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Principal Fire Protection Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Fire Protection Engineer

Martinsburg, WV · On-site

$95K - $105K/yr

Fire Protection Engineer Martinsburg, WV Position Title Fire Protection Engineer Location ATF Headquarters, Martinsburg, WV Reports To Project Manager / Program Manager Position Summary The Fire ...

Fire Protection Engineer PE

Charlotte, NC · On-site

$81K - $109K/yr

The Fire Protection Engineer position is a technical role within the firm focused on project ... Working with, responding to, and taking direction from the Department Director, Managing Principals ...

Fire Protection Engineer PE

Roanoke, VA · On-site

$81K - $109K/yr

The Fire Protection Engineer position is a technical role within the firm focused on project ... Working with, responding to, and taking direction from the Department Director, Managing Principals ...

Fire Protection Engineer

Burlington, MA · On-site

$90K - $121K/yr

Fire Protection Engineers (FPEs) protect lives and property. They plan and design engineering projects that prevent fires from occurring and minimize the impact of those fires that do occur. Fire ...

Fire Protection Engineer

Stamford, CT · On-site

$90K - $131K/yr

Fire Protection Engineers (FPEs) protect lives and property. They plan and design engineering projects that prevent fires from occurring and minimize the impact of those fires that do occur. Fire ...

Fire Protection Engineer

Butler, PA · On-site

$74K - $101K/yr

Fire Protection Engineers (FPEs) protect lives and property. They plan and design engineering projects that prevent fires from occurring and minimize the impact of those fires that do occur. Fire ...

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Principal Fire Protection Engineer information

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$74K

$147.2K

$212.5K

How much do principal fire protection engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 23, 2026, the average yearly pay for principal fire protection engineer in the United States is $147,220.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $118,500.00 and $173,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are Principal Fire Protection Engineers?

Principal Fire Protection Engineers are senior professionals who lead the design, implementation, and management of fire protection systems in buildings and industrial facilities. They ensure that structures comply with fire safety codes and standards, conduct risk assessments, and develop solutions to prevent and mitigate fire hazards. In addition to technical expertise, they often supervise teams, consult with clients, and guide projects from concept through completion. Their role is critical in safeguarding lives and property through proactive fire safety engineering.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Principal Fire Protection Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Principal Fire Protection Engineer, you need an in-depth understanding of fire protection engineering principles, building codes, and extensive experience, typically supported by a bachelor's or master's degree in engineering and a Professional Engineer (PE) license. Mastery of technical tools such as AutoCAD, Revit, hydraulic calculation software, and familiarity with NFPA standards is essential. Exceptional leadership, problem-solving, and effective communication skills help you manage teams and liaise with clients and regulatory bodies. These skills ensure the design and implementation of fire protection systems that safeguard lives, property, and comply with legal requirements.

What are some common challenges faced by a Principal Fire Protection Engineer when managing large-scale projects?

Principal Fire Protection Engineers often encounter challenges such as coordinating with multiple disciplines, ensuring compliance with evolving fire codes, and managing tight project timelines. They must balance technical requirements with client expectations and frequently lead teams through complex problem-solving scenarios. Effective communication and proactive risk management are essential for overcoming these obstacles and delivering safe, code-compliant designs on schedule.

What is the difference between Principal Fire Protection Engineer vs Fire Protection Engineer?

AspectPrincipal Fire Protection EngineerFire Protection Engineer
CredentialsPE license, fire safety certificationsPE license, fire safety certifications
Work EnvironmentLeadership roles, project oversightDesign, analysis, and implementation
Industry UsageSenior projects, complex systemsDesign and support roles

The Principal Fire Protection Engineer typically holds senior responsibilities, overseeing complex projects and leading teams, while the Fire Protection Engineer focuses on designing and implementing fire safety systems. Both roles require similar credentials but differ in scope and level of responsibility.

More about Principal Fire Protection Engineer jobs
What cities are hiring for Principal Fire Protection Engineer jobs? Cities with the most Principal Fire Protection Engineer job openings:
What states have the most Principal Fire Protection Engineer jobs? States with the most job openings for Principal Fire Protection Engineer jobs include:
Infographic showing various Principal Fire Protection Engineer job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 96% Full Time, 1% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $147,220 per year, or $70.8 per hour.
Fire Protection Engineer

