Fehr Graham, a Trilon Group company, is hiring a Director of Civil Engineering to lead our East region engineering practice. You will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight, driving innovation in sustainable and active transportation design. Your role is pivotal in fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence, ensuring projects deliver positive community impact while meeting financial and operational standards.
What You'll Do
- Develop and execute long-term strategic plans for the East region engineering practice.
- Ensure the East Region meets or exceeds annual and quarterly financial targets.
- Lead the regional engineering organization through periods of growth and change.
- Champion innovation in active transportation engineering practices and emerging technologies.
- Drive a culture of fiscal and business acumen for continuous operational improvement.
- Play an active role in the budgeting process, prioritizing trade-offs to grow revenue and earnings.
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of engineering professionals across multiple office locations.
- Supervise and evaluate East Region staff, creating performance expectations and career pathways.
- Build and maintain a high-performance culture focused on professional growth and technical excellence.
- Recruit, hire, and retain top engineering talent to support regional growth objectives.
- Foster cross-disciplinary collaboration across engineering, planning, and landscape architecture.
- Own key performance areas including safety, client engagement, staff development, and retention.
- Maintain staff utilization at or above predetermined goals with sustainable workload management.
- Assist regional business development directors in identifying new market opportunities and client relationships.
- Lead proposal development and client presentations for major regional projects.
- Maintain and expand relationships with key public sector clients.
- Ensure compliance with proposal and cost estimation protocols.
- Oversee project delivery across the region, ensuring quality, schedule, and budget performance.
- Oversee financial and operational performance of projects within the East Region.
- Demonstrate deep understanding of financial metrics and KPIs.
- Implement best practices and process improvements to enhance delivery efficiency and client satisfaction.
- Provide strategic oversight of project portfolios from natural surface trails to complex multimodal networks.
- Ensure compliance with professional standards, regulations, and company quality assurance protocols.
- Apply disciplined approach to managing non-billable labor and overhead costs.
What We're Looking For
- 15+ years of progressive experience as a Transportation Engineer in a consulting environment or public entity.
- 8+ years in project management roles with demonstrated P&L responsibility.
- 5+ years in leadership positions managing engineering teams and business operations.
- Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering.
- Professional Engineering (P.E.) license required.
- Proven track record of business development success and client relationship management.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, inspire, and develop high-performing teams.
- Strong strategic thinking and business acumen with experience in organizational planning and execution.
- Financial acumen with ability to analyze business performance and articulate relevant KPIs and metrics.
- Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
- Experience managing regional operations, including budget oversight, resource allocation, and performance metrics.
- Proven ability to drive cultural change and organizational development initiatives.
- Budget prioritization skills with experience evaluating trade-offs to optimize revenue and earnings.
- Strong command of numbers and finance, with a bias toward data-driven decision making.
- Critical thinking abilities with purposeful judgment and reasoned consideration of evidence.
- Attention to detail with focus on monitoring KPIs and daily execution.
- Experience in active, non-motorized transportation planning and design.
- Comprehensive understanding of project delivery from conceptual design through construction administration.
- Experience with Plans, Specifications and Estimates packages for complex roadway and transportation projects.
- Proficiency in project management principles, methods, and techniques for large-scale, multi-disciplinary projects.
- Working knowledge of MS Excel, Word, MS Project, AutoCAD / Civil 3D or MicroStation / OpenRoads, and enterprise project management tools.
- Ability and willingness to travel regionally as needed.
- Strong professional ethics, accountability, and decision-making capabilities.
- Experience managing competing priorities and multiple simultaneous projects within budget and schedule constraints.
- Operational discipline with focus on ensuring compliance with project protocols and standards.
Nice to Have
- Master's degree in Civil Engineering, Business Administration, or related field.
- Active leadership roles in industry-relevant professional associations and committees.
- Experience leading large, complex transportation engineering projects.
- Experience with Deltek VantagePoint or similar enterprise resource planning systems.
- Background in active, sustainable, multimodal transportation.
- Mentoring and coaching experience with engineering professionals.
- Experience leading cross-functional, multi-disciplinary project teams.
Technical Stack
- MS Excel, MS Word, MS Project
- AutoCAD / Civil 3D, MicroStation / OpenRoads
- Enterprise project management tools
- Deltek VantagePoint (preferred)
Team & Environment
You will lead engineering teams across multiple East region offices, reporting to the Engineering Director. The role involves close collaboration with other regional directors and the Engineering Director.
Benefits & Compensation
- Compensation: $155,000-$185,000 annually
- Flexible, hybrid work schedule (work from home three days per week)
- Medical: PPO or HSA medical plans, Alta pays 75% of the cost
- Dental/Vision: PPO, Alta pays 90% of the cost
- Life Insurance: Alta pays 100% of the premium for life and AD&D
Work Mode
This is a hybrid position open to candidates in Atlanta, GA; Durham, NC; Minneapolis, MN; Baltimore, MD; or Nashville, TN.
Fehr Graham is dedicated to creating active, healthy communities and fostering a culture of collaboration, professional growth, and excellence. We are an equal opportunity employer.
