Water Treatment Operator
Apply at source. xAI handles the application directly; Houtini doesn't take a fee from candidates or companies. We curate which companies appear; the listings come from yubhub.
What the team is looking for.
We are seeking a skilled and reliable Water Treatment Operator to support the operation and maintenance of xAI's advanced water recycling and treatment systems at our Colossus facilities in Memphis. This role is critical to ensuring reliable, high-quality reclaimed water supply for cooling our AI supercomputing infrastructure while minimizing environmental impact and supporting water conservation goals.
You will monitor, operate, and maintain treatment processes, equipment, and systems in a fast-paced industrial environment. This is a full-time, onsite role based in the Memphis region, working closely with facilities, operations, and environmental teams to maintain uptime and regulatory compliance.
Responsibilities:
- Monitor and operate water treatment processes, including filtration, membrane systems, chemical dosing, disinfection, and reclamation systems to produce high-quality water for cooling.
- Perform routine inspections, adjustments, and maintenance on pumps, valves, gauges, meters, control panels, and related equipment.
- Collect and analyze water samples for key parameters (pH, conductivity, turbidity, chlorine, etc.); record data and adjust treatment accordingly.
- Respond to alarms, troubleshoot operational issues, and perform corrective actions to ensure continuous system performance.
- Maintain accurate logs, records, and reports for operations, maintenance, and regulatory compliance.
- Support preventive maintenance, cleaning, and minor repairs of treatment equipment and facilities.
- Collaborate with teams on system commissioning, expansions, and optimization initiatives.
- Adhere to all safety protocols, environmental regulations, and permit requirements (e.g., TDEC, City of Memphis).
Basic Qualifications:
- High school diploma or equivalent; technical training or certification in water/wastewater treatment preferred.
- 2+ years of experience operating water or wastewater treatment systems in an industrial, municipal, or power/data center setting.
- Knowledge of water chemistry, treatment processes, and basic mechanical/electrical systems.
- Ability to read and interpret technical documents, P&IDs, and control schematics.
- Valid driver’s license and ability to work rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and on-call as needed.
Preferred Skills and Experience:
- Certification as a Tennessee Water or Wastewater Treatment Operator (or ability to obtain).
- Experience with advanced treatment technologies such as reverse osmosis, ceramic membranes, or industrial cooling water systems.
- Familiarity with SCADA systems, automated controls, and data logging.
- Background in data center, power generation, or large-scale cooling water operations.
- Strong safety mindset and experience with LOTO, confined space, and hazardous materials handling.
- water treatment
- filtration
- membrane systems
- chemical dosing
- disinfection
- reclamation systems
- pumps
- valves
- gauges
- meters
- control panels
- SCADA systems
- automated controls
- data logging
- LOTO
- confined space
- hazardous materials handling
- reverse osmosis
- ceramic membranes
- industrial cooling water systems
- data center
- power generation
- large-scale cooling water operations
Other roles you might consider.
Filtered through the same AI-companies allowlist.
Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, API Platform)
Perplexity
Member of Technical Staff (AI Software Engineer, Agents)
Perplexity
Field Reporting Insights Manager
Anthropic
Research Engineer, Code RL (Reinforcement Learning)
Anthropic
Product Manager, Safeguards Rare Harms
Anthropic
Product Manager, GTM Experiences
Anthropic
New to AI work? Start with these.
Six pieces of orientation. Most AI-company job specs assume you've done this kind of hands-on work already. If you haven't, an afternoon with one of these is the cheapest way to close the gap.
Claude Desktop, from zero.
The agentic-AI assistant most of the people you'd be working alongside use every day. Install, configure, first useful prompts.
What MCPs areThe best MCPs for Claude Desktop.
MCP servers extend an AI assistant with tools and data. The catalogue most teams use. Useful technical context for any AI-engineering role.
Code with AIClaude Code, the complete beginners' guide.
The CLI for AI-paired development. Required reading if you're applying for any engineering role that mentions agents, or any role full stop.
Run a local modelHow to set up LM Studio.
Running a model on your own machine teaches you more about how AI products work in three hours than a year of using ChatGPT will.
The hardware realityBeginner's guide to AI hardware.
What the infrastructure under the model actually looks like. Useful context for infrastructure, applied-AI and hardware roles.
Browse the stackMCP catalogue.
Eleven MCP servers Houtini maintains or recommends. Each detail page describes a real piece of working AI infrastructure.