Oklahoma City, OK | Onsite | Relocation assistance available
About the OpportunityWe are partnered with a nationally recognized, multi-discipline architecture and engineering firm on the search for its next Director of Structural Engineering. The firm has just joined a national engineering and design platform, which means more resources, bigger projects, and more room to grow, while the local leadership and collaborative culture that built the practice stay exactly as they are.
This is the seat that runs the structural engineering department: its people, its operations, its financial performance, and its project delivery. You will lead the managers who lead the engineers, shape how structural work gets planned, staffed, and delivered across the firm, and sit at the leadership table with architecture, engineering, and market sector principals. Structural engineering experience and sound technical judgment are the entry ticket. People leadership and operational excellence are the job.
The WorkThe department supports multidisciplinary building projects across the firm's primary markets: aviation, civic, education, federal, commercial, tribal, and mission-critical. The work is vertical construction, much of it steel-frame, and the portfolio spans new buildings, renovations, building assessments, complex structural systems, and alternative project delivery methods. It is varied, technically serious work with a direct line to the communities it serves.
What You Will Own- The structural engineering department: its managers, its workforce plan, its standards, and its results.
- Department performance end to end: staffing, utilization, backlog, profitability, quality, and client satisfaction.
- The department's voice in firm leadership, advocating for its priorities and aligning its resources with firm-wide strategy.
Key ResponsibilitiesPeople Leadership
- Lead, coach, mentor, and develop structural engineering managers and department leaders.
- Own recruiting, hiring, onboarding, retention, workforce planning, succession planning, and employee development for the department.
- Provide direct performance management and career development for your reports, and keep performance practices consistent across the department.
- Build a collaborative, accountable team culture that supports engagement, growth, and continuous improvement.
- Monitor utilization, workload, capacity, and development needs to keep the team productive and sustainable.
Department Operations and Resource Management
- Provide strategic and operational leadership for structural engineering inside a multidisciplinary architecture and engineering environment.
- Establish and continuously improve department standards, workflows, and processes that raise efficiency, consistency, accountability, and quality.
- Oversee staffing assignments, workload forecasting, utilization, backlog, and resource allocation using FTE planning, staffing forecasts, and operational metrics.
- Identify operational and project-delivery risks, implement corrective actions, and coordinate across structural engineering, architectural studios, other engineering departments, and market sector leadership.
Project Management and Delivery
- Monitor department-wide project performance: scope, schedules, budgets, staffing, utilization, profitability, design quality, and deliverable coordination.
- Resolve resource conflicts and operational challenges affecting structural project execution.
- Support project managers and multidisciplinary design teams on complex projects, coordination, staffing challenges, and escalations.
- Promote consistent project delivery and QA/QC practices that keep clients coming back.
Financial and Business Management
- Lead the financial and operational performance of the department: profitability, utilization, backlog, staffing levels, project performance, and revenue forecasting.
- Analyze operational and financial data to spot trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement and growth.
- Develop initiatives that improve profitability, resource management, project delivery, and operational efficiency.
- Participate in annual business planning, staffing forecasts, strategic planning, and long-term department development.
Executive and Multidisciplinary Leadership
- Represent structural engineering within firm leadership and advocate for the department's priorities, resources, and strategic goals.
- Collaborate with executive leadership, market sector principals, architectural studio directors, engineering directors, and department leaders to align structural resources with firmwide priorities.
- Provide executive-level insight into department performance, staffing, project delivery, financial health, operational risks, and opportunities.
- Lead implementation of firmwide strategies, standards, processes, and organizational initiatives within the department.
- Strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration to improve resource planning, project execution, design coordination, client service, and operational excellence.
Structural Engineering Technical Oversight
- Maintain working knowledge of structural design, structural analysis, building systems, engineering standards, and applicable building codes to make informed operational and leadership decisions.
- Provide leadership support on complex structural issues, project escalations, and multidisciplinary design coordination.
- Promote consistent application of engineering standards, design procedures, and QA/QC expectations.
- Support continuous improvement of structural tools, standards, workflows, and design practices.
Who We Are Looking For- Bachelor's degree in civil engineering, structural engineering, or a related engineering discipline from an ABET-accredited program.
- Active Professional Engineer (PE) license, with the ability to obtain Oklahoma registration within 6 months of hire.
- 10+ years of progressive structural engineering experience, including at least 5 years leading engineering teams, managers, or departments.
- Experience within an architecture, engineering, construction, or multidisciplinary AEC consulting environment.
- Demonstrated experience with department operations, workforce planning, resource allocation, project management, and financial performance.
- Working knowledge of structural design, structural analysis, applicable building codes, engineering standards, and QA/QC processes.
- Strong background in vertical building structures, including steel-frame design, analysis, and detailing.
- Experience managing multiple projects, priorities, teams, and staffing requirements at once.
- Strong written, verbal, presentation, interpersonal, and executive communication skills.
Nice to Have- Oklahoma PE license.
- Structural Engineer (SE) license.
- Experience leading a structural engineering department or regional structural practice.
- Familiarity with Revit, BIM-enabled design workflows, structural analysis software, and project management systems.
- Experience with multidisciplinary building design and alternative project-delivery methods.
Why Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and it still feels like a place you can live well: a lower cost of living, short commutes, a thriving arts and entertainment scene, professional sports, outstanding restaurants, and real outdoor recreation. For a leader who wants to build something and be visible doing it, the market and the moment line up.
Work Arrangement and TravelFull-time, onsite in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Occasional travel for project meetings, recruiting events, conferences, and site visits.
Compensation- Base salary: $175,000
- Performance-based bonus
- Relocation assistance for qualified candidates
Interested?If this role aligns with your background, or you know a structural engineering leader you deeply respect who fits this profile, we welcome a conversation.
Base Compensation Range
$165,000-$175,000 USD
