Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Department: Geotechnical • Location: Virginia Beach

About the role

A permanent, full-time Senior Geotechnical Engineer position offering a mixture of onsite and office work. You will provide technical leadership across complex geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing projects, take ownership of major assignments, develop client relationships, and support the growth and development of a highly skilled technical team.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing projects from proposal through to final delivery, managing scope, budgets, schedules, staffing, and technical quality.
• Direct subsurface exploration programmes, including SPT borings, CPT, test pits, sampling, instrumentation, drilling activities, and utility-clearance coordination.
• Complete and review advanced geotechnical analyses covering foundations, settlement, slope stability, retaining structures, earthworks, groundwater, pavement support, and site-specific ground conditions.
• Prepare, review, and approve geotechnical reports, technical memoranda, specifications, calculations, and construction recommendations, including signing and sealing documents where required.
• Act as the principal technical contact for clients, contractors, architects, and design teams, resolving site issues and providing practical engineering recommendations.
• Develop proposals, project scopes, fee estimates, schedules, and staffing plans while supporting client development and business growth.
• Mentor junior engineers, technicians, inspectors, and laboratory staff, providing task delegation, technical guidance, and quality reviews.
• Oversee quality-control processes, field reports, laboratory results, and technical deliverables to ensure accuracy, traceability, and compliance with company procedures.
• Plan and oversee vibration and noise monitoring programmes, including pre-construction surveys, equipment installation, real-time monitoring, and post-construction assessments.
• Lead specialist testing and analysis, including Dynamic Pile Testing, PDA, GRLWEAP, CAPWAP, Direct Shear, and Triaxial testing.
• Provide senior-level support during critical construction activities, helping teams respond to unexpected subsurface conditions and develop corrective solutions.
• Promote a culture of technical excellence, safety, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• Professional Engineer licence, with current Virginia licensure preferred. Eligibility to obtain Virginia PE licensure through reciprocity where not already held.
• At least seven years of progressively responsible experience in geotechnical engineering consulting or construction materials testing.
• Strong experience managing project budgets, schedules, staffing, technical risks, and client expectations.
• Advanced knowledge of bearing capacity, settlement, shallow and deep foundation design, and subsurface characterisation.
• Experience completing slope stability, earthworks, retaining structure, groundwater, pavement, and subgrade assessments.
• Extensive experience with SPT borings, CPT, drilling oversight, soil sampling, boring logs, and USCS soil classification.
• Strong understanding of shallow foundations, driven piles, drilled shafts, augered cast-in-place piles, and specialist foundation systems.
• Excellent technical writing, communication, presentation, and client-management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and consistently deliver accurate work within demanding deadlines.
• Experience mentoring and developing junior technical staff.

Desirable experience

• Dynamic Pile Testing using the Pile Driving Analyzer.
• Pile-driving analysis and pile-capacity evaluation.
• GRLWEAP and CAPWAP.
• Direct Shear and Triaxial testing.
• gINT or similar subsurface data-management software.
• LPILE, APILE, or GROUP.
• GeoStudio, including Slope/W and Seep/W.
• PLAXIS.
• SETTLE3D.
• Vibration and noise monitoring programmes.

Benefits

• Delta Dental Insurance for the employee, fully funded by ETS following 90 days of employment.
• Sentara Health Insurance, with ETS contributing 50% of the employee’s premium following 90 days of employment.
• Options to extend dental and health coverage to eligible family members up to age 26.
• 401(k) plan with an annual company match of up to 3%.
• Company-provided vehicle and fuel card.
• Company mobile phone and laptop.
• Paid professional training, certifications, and continuing education.
• Seven paid public holidays.
• Five days of paid sick leave.
• Ten days of paid vacation or PTO.

Pay

$120,000 - $140,000 / year