Geotechnical Engineering Group Leader

Schnabel is an employee-owned, professional consulting firm that focuses on solving problems related to the earth and environment through specialization in geotechnical, water, and infrastructure engineering. Schnabel’s high standards for quality, business ethics, and concern for the communities they live in and support, are a vital part of who we are and what we offer. Founded in 1956, Schnabel has experienced tremendous success and growth through its dedication to excellence in client service, high quality, and value-added solutions. Schnabel is an ENR Top 500 Design Firm with over 580 employees in 25 offices throughout the United States.

Recognized by Civil Engineering News as one of the Best Engineering Firms to Work for, Schnabel offers a highly collaborative culture with a focus on advancement and progression of its employees. We make extraordinary efforts to attract, develop, engage, and retain the best professionals in our fields of expertise. We provide our employees with a competitive benefits package, including health, dental, life and disability. Engagement in Schnabel’s wellness program offers incentives for employees to pursue a healthy lifestyle, and the firm rewards employees through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

Salary Range $105,000 to $205,000USD

Benefit options include:

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Employee life & ADD insurance (100% company-paid)
• Short-term disability (100% company-paid)
• Long-term disability
• Supplemental life insurance
• 401(k) and profit-sharing plan
• Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)
• Bonus program
• Paid time off
• 9 Paid Holidays
• Wellness program
• Professional development and tuition reimbursement

Job Description:

Our Jersey City, NJ office is seeking a Geotechnical Engineering Group Leader to help expand our growing Geotechnical and Water practices in the New York metropolitan area and Northeast region. In this role, you will provide leadership, management, and technical support for a variety of multidisciplinary projects that involve dams and reservoirs, flood resiliency, heavy-civil works, and other general infrastructure across the Northeast region, nationally, and internationally. As an employee-owner, you will have a say in how our business operates and will benefit from our financial success through the allocation of company stock.  

Position Responsibilities:

Candidate will serve as a Geotechnical Engineering Group Leader. Major focus areas for the role include:

• Develop realistic market growth strategy for our regional Geotechnical Market based on industry trends and prioritize annual investments that elevate the firm’s Geotechnical brand in terms of client solutions, innovation, and operational effectiveness.
• Grow our local practice by adding new clients, building upon current client relationships, and following major regional programs and funding streams.
• Work with leaders across the firm’s divisions and offices to build meaningful alliances and leverage Schnabel’s full spectrum of capabilities and expertise.
• Lead and support sales efforts, including managing proposals, building teams and industry partnerships, and aligning the relevant technical expertise to best solve client challenges.
• Manage, execute, and provide technical support, in a team setting and on a variety of challenging geotechnical and interdisciplinary infrastructure projects.
• Responsibilities may include managing and preparing for geotechnical and geologic field investigations; reviewing field investigation boring logs; evaluating instrumentation and monitoring data; assigning project-specific soil and rock laboratory testing; conducting engineering analyses and design specific to soil and rock mechanics, foundation design, fill placement/ground modification, seepage evaluations, slope stability analyses, and seismic analyses; as well as performing value engineering (VE) and forensic studies.
• Communicate with clients and regulators, establish goals and objectives for project teams, and schedule and coordinate resources, to deliver projects on time, within budget, and to the quality expectations of the client.
• Serve as direct supervisor – Responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of our Geotechnical Group including budgeting, hiring, staff development and mentoring.
• Participate in the development of a cohesive, positive culture for our Jersey City Office and company-wide to cultivate a best-in-class environment that allows our people to realize their full potential. 
• Contribute to maintaining and developing Schnabel’s strong brand in the geotechnical and water markets through thoughtful leadership embodied in published papers, white papers, and participation at recognized conferences and workshops.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree (Master’s Degree preferred) in Geotechnical and/or Civil Engineering, or related fields.
• 10 years of experience in the geotechnical engineering field.
• Licensed Professional Engineer or ability to become registered within 6 months.
• Proven track record in winning work, managing employees, and growing teams.
• Ability to successfully navigate multi-dimensional organizations to bring new resources, innovations, ideas and best practices to clients.
• Extensive geotechnical background, including a strong fundamental knowledge of principles of geotechnical and geostructural engineering, soil and rock mechanics, earthquake engineering, and groundwater hydrology.
• Relevant geotechnical expertise with dams, levees, flood barriers, cofferdams, and other hydraulic structures, including but not limited to seepage, static and seismic stability analysis, liquefaction analysis, deformation analysis, and foundation and settlement analysis.
• Strong technical background using various geotechnical and computer-aided design software, such as Geostudio, Rocscience, gINT, CWALSHT, PYWall, LPILE, GROUP, and AutoCAD/Civil 3D. Numerical modeling using programs such as PLAXIS and FLAC are a plus.
• Organized, self-starter with a strong entrepreneurial and team spirit.
• Excellent English technical verbal and written communication skills.

Other Requirements:

• Ability to pass a background check which may include criminal history, motor vehicle record and credit check
• Ability to pass a pre-employment screening

Salary : $105,000 - $205,000