Staff Chemical Engineer – Water Systems and Chemistry

Role Overview

What You'll Do

Water Chemistry & System Development

• Own the technical roadmap for water sanitization, balancing, and treatment technologies — including chlorine, bromine, mineral systems, UV, ozone, AOP, salt/electrolytic chlorination, and emerging alternatives — across current and future spa platforms
• Design and develop water-treatment subsystems in collaboration with mechanical and controls engineering, including filtration, dosing, circulation, and sensor integration
• Translate water-chemistry science into engineering requirements, design inputs, and acceptance criteria that mechanical, electrical, and firmware teams can build to
• Evaluate and recommend chemistries, media, and treatment technologies, balancing performance, cost, user experience, regulatory compliance, and long-term reliability

Test Protocol Development & Validation

• Build rigorous, repeatable test protocols for water quality, sanitizer efficacy, oxidation performance, scale and corrosion behavior, filter loading, and long-term system durability under realistic bather-load conditions
• Stand up and run lab and field studies, including accelerated aging, microbial challenge testing, sensor accuracy, and chemical compatibility with materials used in spa construction
• Document test results in clear, audit-ready technical reports — protocols, raw data, statistical analysis, conclusions, and recommendations — supporting engineering decisions, regulatory submissions, and marketing claims
• Define and maintain water-quality KPIs and the methods, instrumentation, and tolerances used to measure them

Cross-Functional Engineering & Product Partnership

• Partner with Product Management to shape the water-experience roadmap, defining features, claims, and consumer benefits grounded in defensible chemistry and validated data
• Collaborate with Mechanical, Electrical, Controls, and Firmware engineering on plumbing layouts, sensor placement, dosing hardware, automated control strategies, and user-facing water-management features
• Work with Manufacturing and Supply Chain to ensure chemistries and components transition smoothly from prototype to production, including supplier qualification and incoming-quality criteria
• Support Customer Care, Warranty, and Field Service on water-related issues, providing root-cause analysis, diagnostic guidance, and corrective action

Innovation & Technical Leadership

• Lead innovation projects with outside technology partners, universities, and chemistry suppliers to evaluate next-generation water-treatment platforms, including advanced oxidation, novel sanitizers, smart-sensing, and sustainability initiatives
• Monitor and interpret the external landscape, including competitor approaches, emerging research, regulatory shifts, and consumer trends
• Serve as the in-house subject-matter expert on water chemistry; coach engineers, technicians, and product managers; and represent the company in technical forums and with key customers
• Support intellectual-property strategy by identifying novel approaches, contributing to invention disclosures, and providing technical depth for patent filings

Requirements

What You Bring

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Environmental Engineering, or a closely related discipline from an ABET-accredited program
• 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in water testing, water-system development, and water-chemistry management, ideally within the pool and spa or drinking-water filtration industry
• Demonstrated, hands-on expertise with sanitizer chemistry (chlorine, bromine, mineral, UV, ozone, AOP, electrolytic systems), water balance, scale and corrosion control, and microbial control
• Proven ability to design, write, execute, and document formal test protocols (DOE, accelerated life, efficacy, compatibility) and draw defensible conclusions from data
• Strong working knowledge of analytical methods and instrumentation for water quality (spectrophotometry, titration, ion chromatography, ORP/pH/conductivity probes, microbial assays)
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities with strong attention to detail.

Preferred

• Experience in a private equity-backed, high-growth, or global manufacturing environment
• Direct experience developing or qualifying products to NSF/ANSI 50, 60/61, 53/42/55/58, or APSP/PHTA standards
• Working knowledge of EPA pesticide registration (FIFRA) and familiarity with relevant state and local health-department spa regulations
• Experience with electrolytic chlorine generation, AOP, membrane filtration, or IoT-enabled water-monitoring platforms
• Experience designing or qualifying test cells, flow loops, and lab automation
• Prior experience working with external R&D partners, chemistry suppliers, contract labs, or academic institutions on joint development programs

Tech Stack

• IoT
• SaltStack

Benefits

What We Offer Jacuzzi Group offers a competitive total compensation package. This position includes a base salary commensurate with experience, as well as eligibility for a performance-based bonus program, providing the opportunity to earn additional compensation tied to individual and company results.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options
• 401(k) with company matching program
• Life and disability insurance
• Paid time off and company holidays