational/Enterprise Leader - Non-Safety classification). This dynamic leader will oversee the City’s water and wastewater systems, ensuring reliable services, long-term sustainability, and regulatory compliance. The Deputy Director will lead a diverse team of nearly 60 staff members, providing direct oversight to the operations, regulatory compliance, and engineering and technology teams. This role is crucial for ensuring seamless continuity of daily operations and critical services, while strategically advancing the organization's Capital Improvement Program. 

The Utilities Department serves the growing City of Santa Maria on the beautiful Central Coast. With a population of approximately 111,000, the department delivers reliable water, sewer, refuse collection, and disposal services to the community. Its mission is to provide efficient, innovative utility services, focusing on exceptional customer service and the sustainable use of public resources for the community's long-term benefit.

The Water Resources Division operates an annual revenue of approximately $65-Million. The Division ensures the City’s water and wastewater systems maintain reliability, sustainability, and compliance with all regulations. In addition, the Division actively manages a comprehensive Capital Improvement Program. This program is essential for planning and delivering infrastructure projects that ensure the City’s water and wastewater systems can meet current demands and are prepared for future growth. 

• Water System: The City's extensive water distribution network reliably serves approximately 23,000 customer accounts. This complex system is built upon 340 miles of mains, managed by 10,000 valves for precise flow control, and includes 3,600 fire hydrants. The City's water supply is composed of imported State Water and local groundwater wells, which are supported by six active wells, three reservoirs with 19 million gallons of storage, and a blending/disinfection facility. The system can meet peak demands exceeding 20 million gallons per day and provide fire protection flows. The City also supplies water to the nearby unincorporated community of Nipomo, a service required by the Santa Maria Groundwater Litigation settlement. By providing this water, this eases demand on the groundwater basin and promotes aquifer health for the future.

• Wastewater System: The City operates and maintains a Grade 4 wastewater treatment plant and sewer collections (sanitary and storm sewer) system that serves the community’s residential, commercial, and industrial needs. The plant treats more than 7.3 million gallons of wastewater daily and operates a pretreatment program to ensure reliable operations and compliance with regulatory requirements.

The Deputy Director of Utilities - Water Resources Division manages the planning, design, construction, operation, and compliance of the City’s water and wastewater facilities. This role requires both strategic vision and technical expertise to ensure sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective service delivery.

The Deputy Director will oversee division heads, regulatory compliance managers, and technology and engineering teams who manage the daily operations of water distribution and production, sewer collections (sanitary sewer and storm sewer), and wastewater treatment. The Deputy Director has autonomy to make independent, professional decisions for the Water Resources Division and reports directly to the Director of Utilities.

Currently, the Water Resources Division is developing long-term master plans for water and wastewater and implementing major improvements to the wastewater treatment plant. The Deputy Director will lead these initiatives while also advancing other capital projects related to water and sewer infrastructure.

Key leadership responsibilities for the Deputy Director include:

• Water Responsibilities: Overseeing drinking water supply from State Water and groundwater wells; managing reservoirs and the blending/disinfection facility; ensuring reliable distribution system operations; maintaining system resiliency for fire protection; and supporting regional partnerships such as the water delivery agreements with Nipomo Community Services District, Golden State Water, and the Central Coast Water Authority.

• Wastewater Responsibilities: Directing the operation of the wastewater treatment plant and sanitary sewer and storm sewer collections system; ensuring compliance with state and federal discharge permits, the City’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit; guiding the pretreatment program; planning system upgrades to support future growth; and leading the Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade project.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

This position is ideal for a driven individual who is passionate about sustainable resource management and thrives in a leadership role that encompasses balancing technical expertise with strategic vision.

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned water resources professional with:

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, civil engineering, public administration, or a related field.
• Advanced knowledge and experience in both water and wastewater management, including state and federal regulatory compliance.
• Proven leadership and staff management skills, with the ability to inspire and guide teams to achieve operational excellence.
• Strong communication abilities, particularly in explaining complex technical projects and building support among stakeholders.
• Experience with budgeting, forecasting, and rate-setting (Prop 218 experience is a plus).
• A track record of developing strategic partnerships and fostering regional cooperation through teamwork, collaboration, and action-driven leadership.

1. Online application
2. Cover letter that highlights your relevant experience and explains your interest in this position. 
3. Resume
4. Organizational chart from your most recent agency. The chart should reflect:
   • The position titles and number of your direct reports
   •  Functional program areas you oversaw

Position Duties

These duties are a representative example; position assignments may vary depending on the business needs of the department and nature of the assignment and the following are examples of duties:

• Plans, organizes, manages, leads, and evaluates the overall operations of the department or major programs or projects. Has authority over department or program staff and/or leads multiple programs and/or divisions within a department or city-wide.
• Develops, implements, and evaluates departmental standards, policies, goals, and outcomes.
• Makes broad policy decisions for a department, work that is performed, and delivery of customer services.
• Prioritizes and allocates resources within the department or city-wide; oversees the development of the department or city budget; and balances fiscal priorities among divisions, projects, and programs.
• Establishes department or city-wide performance measurements and assumes accountability for achieving department results.
• Leads multi-disciplinary teams with team membership from multiple departments, labor organizations, the community, and/or other governmental agencies.
• Coordinates resources and decision making with other departments and/or City Manager’s office.
• Exercises a high level of independent action and decision making over department or city-wide operations.

Strategic Leader 

Incumbents should have a solid foundation of Individual Contributor, Front Line Supervisor, and Middle Manager core competencies identified by the organization. Strategic Leader Competencies:

• Mission Focus- understand and support the organization's mission, believe in it, value it, and display commitment.
• Visioning- imaginative, able to create a vision of the future, communicate it clearly and enthusiastically to others.
• Strategic Thinking- act with the future in mind, understand the factors influencing strategy, and consider future impact when weighing decisions.
• Business Thinking- see the organization as integrated and interlocking; understand the impacts of changes.
• Diplomacy- work within the organization's power network; recognize personal agendas, balance internal politics, and work well with elected officials.
• Global Mindset- see their city role in a larger context within the community, region, and beyond; value diversity and other points of view, identify partnership opportunities, and exhibit coalition-building skills.
• Risk Taking- willingness to take calculated chances to achieve goals; gracefully accept failure, learn, & move forward.
• Leadership Identification- identify with leaders and enjoy positions of responsibility and authority.
• Presentation Skills- comfortable and confident in front of an audience; effectively deliver messages and engage with the public and stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

1. Experience and/or education directly related to the level of leadership and the scope of organizational authority/responsibility required by the position; and,
2. Mastery of the core competencies listed below and the ability to immediately demonstrate these competencies, consistent with the position's level in the leadership series and the specific work assignment.

Other Qualifications

The completed electronic application packet will include the online application and electronic attachment of a resume, cover letter, and organization chart.  

Prior to an offer of employment, the selected candidate may undergo a background check to the satisfaction of the City.

If you are experiencing any technical (computer related) difficulties or need help with attaching documents to your application, please call the NEOGOV help line for assistance at 1-855-524-5627.