The City of Austin has announced the top three candidates for the next Austin Water Director and will host a meet and greet event on Thursday, December 15, from 6 pm – 7:30 at the City of Austin Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive.

Finalists for the position are:

• Shay Ralls Roalson
• Brian Steglitz
• Michael Brinkmann

Austin Water provides water, wastewater, reclaimed water, conservation, and environmental protection services to over one million residential customers spanning more than 540 square miles of service area. Austin Water is dedicated to delivering safe, reliable, high-quality water and wastewater services that exceed federal and state standards at affordable rates.

The Austin Water Director leads a large, complex organization including water and wastewater servicesand treatment, reclaimed water services, field operations and maintenance, engineering, water resource planning and analysis, customer experience, financial services, and business services for Austin Water. This executive level position reports to the City Manager’s Office.

The position opened October 3^rd, 2022 and applications were submitted to the consulting firm Affion Public which is managing the recruitment process. Following screening and review by City leadership, the candidate pool was narrowed to three finalists.

The next Austin Water Director is expected to be appointed in the coming weeks.

Candidate Bios

Shay Ralls Roalson - Starting as Assistant Director of Austin Water in April 2020, Roalson took responsibility for engineering services. Roalson’s team includes more than 80 staff in four divisions: Facility Engineering, SCADA Engineering and Operations Support, Pipeline Engineering and Operations Support, and Pipeline CIP Project Delivery. Prior to joining Austin Water, Roalson was the CTX Water Business Group Manager at HDR Engineering, Inc, where she consulted with utilities such as Austin Water, City of Lago Vista, San Antonio Water System, and Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. Roalson received her master’s degree from the University of Texas and has her professional engineering license.

Brian Steglitz - Appointed as the Interim Public Services Area Administrator for the Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant in January 2022, Steglitz oversees engineering, systems planning, solid waste, recycling, storm water management, wastewater treatment/collection, and drinking water treatment and delivery. Prior to being in this role, Steglitz was the Water Treatment Services Unit Manager from October 2014 to January 2022 and Senior Utilities Engineer from September 1997 to October 2014. Steglitz is a professional engineer and received his master’s degree from Stanford University.

Michael Brinkmann - Brinkmann is the current Vice President of Distribution & Collection Operations for San Antonio Water System, where he oversees the operation and maintenance of water utility and wastewater assets. Prior to this role, he was the Vice President of Operations Services from October 2005 to May 2013. Before becoming an executive, he started at San Antonio Water System in 1994 and promoted through the ranks of engineering, program management, and project management. Brinkmann received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio.