Senior Bridge Hydraulics & Drainage Engineer

CDM Smith – where amazing career journeys unfold. Imagine a place committed to offering an unmatched employee experience. Where you work on projects that are meaningful to you, play an active part in shaping your career journey, and are encouraged and supported to do your very best with the tools and resources to do so. Our employees are the heart of our company, and we strive to create a challenging, progressive, and inclusive work environment that fosters personal leadership, career growth, and development.

About the role

With high-level goals provided, serves as a technical leader for bridge hydraulics, roadway drainage, stormwater management, floodplain analysis, and water resources engineering for transportation infrastructure projects. Leads hydrologic and hydraulic studies supporting bridge replacements, bridge rehabilitations, roadway widening, interchange improvements, and major transportation corridors. Serves as Engineer of Record and provides technical oversight, quality assurance, client coordination, and mentoring for multidisciplinary transportation projects. This position supports transportation agencies including DOT clients through planning, preliminary engineering, final design, permitting, construction support, and business development activities.

Responsibilities

• Bridge Hydraulics, Hydrology & Drainage Engineering (45%)
  • Lead hydraulic and hydrologic analyses supporting bridge replacement and rehabilitation projects.
  • Perform floodplain, scour, watershed, culvert, and bridge opening evaluations.
  • Develop roadway drainage systems including storm sewer networks, cross drains, side drains, culverts, channels, detention facilities, energy dissipation features, and stormwater treatment facilities.
  • Prepare drainage reports, hydraulic reports, bridge hydraulics studies, FEMA-related analyses, and watershed evaluations.
  • Conduct stormwater management and erosion/sediment control design.
  • Coordinate hydraulic design with roadway, bridge, environmental, geotechnical, and permitting disciplines.
  • Review and approve hydraulic calculations, plans, reports, and specifications prepared by project teams.
  • Sign and seal engineering documents as required.
• Site Reviews and Field Investigations (5%)
  • Conduct field evaluations of bridges, culverts, channels, floodplains, and roadway drainage systems.
  • Perform watershed investigations and hydraulic condition assessments.
  • Collect field data needed to support hydrologic and hydraulic models.
  • Support construction-phase reviews and resolution of drainage and hydraulic issues.
• Technical Knowledge Management (10%)
  • Develop technical guidance, best-practice documents, drainage manuals, and hydraulic design procedures.
  • Support innovation in hydraulic modeling and transportation drainage design.
  • Prepare white papers, technical presentations, and conference materials.
  • Contribute to firmwide water resources and transportation engineering knowledge initiatives.
• Business Development & Sales Support (10%)
  • Support transportation pursuits and proposal development.
  • Develop scopes of work, fee estimates, technical approaches, and staffing plans.
  • Participate in client interviews and technical presentations.
  • Serve as bridge hydraulics/drainage subject matter expert during pursuits and project delivery.
• Technical Leadership & Mentoring (15%)
  • Provide technical oversight for bridge hydraulics and transportation drainage staff.
  • Mentor junior engineers and designers in hydraulic modeling, drainage design, permitting, and transportation applications.
  • Perform QA/QC reviews of hydraulic reports, plans, calculations, and models.
• Technical Visibility / Industry Leadership (10%)
  • Participate in professional organizations and transportation industry events.
  • Represent the firm before DOT clients, regulatory agencies, and project stakeholders.
  • Support technical presentations, workshops, and client-facing activities related to bridge hydraulics, roadway drainage, and water resources engineering.
• Other Duties (5%)
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Civil, Transportation, or Structural Engineering or related discipline.
• Professional engineering (PE) license.
• 10 years of related experience.
• Domestic and/or international travel may be required (10% or less).
• Equivalent additional directly related experience will be considered in lieu of a degree.

Preferred Qualifications

• 15+ years of transportation water resources experience.
• Bridge hydraulics and bridge replacement project experience.
• INDOT roadway widening and interchange experience.
• FEMA floodplain modeling experience.
• Drainage Engineer of Record experience.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary transportation design teams.
• Experience with FHWA, INDOT, floodplain, and environmental permitting requirements.

Skills

• Desired Technical Expertise in Transportation Hydraulics
  • Bridge hydraulic analysis
  • Scour evaluations
  • Floodplain analysis
  • Culvert hydraulics
  • Watershed studies
  • Stormwater management
  • Open channel hydraulics
  • Sediment and erosion control
  • FEMA flood studies
  • Water quality BMP design
• Software
  • HEC-RAS
  • HEC-HMS
  • HY-8
  • SWMM
  • ICPR
  • MicroStation
  • AutoCAD
  • Bentley drainage applications
  • Hydraulic and hydrologic modeling software

Pay

Pay range: USD $100,214.00 – $175,365.00. This pay range is a good faith estimate representative of all experience levels for the geographic location assigned to the position. In addition to geographic location, a candidate’s salary is determined by several other factors including, but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, relevant work experience, skills, required certifications, and education/training.

All bonuses at CDM Smith are discretionary and may or may not apply to this position.