Fire Protection Engineer

Federal Aviation Administration

College Park, GA • On-site

$95K - $148K/yr

Full-time

Posted 13 days ago


Federal Aviation Administration rating

7.9

Company rating: 7.9 out of 10

Based on 152 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

73rd of 288 rated public sector bodies


Job description

Summary
This position is a Fire Protection Engineer who provides direct project management, technical direction and program execution support to the National Airspace System field units. Reports directly to the Technical Operations, Technical Services Organization, Environmental Occupational Safety and Health (EOSH) Support Operations Group (EOSG), EOSH Program Support Center.
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Duties
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The incumbent is a Fire Protection Engineer (FPE) who conducts fire life safety technical planning and oversight of facility fire protection systems. Functions as the authority, who has jurisdiction to adjudicate unsafe conditions throughout the Service Area. The FPE applies experience and comprehensive knowledge of fire protection engineering principles, theories, and concepts to develop implementation guidance to the field, identify inspection data trends, monitor construction projects for fire life safety impacts, conduct technical training, oversee all operational phases of the fire protection systems, and perform Contracting Officer Representative (COR) responsibilities.
Manages fire life safety construction projects, including scope, cost and schedule oversight using project scheduling software. Defines, organizes, and assigns resources to accomplish organizational objectives. Allocates resources to accomplish large work activities within established schedules. Works independently and has direct responsibility for the quality of programs and recommendations. The FPE interacts with all levels of management, bargaining unit, and inspection personnel to provide guidance on fire protection and life safety. This position is critical for the safe and efficient operation of the National Airspace System.
Contacts are internal and external. Often represents FAA as a senior technical point of contact on projects, programs and other work activities. Communicates results to all levels internally (within an LOB/SO or across LOB's/SO's) and externally. Applies knowledge and experience with life safety to analyze, organize, and independently prepare and deliver in-depth reports using strong business and analytic skills. Uses extensive presentation skills to deliver briefings to senior management, labor representatives, committees and technical specialists. Utilizes knowledge of the Agency to recommend improvements on fire protection systems, monitoring progress and developing metrics. Develops guidance on key risks.
Acts as a principal technical specialist in fire protection features including fire alarms, sprinklers, smoke management as well as emergency egress, standby generators, interim life safety procedures for impacted systems, fire extinguishers, maintenance operations, and system monitoring. Uses technical expertise to provide personnel with clear and concise advice and analysis on life safety requirements, identifying program priorities, goals and objectives. The incumbent maintains a general knowledge of the Occupational Safety and Health standards related to fire protection and general safety.
Resolves all but unique technical problems without the intervention of management or a more experienced engineer. Develops plans, techniques, and policies to address current or anticipated problems and issues. Works with senior management to solve problems. Work is reviewed rarely, typically though status reports and at project completion, to ensure technical compliance and alignment with the requirements of the project or other work activity.
Requirements
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Conditions of employment
  • US Citizenship is required.
  • Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
  • Must submit an SF50 (See Required Documents).
  • This position has a positive education requirement. Transcript(s) required.

Qualifications
A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: 1. Professional registration or licensure Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1 , or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions. 2. Written Test Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. 4. Related curriculum Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)
To qualify for this position, you must demonstrate in your application that you possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to FV-I, FG/GS-13. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position.
Specialized experience is: Experience in fire protection engineering principles, theories, and concepts to develop implementation guidance to the field, identify inspection data trends, monitor construction projects for fire life safety impacts, conduct technical training, and oversee all operational phases of the fire protection systems.
If the Agency decides to interview any qualified employee on the selection list, then all on the list who are qualified must be interviewed. If the selection list is shortened to a best qualified list through a comparative process, then the best qualified list shall be considered to be the selection list.
Education
This position has a positive education requirement: Applicants must submit a copy of their college or university transcripts(s) and certificates by the closing date of announcement to verify qualifications. If selected, an official transcript will be required prior to appointment. You may upload these documents with your application in USAJOBS or fax it to fax number provided in the announcement (please include announcement number on each page).
Failure to do so will result in loss of consideration.
Schools must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation may be verified at the following website: www.ed.gov/accreditation.
Foreign education must be evaluated by a private professional organization specializing in interpretation of foreign education credentials or an accredited U.S. educational institution in terms of equivalence to a degree acquired at an American college or university. A copy of the evaluation results must be included, otherwise your foreign education will not be considered.
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Make sure your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications and answers to the job questionnaire.
Additional information
We may use this vacancy to fill other similar vacant positions.
Position may be subject to a background investigation.
A one-year probationary period may be required.
The person selected for this position may be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of entry on duty. FAA policy limits certain outside employment and financial investments in aviation-related companies. www.faa.gov/jobs/workinghere/financial-disclosure-requirements
As a part of the Federal-Wide Hiring Reform Initiative (streamlining the hiring process), the FAA is committed to eliminating the use of the Knowledge, Skills and Ability (KSA) narratives from the initial application in the hiring process for all announcements. Therefore, as an applicant for this announcement, you are NOT required to provide a narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA.
In lieu of providing a KSA narrative response in the text box listed below each KSA, in your work history, please include information that provides specific examples of how you meet the response level or answer you chose for each KSA. Your work history examples should be specific and clearly reflect the highest level of ability. Your KSA answers will be evaluated further to validate whether the level that you selected is appropriate based on the work history and experience you provided. Your answers may be adjusted by a Human Resource Specialist as appropriate.
Eligible applicants meeting the minimum qualification requirements and selective factor(s), if applicable, may be further evaluated on the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA) listed in the announcement. Based on this evaluation, applicants will be placed in one of the following categories: score order, category grouping, or alphabetical and referred to the selecting official for consideration.
Links to Important Information: Locality Pay, COLA
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.
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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

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