Engineering Principal

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world? Watch Our Story. Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better.

About the role

We believe building engineering is more than systems and structures—it’s about powering progress and enabling innovation. As part of HDR’s Building Engineering Services Group, you’ll help design the critical infrastructure that supports the digital age and shapes the spaces where people work, connect, and thrive. From high-performance data centers driving the future of AI to dynamic commercial environments, your work will directly support technological advancement, sustainability, and human experience.

We bring together mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil engineering experts to solve complex design challenges with precision, creativity, and collaboration. Whether you're optimizing energy efficiency, integrating resilient systems, or engineering the backbone of next-generation facilities, your contributions will help define the future of the built environment. This isn’t just a job—it’s a chance to lead innovation, engineer impact, and build a legacy of excellence.

Engineering Principals are leaders in the practice who influence culture, morale, and recruiting as well as provide leadership in the pursuit and delivery of work. An Engineering Principal not only has deep engineering expertise in their discipline but also understands how cross-discipline teams function. They couple that understanding with leadership and communication abilities to positively impact the success of the business. The behaviors represented by Engineering Principals are indicative to our staff, clients, and recruits of the behaviors and characteristics HDR rewards.

Responsibilities

Winning Work

• Significantly impact winning work for HDR—both for the Building Engineering Services (BES) Business Group (BG) and partner BGs.
• Develop business development skills to identify opportunities, take initiative to be responsive, and establish relationships to win work.
• Promote and represent BES to internal and external clients, fostering relationships that make people want to work with us.
• Contribute to winning work in three key ways:
  • Book work in BES market sectors.
  • Collaborate with partner business groups to help them win work in their market sectors by developing and leveraging expertise, relationships, and reputation.
  • Capture building engineering scope of work on HDR non-BES projects by selling services internally.
• Help develop scope, schedule, and fee for projects, and communicate pursuits with operational leadership to address staffing, expertise requirements, and business needs.
• Identify how to engage the right people in the right work in alignment with strategic goals: “differentiating ourselves in our markets by amplifying our collective talent and knowledge.”

Project Success

• Understand the building design process in the market sectors in which they practice.
• Facilitate clear communication and provide leadership for the entire design team.
• Act as a conceptual thinker who can engage and challenge architectural designers and engineering teams during early project stages to inform design.
• Leverage integrated practice to add value to the project delivery process and lead engineering teams to deliver well-coordinated, high-quality designs.
• Provide leadership not only for their discipline but act broadly as leaders in practice.
• Maximize high-performance design within project constraints, proactively looking out for all BES disciplines on project teams to elevate design while ensuring scope, schedule, and budget are understood and respected.
• Communicate concerns to project management in a clear and timely manner to protect HDR’s client relationships (internal and external) and project successes.
• Directly impact HDR’s financial plan through leadership.

Culture, Morale & Recruiting

• Exemplify company culture and demonstrate expectations of how project teams function, emphasizing collaboration and design excellence.
• Mentor and build the next generation of leadership at HDR by developing technical, client, and business acumen in others.
• Recognize gaps in expertise and project teams, identifying ways to fill those gaps through mentoring, training, or hiring additional expertise.
• Network in the local community, leveraging relationships to identify talent and recruit for HDR.
• Contribute to BES’s strategy to develop expertise and build a successful engineering practice.
• Represent HDR through participation in the professional and local community, including speaking engagements, authoring white papers and technical publications, and serving on industry and community boards.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering.
• A minimum of 20 years of experience.
• Professional engineering license recognized by the licensing board for the location of the position (e.g., Professional Engineer (PE or P.Eng) license).
• Extensive experience in project execution.
• Proficient computer skills in Microsoft Office as well as standard design software.
• Comfortable being viewed as a technical expert in engineering analysis and design, with a proven background of technical leadership on these types of projects.
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant in our employee-owned culture.

Qualifications

The role of Engineering Principal is a progression beyond Senior Engineer or Subject Matter Expert but is not an automatic next step for all Senior Engineers. Competencies are not solely based upon technical skills.

• Subject Matter Expert / Senior Engineer:
  • Exemplary technical performance and expertise.
  • Hold the resume required to win work.
  • In-depth market sector expertise.
  • Strong interview performance to win work.
  • Mentor junior staff.
  • Execute projects with little to no direction.
• Many Engineering Principals will also be Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).
• Report or meet regularly with Area BG Management (Business Group Manager, Professional Services Leader, Project Delivery Leader, etc.).
• Participate in strategy/visioning sessions.

Values

Engineering Principals are expected to guide teams to see the bigger picture beyond the immediate problem or project in front of them and influence people to align with our company values:

• Ensuring the right skills, expertise, experience, and the highest level of teamwork. Every time.
• Live the network. We think global and act local, learning from each other and bringing together the right people for each client and engagement.
• Listen first. To find the best answer, we need to understand the root and complexity of the problem by listening.
• Hold ourselves accountable. We are empowered to find the best solutions for our clients and company, doing the right things for the right reasons and taking personal responsibility.
• Push boundaries. We strive to do things better and stretch further in our processes, work, projects, and careers.
• Design smart. We tailor our approach to each situation, delivering our best work through smart design.

Benefits

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, health, performance, and success, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Short- and long-term disability, life insurance.
• Employee assistance program.
• Paid time away, parental leave, and paid holidays.
• Retirement savings plan with employer match.
• Employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement.
• Eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) to foster inclusion and belonging.

Pay

The expected compensation range for this position depends on skills, experience, education, and geographical location.

• Minnesota: $142,296 - $203,280

Schedule

• Full-time
• Regular employee status

Primary Location: United States-Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Other Locations: United States-Wisconsin-Madison, United States-Minnesota-Saint Louis Park