Assistant Vice President - Fire and Life Safety Engineering

Job Description

WSP is currently initiating a search for a Full‑Time Assistant Vice President – Fire & Life Safety for our Orlando, FL office. Other locations considered include Fort Myers, FL and Miami, FL. This search is for a dynamic and experienced Engineering Group Leader and will play a crucial role within our group. This position will be responsible for providing strategic direction, technical expertise, and managerial guidance to ensure the highest quality of fire protection and life safety solutions. The successful candidate will lead the development and execution of fire protection, smoke control and life safety strategies, foster a culture of technical excellence, drive innovation, attract top talent, and uphold our high standard of care, particularly in the context of building and fire code consulting.

Your Impact

• Technical Leadership
  • Lead, guide, and grow a team of fire protection and life safety engineers in the design and implementation of state‑of‑the‑art fire protection and life safety systems.
  • Provide expert technical guidance and oversight to ensure compliance with industry standards, building codes, and regulations.
  • Drive continuous improvement in design methodologies and technological advancements to enhance the quality of fire protection and life safety solutions.
• Team Development
  • Recruit, mentor, and retain top‑tier fire protection and life safety talent.
  • Foster a culture of learning and professional development within the team.
  • Provide regular performance feedback, set goals, and conduct performance evaluations.
• Fire and Life Safety Consulting
  • Lead fire protection and building code consulting efforts, providing expert guidance to clients and project teams to ensure compliance with local, state, and national building codes and regulations.
  • Stay current with evolving building codes and contribute to the development of company‐wide strategies for code compliance.
  • Experience with a wide range of complex projects and occupancy types (high‑rise buildings, large campus arrangements, mixed use developments, healthcare facilities, governmental facilities, etc.).
  • Lead designs for fire protection and life safety systems projects.
• Project Excellence
  • Collaborate with project managers and cross‑functional teams to ensure the highest quality of fire protection and life safety solutions for a diverse portfolio of projects.
  • Review and approve project designs, calculations, and documentation to ensure accuracy and adherence to standards.
  • Maintain a deep understanding of industry best practices, codes, regulations, and emerging trends in fire protection and life safety engineering.
  • Ensure that the fire protection and life safety practice consistently meets and exceeds the established standard of care for all projects.
  • Contribute to the overall business development of the company.

Who You Are

Introduction to required and preferred qualifications.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Fire Protection Engineering, or related field.
• Professional Engineering (PE) license required (or timely ability to acquire); additional certifications (such as CFPS, PMP) are advantageous.
• Proven experience (15+ years) in the industry, the last 5 of which should be as a team leader or staff manager.
• Proven leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to lead, develop and inspire high‑performing engineering teams.
• A passion for innovation, continuous learning, and staying updated with industry advancements.
• A deep understanding of Building and Fire Codes, Standards, and Regulations (IBC, NFPA, UFC, OBO, etc).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with clients, project teams, and regulatory authorities. The ability to convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Ability to strategically assess and implement technological advancements in fire protection, smoke control and life safety engineering.
• Must be flexible to a variety of schedules to meet business needs and able to prioritize responsibilities and quickly adapt to a pressure work environment.
• Occasional travel may be required depending on project‑specific requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Fire Protection Engineering.
• Basic First Aid and Adult CPR training desired.

Benefits

WSP provides a comprehensive suite of benefits focused on a providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career. These benefits include coverage related to medical, dental, vision, disability, and life; retirement savings; paid sick leave; paid vacation (or other personal time); paid parental leave; and paid time off for purposes of bereavement, voting, and/or attendance at naturalization proceedings.

Compensation

Expected Salary (Colorado only): $121,000 - $170,000. WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and/or offer for this position within the state of Colorado, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.

About WSP

WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 15,000 employees in over 300 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper.

WSP provides a flexible and agile workplace model while meeting client needs. Employees are also afforded a comprehensive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, life, and retirement savings focused on providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career.

At WSP, we want to give our employees the challenges they seek to grow their careers and knowledge base. Your daily contributions to your team will be essential in meeting client objectives, goals and challenges. Are you ready to get started?

The selected candidate must be authorized to work in the United States.

Equal Opportunity Employer

WSP USA (and all of its U.S. companies) is an Equal Opportunity Employer Race/Age/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Disability or Protected Veteran Status.

NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES

WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or other staffing services. Unsolicited resumes include any resume or hiring document sent to WSP in the absence of a signed Service Agreement where WSP has expressly requested recruitment/staffing services specific to the position at hand. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers or other business leaders, will become the property of WSP and WSP will have the right to hire that candidate without reservation – no fee or other compensation will be owed or paid to the recruiter, employment agency, or other staffing service.