Principal Fire Protection Engineer Jobs in Maryland

Job Title: Fire Protection Engineer

Job Description

This Fire Protection Engineer role offers a hybrid work schedule that allows you to split your time between on-campus and remote work, supporting a healthy work-life balance. You will play a key role in reviewing, inspecting, and guiding fire protection systems and life safety measures across a large, complex campus of approximately 50 buildings. The position involves little to no travel beyond the campus itself and provides the opportunity to contribute to impactful projects in a collaborative, close-knit engineering team environment.

Responsibilities

• Review architectural and engineering designs, as well as fire protection system shop drawings, for more than 50 buildings on a large campus.
• Conduct construction inspections for new and existing facilities to verify compliance with applicable codes and standards.
• Issue final occupancy permits after confirming that fire protection and life safety requirements are met.
• Witness and document acceptance tests for fire alarm and fire sprinkler system modifications and installations.
• Evaluate existing building conditions by performing life safety and hazard analysis surveys.
• Provide technical guidance and interpretations using various NFPA codes, including NFPA 30 and NFPA 35.
• Collaborate with architects, engineers, contractors, and campus stakeholders to resolve fire protection and life safety issues.
• Support permitting activities and ensure design and construction documents align with relevant codes and standards.
• Coordinate with the fire marshal and internal engineering team to maintain consistent fire protection strategies across the campus.
• Use design and drafting tools such as Revit and AutoCAD to review and interpret piping and plumbing design documents.

Essential Skills

• Professional Engineer (PE) license.
• Minimum of 2+ years of experience in engineering, fire protection, or a closely related field.
• Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in engineering in any discipline.
• Hands-on experience applying NFPA codes, including NFPA 30 and NFPA 35.
• Experience reviewing architectural, engineering, fire alarm, and fire sprinkler drawings.
• Experience with permitting processes and design review for fire protection and life safety systems.
• Experience conducting construction inspections related to fire protection and life safety.
• Mechanical engineering experience or experience working with mechanical systems in a building context.
• Familiarity with NFPA standards and their application to complex facilities.
• Proficiency with Revit and AutoCAD for reviewing and interpreting design documents.
• Experience with piping design and plumbing design in building systems.
• Familiarity with IEC standards or codes related to electrical and safety systems.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with additional NFPA codes beyond NFPA 30 and NFPA 35.
• Experience mentoring or leading other engineers or technical staff.
• Experience working in laboratory or hospital environments, particularly those involving hazardous chemicals.
• Experience with IEC codes and their application to building or safety systems.
• Experience stamping permits or working with egress system design and approval.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with fire marshals, program managers, and multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong communication skills to clearly convey technical requirements and code interpretations to diverse stakeholders.

Work Environment

You will work primarily on a large research and healthcare-oriented campus in Bethesda that includes approximately 50 buildings, with the flexibility to drive your own car across the campus as needed. The role follows a hybrid schedule, allowing you to work both on campus and remotely, supporting a balanced and flexible workday. The position involves minimal travel, limited to movement within the campus, with no out-of-state travel expectations. You will be part of a small, collaborative team that includes a program manager and three other engineers, and you will work closely with the campus fire marshal and other stakeholders. The environment emphasizes collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and a strong sense of community, while providing access to modern engineering tools such as Revit and AutoCAD to review and support complex building and fire protection systems.

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Bethesda, MD.

The pay range for this position is $50.48 - $52.88/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a hybrid position in Bethesda,MD.

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 18, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications withoutregard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability,sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protectedby law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification oradjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability,please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance:Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in thecity and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicantswith arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector:It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as acondition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this lawshall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

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