Geotechnical Professional Staff Geologist/Staff Engineer-Tacoma

Job Description

Job Description

Certerra is a growing national provider of testing, inspection, and certification services that support innovation in new product development, quality assurance, for project delivery, and engineered solutions for asset management. We are passionate about contributing to the sustainable development of the communities we serve. We are a national firm with a global reach serving national and international clients from 30+ offices located in 10 states and are ranked on ENR’s Top 500 list alongside the nation’s top firms. With a 60-year history, Certerra has a passion for high-end services, constant innovation, and investment in the development of world-class laboratory facilities, and interactive management technologies. Each member of our staff is committed to service, innovation, and the success of our clients.

Certerra is a nationally recognized provider of engineering, testing, inspection, and certification services supporting innovation, quality assurance, and resilient infrastructure. With over 1,800 professionals nationwide, we combine technical expertise with practical field knowledge to ensure the communities we serve are built to last.

Help Build Our South Puget Sound Geotechnical Team

Certerra is growing our Tacoma office and laboratory, strategically located to serve South Puget Sound and some of the region's largest and most technically challenging infrastructure, military, federal, transportation, and civil construction projects.

We're looking for an experienced geotechnical professional – geologist, engineering geologist, geological engineer, geotechnical engineer, or similarly qualified professional – to become a key member of this growing team.

Washington LG or PE licensure is highly desirable, but we also encourage highly qualified candidates who are eligible for or actively progressing toward professional licensure to apply.

Our South Puget Sound team supports a diverse and growing portfolio of work, including military and federal projects at Naval Base Kitsap and other regional installations, Sound Transit and transportation programs, major civil infrastructure, dams and water resources, commercial development, and other complex construction throughout Western Washington.

This is a hands-on technical role spanning both design-phase geotechnical investigations and construction-phase support, with a strong emphasis on evaluating and documenting actual soil and rock conditions encountered during construction.

We're looking for someone with approximately five or more years of relevant experience who is comfortable moving between the field and office, exercising professional judgment, working directly with construction teams, and turning field observations into clear technical documentation and recommendations.

Environmental experience is also highly desirable and provides an opportunity to help expand our capabilities in the South Puget Sound market.

Duties:

The successful candidate will work across geotechnical design, field investigation, and construction, with a significant portion of the role focused on construction-phase geotechnical services.

Typical responsibilities may include :

• Provide geotechnical and engineering geology support during major civil, military, federal, transportation, and infrastructure construction
• Observe, evaluate, and document soil and rock conditions encountered during excavation and construction
• Confirm field conditions relative to design assumptions, plans, specifications, and geotechnical recommendations
• Perform detailed soil and rock logging, mapping, and conditions documentation
• Observe and document foundation excavations, bearing conditions, slopes, excavations, and other geotechnically significant construction activities
• Observe and document rock and soil anchor systems, including drilling and installation
• Document drilling conditions, materials encountered, depths, groundwater, refusals, and other relevant subsurface conditions
• Identify and communicate differing or unexpected field conditions to engineers, contractors, owners, and project teams
• Support geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring activities, including settlement, groundwater, vibration, and other monitoring programs
• Plan and perform subsurface investigations, including drilling, test pits, sampling, and field exploration
• Review field and laboratory data and develop or support geotechnical recommendations
• Support foundation, earthwork, site development, and geologic hazard evaluations
• Prepare field memoranda, technical reports, recommendations, proposals, and other project documentation
• Provide technical direction and mentoring to geotechnical technicians and junior field personnel
• Support groundwater and environmental investigations based on experience
• Assist with project management, client coordination, budgets, schedules, and technical deliverables

This combination of design, construction, environmental, and monitoring work reflects the broader geotechnical professional role identified for Certerra Northwest, including subsurface investigations, geologic hazard assessments, foundation recommendations, earthwork evaluations, construction support, instrumentation and monitoring, groundwater evaluations, and environmental investigations.

Education/Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Geology, Engineering Geology, Geological Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, or a related field
• Approximately five or more years of relevant professional experience
• Washington Licensed Geologist (LG) or Professional Engineer (PE) preferred
• Demonstrated experience with both design-phase geotechnical investigations and construction-phase geotechnical support
• Strong soil and rock identification, logging, evaluation, and documentation skills
• Experience evaluating actual field conditions and communicating technically significant findings to project teams
• Experience with excavations, foundations, earthwork, drilling, anchors, or other heavy civil construction activities
• Ability to interpret geotechnical reports, construction plans, specifications, and other technical documents
• Strong technical writing and communication skills
• Ability to exercise sound professional judgment in active construction environments
• Ability to communicate effectively with engineers, contractors, owners, technicians, and other project stakeholders