Senior Group Expert – Sludge (F/M/X) - Lisbon (Portugal)

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 the past few years, the SAUR Group aims to accelerate its development by strengthening its Group Technical Department.

As the cornerstone of our operational excellence and the rollout of our current and future solutions, the Group Technical Department plays a key 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 Group Sludge Expert.

As part of the Group Technical Department, you will help advance the practices, skills, and technical standards that support the SAUR Group’s growth and transformation goals. In this role, you will lead strategic expertise related to sludge treatment.

Your area of expertise covers sludge chemistry, conditioning processes, sludge dewatering and drying systems, as well as recovery processes, including anaerobic digestion and reuse.

Working closely with operational teams, subject matter experts, and innovation projects, you serve as a key point of reference and validation within the Group. Through your expertise and ability to anticipate future challenges, you help teams develop their skills, inform strategic technical decisions, and contribute to building solutions that will address the environmental, health, and regulatory challenges facing different countries.

Your Group-level role will involve leading the community of experts in our business units who specialize in your field—both to support them and to review and/or approve their decisions.

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

Your main responsibilities are divided between these two areas as follows:

Develop and leverage the Group’s technical expertise

• Define the Group’s strategic and technical direction, particularly in the area of innovative solutions;
• Lead communities of experts in their respective fields;
• Organize and maintain the Group’s technical knowledge base;
• Identify and develop synergies among the Group’s various entities to accelerate the sharing of best practices;
• Consolidate, harmonize, validate, and disseminate the Group’s technical knowledge;
• Support business unit experts in developing the business;
• Facilitate employee skills development and training;
• Ensure the technical consistency of marketing and sales offerings;
• Initiate and lead innovation programs in collaboration with R\&D teams and business units.

Strengthen the Group’s risk management

• Approve the Group’s complex or strategic proposals;
• Provide technical support for crisis management at the Group level;
• Identify, formalize, and manage relationships with external partners on behalf of the Group and the business units;
• Support the execution of major contracts or those with high technical complexity;
• Help ensure a smooth start-up phase for new contracts;
• Monitor technological, regulatory, and competitive developments;
• Provide expertise to the Procurement department in the evaluation and selection of strategic suppliers;
• Represent the Group and coordinate its participation in professional and technical bodies and industry associations.

YOUR PROFILE

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

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 skills

Sludge treatment processes:

• Chemical conditioning of sludge, thickening. Thermal drying,
• Mechanical dewatering of sludge (drainage table, screw press, belt press, filter press, multi-disc press, centrifugation).

Sludge recovery processes:

• Anaerobic sludge digestion, aerobic sludge digestion, combined heat and power, methanation
• Resource recovery processes, HTC, pyrogasification
• Disposal options
• Sludge spreading, landfill, composting, incineration
• Management of regulatory and financial aspects.
• General knowledge of water treatment processes.

Required skills

• Recognised technical leadership and team spirit
• Rigorous approach and attention to detail
• Project management
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills
• Strong interpersonal, written and oral communication skills
• Ability to listen and persuade
• Ability to work across departments
• Results-oriented
• Teaching and knowledge-sharing skills
• Ability to anticipate issues
• Sense of responsibility and ability to mediate and make decisions
• Curiosity

Languages:

• Fluency in English is essential (full writing ability),
• 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.