Staff Design Associate | Geostructures

About the role

BLE’s Geostructures team is growing. We are seeking a staff associate to support the delivery of Geostructural services with typical day-to-day activities consisting primarily of preliminary Geostructural design including but not limited to: MSE walls, Aggregate Piers, Deep foundations, Ground anchor systems, Soldier Pier Piles, Lagging Design and Soil Nail Walls. Geostructural plan development, and limited construction oversight.

Responsibilities

• Core Competencies:
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  • Attention to detail in drawings and calculations.
  • Eagerness to learn Geostructural design principles and software tools (e.g., LPile, GROUP, RSPile, SNAP-2, DeepEx, GEO5).
  • Professional, dependable, and curious.
  • Highly organized with a commitment to meeting deadlines and delivering value.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with a drive to take initiative, identify opportunities, and help grow a specialized service line within a dynamic, multidisciplinary firm.
• Team Leadership and Development:
  • Observe and participate in team discussions to understand project workflows.
  • Receive mentoring from senior engineers on design, drafting, and field procedures.
  • Develop foundational skills in collaborative engineering environments.
• Client Relationship Management:
  • Support project managers in preparing client communications and deliverables.
  • Attend client meetings with supervision to build communication awareness.
  • Maintain professionalism in all correspondence and interactions.
• Quality Control and Assurance:
  • Incorporate redlines and edits from senior reviewers.
  • Learn BLE’s QA/QC process through internal document review exercises.
  • Support basic document checks and calculation verifications.
• Project Planning and Scheduling:
  • Track personal task progress and provide status updates to team leads.
  • Learn how project milestones are defined and monitored.
  • Assist in organizing drawing packages and file systems.
• Risk Management and Compliance:
  • Identify obvious risks during site visits and escalate to supervisors.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  • Coordinate with drafters and geotechnical staff under guidance.
  • Attend internal coordination meetings to understand multidisciplinary roles.
  • Help integrate boring logs and testing data into design files.
• Contracts and Vendor Management:
  • Observe interactions with specialty contractors and design team clients.
  • Absorb documentation from specialty contractors and design team clients.
  • Learn standard contract and submittal procedures.
• Business Development:
  • Contribute to resumes and team qualifications packets.
  • Maintain organized records of relevant project experience for future pursuits.
  • Support proposal formatting and simple data entry.
• Performance Analytics:
  • Log time accurately in the project tracking system.
  • Understand basic metrics like billable rate and utilization.
  • Participate in debriefs to learn from completed projects.

Qualifications

• Associate’s degree in Civil Engineering Geotechnical / Structural emphasis preferred or a closely related field of study from an ABET-accredited institution.
• 0-2 years of progressively responsible professional experience in relevant fields.
• Currently in progress towards obtaining Engineer-in-Training (EIT).
• Required to travel regularly to local and regional project sites (typically within South Carolina and surrounding states), potentially including overnight stays and perform extensive fieldwork under varying environmental conditions, including adverse weather, uneven terrain, and potentially hazardous environments, while adhering strictly to health and safety protocols.

Skills

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Attention to detail in drawings and calculations.
• Eagerness to learn Geostructural design principles and software tools (e.g., LPile, GROUP, RSPile, SNAP-2, DeepEx, GEO5).
• Professional, dependable, and curious.
• Highly organized with a commitment to meeting deadlines and delivering value.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a drive to take initiative, identify opportunities, and help grow a specialized service line within a dynamic, multidisciplinary firm.

Benefits

• Medical/Vision/Dental
• 401(K) with partial company matching
• Life Insurance
• Short/long term disability
• Paid vacation
• Paid sick leave
• Eight (8) paid holidays
• Education reimbursement programs (conditions apply)
• Vehicle allowance (conditions apply)