Principal Transportation Engineer / Transportation Practice Builder

About the role

Apex is seeking a senior transportation infrastructure leader to help build and grow our transportation engineering practice in Western Pennsylvania and the broader Mid-Atlantic market.

• Emphasis on bridge, roadway, structural, drainage, civil/transportation, and related public infrastructure work.
• Lead business development efforts with public and private infrastructure clients, including PennDOT, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, counties, municipalities, authorities, and other transportation-related owners or partners.
• Build a credible transportation infrastructure practice that grows from existing relationships, repeat clients, and strategic new opportunities.
• Convert senior market relationships into qualified pursuits, proposals, wins, and profitable backlog.
• Establish Apex as a trusted partner for bridge, roadway, civil/transportation, and infrastructure work in Western Pennsylvania and adjacent markets.
• Grow and mentor a team that can deliver high-quality transportation work without relying solely on one senior individual.
• Bring practical discipline to delivery: clear scopes, strong QA/QC, sound engineering judgment, schedule awareness, budget accountability, and proactive client communication.
• Collaborate across Apex’s national infrastructure, civil, environmental, geotechnical, water/wastewater, and construction teams to create broader solutions for clients.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical leader and trusted advisor for transportation infrastructure projects, with an emphasis on bridge, roadway, structure, roadway, civil/transportation, and related public infrastructure work.
• Help establish, manage, and grow Apex’s transportation engineering practice in the Pittsburgh metro, Western Pennsylvania, and broader Mid-Atlantic market.
• Develop and implement a practical growth strategy for transportation services, including target clients, pursuit priorities, teaming relationships, staffing needs, and near-term revenue opportunities.
• Leverage existing relationships while building new ones to position Apex for transportation engineering, bridge inspection/design/rehabilitation, roadway, drainage, civil/site, and infrastructure planning/design opportunities.
• Act as a seller-doer by identifying opportunities, shaping scopes, leading or supporting proposals, developing fees, participating in interviews, and helping convert relationships into backlog.
• Serve as Engineer of Record, senior reviewer, technical advisor, project manager, or structural/transportation lead on selected projects, depending on project needs and licensing requirements.
• Provide senior QA/QC review for transportation and structural engineering work, including design assumptions, calculations, constructability considerations, risk items, and compliance with applicable agency standards.
• Mentor and develop engineers, designers, CAD/BIM staff, project managers, and emerging seller-doers; help create a high-performing technical bench for transportation work.
• Recruit, build, and manage or influence a transportation team capable of supporting project execution, client development, and long-term practice growth.
• Cookorate with Apex’s civil/site, water/wastewater, stormwater, geotechnical, environmental, construction, survey, and national infrastructure resources to deliver integrated solutions.
• Support project managers in managing scope, schedule, budget, quality, risk, change management, subcontractors, and client expectations.
• Maintain strong client communication and serve as a senior point of contact for clients, teaming partners, contractors, agencies, and stakeholders.
• Participate in industry organizations, conferences, associations, and technical forums to strengthen Apex’s visibility and credibility in the transportation market.
• Contribute to Apex’s broader One Apex approach by connecting local client intimacy with national resources, specialized expertise, and cross-regional delivery capacity.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Transportation Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Professional Engineer license required; Pennsylvania PE strongly preferred.
• Significant progressive experience in transportation infrastructure engineering, with substantial experience in bridge, structure, roadway, civil/transportation, or related infrastructure project delivery.
• Proven experience with public-sector transportation clients, ideally including Pennsylvania agencies, authorities, counties, municipalities, or other Mid-Atlantic transportation infrastructure owners.
• Strong technical background in one or more of the following: bridge design, bridge rehabilitation, bridge inspection, structural analysis, load ratings, roadway design, drainage, constructability, construction-phase support, transportation infrastructure planning/design, or multidisciplinary infrastructure delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex projects from planning and scoping through design, bidding, construction support, and closeout.
• Strong business development capability, including client relationship management, pursuit strategy, proposal development, interviews, teaming, and market positioning.
• Experience developing scopes, schedules, fees, budgets, staffing plans, and technical approaches for transportation or infrastructure pursuits.
• Ability to mentor, train, and develop junior and mid-level technical staff.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical issues to clients, agencies, contractors, and internal leadership.
• Demonstrated commitment to quality, safety, constructability, client service, and practical problem solving.
• Able to work effectively in a matrixed organization and collaborate across offices, service lines, and regions.
• Experience with PennDOT, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, county infrastructure programs, municipal transportation work, or similar agency delivery processes is strongly preferred.
• Experience with bridge or transportation design software, load rating tools, MicroStation/OpenRoads/OpenBridge, AutoCAD/Civil 3D, Mathcad, structural analysis tools, or related platforms is preferred but should be framed based on the candidate’s actual technical focus.
• Existing client relationships, market visibility, and a track record of helping grow transportation work are strongly preferred.

Qualifications

• Recognized transportation infrastructure professional with credibility in the Western Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic market.
• A seller-doer who enjoys both client development and technical delivery.
• A practice builder who can identify where Apex should compete and then help build the team, tools, and relationships to win.
• A strong mentor who can transfer knowledge, improve technical depth, and help develop the next generation of transportation engineers.
• A pragmatic technical leader with strong constructability instincts and the ability to navigate agency standards, project constraints, and delivery risk.
• A relationship-driven professional who can represent Apex with confidence in front of clients, teaming partners, agencies, and industry organizations.
• A collaborative leader who values One Apex and can connect transportation opportunities with civil/site, water/wastewater, environmental, geotechnical, survey, construction, and national infrastructure resources.
• A growth-minded professional who wants to help shape a practice, not simply fill a seat.