Civil Engineering - Land Development Market Leader

Job Description

Job Description

Are you an established Civil Engineering land development professional looking to make a difference in the community around you? Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit and enjoy empowering early-career professionals? 

As a leader, you will contribute to setting the pace for ESP’s growth in the Raleigh market and beyond! You will lead decisions regarding strategy, market penetration, team growth/development, and continuous improvement.

We are excited to see how your leadership skills, experience, interests, and established local/regional connections will expand ESP’s presence in Raleigh and surrounding markets.

Reporting to the Engineering Director, the successful candidate will have an outgoing, can-do attitude to grow and develop staff while working closely with clients, engineers, and sub-consultants to ensure their needs are met. This will include leading business planning, marketing, meeting financial performance goals, and fulfillment of the firm’s strategy in Raleigh, as well as supporting the Community Infrastructure Business Unit from an overall perspective. 

ESP is proud to offer more than a place to build your career, we are a team.  As our Market Lead for Raleigh, you will spearhead our growth from a brand-new, modern urban office space ideally located near Oberlin Village and NC State. Built on a foundation of trust and performance, we empower our people through flexible work schedules and a fluid work environment that respects your personal time. Our multidisciplinary environment brings together professionals across engineering, surveying, planning, environmental, geosciences, SUE, and CEI, with plenty of opportunities to connect beyond the workday. From team outings and volunteer events to company-wide step challenges, summer celebrations, and friendly competitions, there’s always an opportunity to get involved, get to know your coworkers, and have a little fun along the way.

Responsibilities:

• Business development will be an important focus for this position – the manager will be responsible for involvement within the community to facilitate growth of the firm and coordination with corporate business development manager.
• Leadership of dedicated engineering team, including mentoring of staff and strategic growth of the department
• Focus on Client satisfaction through excellent communication and designs that meet budget and time goals.
• Project proposals, contract management, project scheduling, budgets, and monthly invoicing.
• Excellent interpersonal, leadership and communication skills that allow you to effectively and professionally interact with staff, clients, authorities having jurisdiction and the public.
• Management of design development, preparation and/or administration of the contract documents, opinions of probable construction costs, agency correspondence, Client relations, staff supervision. Projects include but are not limited to commercial, residential, and multi-family developments, industrial, K-12 schools, mixed-use type projects, rezoning due diligence, public facilities, and other site development or utility projects. 
• Quality Control - oversight and technical review of construction document preparation and design including site layouts, grading plans, utility plans, storm water plans, roadway plans, details, and other aspects related to project development.
• Coordination of permitting submittals and coordination with authorities having jurisdiction

Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE) or related engineering degree.
• Professional Engineer (PE) Registration in North Carolina 
• 15+ years of professional engineering design and project management experience 
• Strong business development skills 
• Strong client relationships and ability to grow client base
• Excellent financial management skills 
• Demonstrated experience working in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment with tight deadlines and ability to adjust to project priorities and demands of multiple clients. 
• A strong background in the land development industry, site planning, grading design and construction document preparation 
• Ability to coordinate tasks and projects with other ESP Group Managers, engineers, surveyors, and planners. 
• Prior experience mentoring project managers and engineers-in-training / design staff. 
• AutoCAD Civil 3D and design software experience is preferred– this position must understand the design software, but the position is not to perform AutoCAD design. 
• Experience working with review agency codes, standards, and technical specifications. 
• Experience with a formalized QA/QC program. 
• Strong collaborator and experience presenting in front of boards, commissions or councils is a plus.
• Candidate must be able to pass a drug screen, background check, and have a satisfactory driving record in accordance with the company’s driving (MVR) policy.

Corporate Information:

ESP is a multi-discipline engineering design and consulting firm providing our clients with civil engineering, surveying, planning/landscape architecture, geosciences, environmental, subsurface utility engineering, and construction engineering inspection.

Through years of dedicated service to our clients, ESP has received a designation of 186 on the 2026 ENR Top 500 Design Firm rankings. For the firm's primary territory, the ENR Texas & Southeast Top Design Firms, ESP received a 2026 ranking of 53.

ESP offers an excellent employee benefits package including:

• Competitive compensation with yearly performance reviews and discretionary annual bonuses
• 401(k) (Traditional & Roth plans) with a guaranteed employer match of 100% up to the first 3% and 50% on the next 2% (eligibility after 60 days)
• PTO (Paid Time Off) & 10 Paid Holidays
• VTO (Volunteer Time Off) of 4 hours each year (prorated during first year based on hire date)
• Tiered Health, Vision & Dental Insurance Options (eligibility after 30 days)
• Behavioral Medicine through Teladoc
• Short-Term Disability Insurance (Employer paid)
• Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Pet Insurance
• Education Reimbursement Opportunities
• Flexible and Dependent Benefits Plan
• Referral Bonuses