Engineering Director

Job Description

Job Description

WRA is seeking an Engineering Director to lead the Engineering Group within our interdisciplinary Riverscapes and Shorelines Team. The desired candidate will collaborate and engage both internally and externally to lead, support, and deliver a diverse range of design projects focused primarily on ecological restoration, with the capability to support a variety of environmental projects across our firm.

You will join our team of restoration design professionals and scientists, including engineers, landscape architects, fluvial geomorphologists, hydrologists, and ecologists. Our projects span a variety of ecosystems across California including San Francisco Bay tidal marshes and living shorelines, Sierra Nevada meadow restoration, Northern California Coast floodplain and salmonid restoration, California Central Coast estuary restoration, and Bay Area and Southern California urban stream rehabilitation. Additionally, our team is actively growing and pursuing restoration work in Oregon. We are passionate about restoring riverine and coastal systems that support healthy and resilient natural and human communities and are invested in the entire restoration process from initial site selection, design and construction to performance monitoring and adaptive management. We also collaborate with our community resilience team to address challenges such as sea-level rise, wildfire resiliency planning, and post-fire recovery. 

WRA has a diverse portfolio of projects and clients, including decades-long private entities, public agencies, and non-profit organizations. In addition to our technical expertise, we help clients meet their goals and visions by providing grant fund cultivation, preparing financial models, partnering with investors, and engaging stakeholders.

We envision you working in-person at one of our San Francisco Bay Area offices or in a hybrid arrangement or remote location in this region of California. Other locations may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Regardless of your work arrangement, in-person, remote, or hybrid, you will be excited to collaborate with staff in many technical disciplines across the company. 

At WRA, you will have 4 major areas of impact: 

1. Technical Skills:

• Provide technical expertise and strategic input to the development and implementation of complex restoration projects 

• Oversee the production of conceptual plans, construction plan sets, technical specifications, and cost estimates for use in all design phases 

• Provide construction support and observation services 

2. Leadership:

• Utilize experience to provide technical oversight of restoration conceptual plans, construction drawings, specifications, cost estimates, and relevant hydrologic and hydraulics analyses 

• Supervise, manage, direct and provide oversight of tasks and responsibilities for engineering staff and/or other technical support staff. Mentor and train engineering staff as needed 

• Oversee project managers and design staff to ensure work quality and that projects meet budgets and deadlines 

• Foster collaboration within an interdisciplinary team 

• Assist with strategic planning for the Riverscapes and Shorelines Team 

3. Management:

• Develop project work plans and scopes of work 

• Provide project oversight and schedule monitoring 

• Manage project budgets and invoicing 

• Collaborate with our VP of Finance, CEO, and Director of Project Delivery to ensure staff resources are deployed in a productive and profitable manner and assess performance metrics across a diverse project portfolio 

4. Business Development:

• Develop regional recognition through networking and events, such as attending and presenting at conferences 

• Advise clients on project issues to build business 

• Collaborate with other senior staff to lead proposal efforts with existing and new clients 

• Participate in various business development events and presenting at conferences 

• Partner across WRA teams and market segments to assist on multi-disciplinary project pursuits 

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• To be currently licensed as a Professional Civil Engineer in the state of California

• Minimum of 15 years of applicable professional experience 

• A Bachelor’s degree in civil or environmental engineering, or related field with an emphasis on water resources from an accredited university. A graduate degree in engineering or physical sciences is preferred

• Strong written and verbal communication abilities

• A passion for ecological restoration

• Familiarity with California ecosystems and regulatory environment 

• Experience developing and managing a portfolio of work 

• A valid driver’s license and reliable transportation (while WRA has fleet vehicles that can be reserved for field use, during busy field seasons a truck may not be available) 

Additional desired qualifications include:

• Experience with FEMA Floodplain Development (CLOMR/LOMR) permitting; Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) certification a plus 

• Advanced training in river mechanics and restoration

• General understanding of geomorphology, including coastal and riverine sediment dynamics 

WRA has an established internal leveling system for our staff that maps salary bands that have been informed by market data. Our leveling system is dependent on years of relevant industry experience, education, and the level of responsibility and autonomy at which you’re expected to operate. 

The salary range for this position is $167,000-$193,500.

Who are we? 

WRA’s an employee-owned environmental consultancy. We are a tenacious team of planners, engineers, and scientists, and we aim to leave the lands we love better than we found them.

Our clients and partners hire us because we’re skilled at navigating through challenging projects involving wildlands, parks, community spaces, and infrastructure. We bring over four decades of expertise, long-standing relationships, and connections to our local communities to make sure that projects are pursued in responsible ways where both people and the environment thrive.

As an organization, we believe that independence and interdependence are not mutually exclusive. We invest in systems, processes, and employee programs to support our staff’s collective engagement and success. At the same time, we encourage our employees to operate with an ownership mindset, taking responsibility for outcomes and being true to our commitments.

WRA’s company vision is to cultivate a sustainable future where people and the environment thrive, and that effort starts first with our staff. We are committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment, and we have developed flexible policies, internal practices, and are investing in programs that prioritize learning and sustainability. We aim to create conditions that allow employees to prioritize their families, lead healthy and balanced lives, and to bring their authentic selves to work every day. We believe that by creating an exceptional workplace, our employees will be able to do their best work and be able to meaningfully contribute to the sustainability of the environment and the communities in which we live. 

WRA is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating a diverse environment. We recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law. 

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.