Structural Engineering Designer - Entry Level

We review candidates for the Entry-Level Structural Engineer | Designer position on a rolling basis throughout the year for offices in the United States including, Los Angeles, Oakland, Orange County, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, California; Launch your structural engineering career with meaningful work, trusted mentorship, and a team invested in your growth. You may indicate interest in multiple locations on a single application; Candidates are considered for one location at a time based on ranked preferences and office availability.

You are a curious, collaborative graduating master's student who wants to understand not only how a solution works, but why it is right for the project. You may be especially interested in seismic analysis for our West Coast offices or steel design for our Michigan offices. At Degenkolb, early-career engineers are encouraged to ask thoughtful questions, understand the purpose behind the work, and connect technical decisions to clients, builders, users, and communities. Founded in 1940 and headquartered in San Francisco, Degenkolb Engineers helps make complex, high-stakes projects real. We bring deep technical expertise, disciplined creativity, and a practical understanding of construction to every challenge; building strong relationships early, making complexity easier to navigate, and keeping the success of projects central to our work.

Our teams deliver customized structural solutions across healthcare, education, science and technology, forensics, construction engineering, federal buildings, and other complex markets. Whether a project calls for navigating stringent codes, balancing budget and schedule, solving an unusual technical problem, or creating a landmark structural system, we connect the right people and ideas to develop solutions that serve our clients and communities.

As a Designer, you will contribute to the planning, analysis, and design of structural engineering projects alongside experienced engineers and project managers. Your work will include engineering analyses, contract documents, and project deliverables, with exposure to client collaborations, site visits, and multidisciplinary team delivery of construction projects.

This role provides a strong technical foundation through meaningful project work, mentorship, candid feedback, and purposeful professional development.

Structural Analysis & Design: Perform structural analysis and design tasks under the guidance of licensed engineers. Apply engineering principles and sound engineering judgment to develop safe, effective structural solutions and contract deliverables that meet the governing building codes.

Project Delivery & Quality: Produce accurate, organized, and high-quality work that reflects Degenkolb's standards. Build an understanding of project objectives, scope, budget, and schedule; Build trusted relationships with project teams and clients by participating in meetings, supporting client communications, preparing technical documentation, and communicating clearly and professionally in writing and conversation.

Project Site Experience: Participate in site visits with experienced engineers to observe existing conditions and construction activities, document field observations, and connect design decisions with how structures are built and perform in the real world.

Expand your technical knowledge and professional skills through project experience, mentorship, feedback, purposeful learning, challenging assignments, and participation in professional organizations while progressing toward PE licensure.

Take responsibility for your commitments, seek context when needed, share ideas, and contribute to the collective success of your project teams, office, and firm.

A master's degree in structural engineering is strongly preferred.

Alternative Path: Exceptional candidates with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and one to two years of highly technical structural design experience will be considered if they demonstrate proficiency equivalent to advanced graduate-level work.

Core technical proficiency must be demonstrated through advanced graduate coursework or verified professional project experience in:

Advanced steel design

Advanced reinforced concrete design

Advanced structural analysis

Earthquake engineering (West Coast offices)

Undergraduate GPA of 3.40 or higher; strong academic performance in graduate coursework is expected, where applicable

Unofficial undergraduate and graduate transcripts, as applicable

Passing score on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam

Additional coursework or experience in wood design, prestressed concrete, or finite element analysis, or

Additional coursework or experience in nonlinear analysis for West Coast office locations

Familiarity with engineering software and tools such as AutoCAD, Tekla, RISA, RAM, Revit, Excel, Mathcad, SAP2000, ETABS, Python, or similar platforms

Experience in seismic analysis and the design of buildings (West Coast offices)

Health and life insurance

Employee ownership through a privately held stock plan

Financial support for professional activities and development

Company holidays and a generous paid time off program

Our flexible hybrid work environment brings together experts who are generous with their knowledge, proud of employee ownership, engaged in the profession, and respectful of life outside of work.

You will find focused professional development within a supportive and transparent team, variety in project assignments, and opportunities to participate in committees and grow into leadership. We do not discriminate in employment matters on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law.