Precision Recruiters

Project Engineer / Senior Project Engineer Geotechnical Engineering South Orange County, CA

A well-established Southern California geotechnical consulting firm is seeking a Project Engineer / Senior Project Engineer to join its growing team in South Orange County.

This is a strong opportunity for a geotechnical engineer who enjoys the technical side of consulting but also wants a bigger seat at the table with clients, project leadership, and long-term career growth. This is not a role where someone will simply sit in a back room cranking out reports forever. The company is looking for a future-facing project leader who can manage work, communicate with clients, mentor younger staff, and potentially help carry the next generation of the firm forward.

The firm is currently about 45 to 50 people, with a strong balance of geotechnical engineering and geology professionals. They have a deep backlog, a strong stable of long-standing clients, and a reputation for doing high-quality work throughout Southern California.

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

The company’s clients include major publicly traded homebuilders and real estate developers, along with other private development clients. Approximately 75% of the firm’s geotechnical and geologic work is tied to residential development, including large-scale communities and master-planned residential projects ranging from roughly 100 to 500+ acres.

These are not small one-off assignments. These are larger, complex Southern California development projects where geotechnical engineering and geology are critical to getting the work entitled, designed, graded, and built correctly.

The firm has done an excellent job attracting and retaining clients. Their bigger challenge is not finding work. It is having enough experienced project-level leadership to manage the work they already have.

The Role

The Project Engineer / Senior Project Engineer will manage geotechnical projects from proposal and investigation through reporting, construction support, client communication, and project closeout.

This person will initially be introduced to established clients and existing work, with the goal of gradually becoming the designated project manager and client liaison for selected accounts.

This is a seller-doer environment, but not in the “here’s a phone and a prayer, go make rain” kind of way. The firm already has plenty of work. The immediate need is someone who can help manage projects, support existing client relationships, and grow into a broader client-facing leadership role over time.

Responsibilities

• Managing geotechnical engineering projects throughout Southern California
• Coordinating subsurface investigations, field observations, laboratory testing, and construction-related geotechnical services
• Managing project scope, budgets, schedules, and internal resources
• Reviewing and analyzing geotechnical laboratory data
• Preparing and reviewing clear, technically sound reports
• Communicating directly with clients, developers, builders, design teams, and internal technical staff
• Supporting and strengthening existing client relationships
• Supervising and mentoring staff-level and senior staff-level employees
• Helping bridge the firm’s current experience gap between senior leaders and early-career staff
• Growing into a long-term project leadership and client management role

Ideal Background

The ideal candidate will have:

• Approximately 7 to 15 years of geotechnical engineering experience
• Strong Southern California geotechnical consulting experience
• Experience with residential development, master-planned communities, grading, slope stability, retaining walls, foundations, groundwater, liquefaction, landslides, or similar technical challenges
• PE license strongly preferred
• GE license or path toward GE is a plus
• Strong report writing and communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced consulting environment
• Comfort working directly with clients
• Interest in growing into a seller-doer / ownership-track role
• Local Southern California market knowledge

Because the geology and geotechnical conditions in Southern California are so specific, the client is ideally looking for someone already based in the Southern California market rather than relocating someone from outside the region.

Culture and Career Path

The company has a strong internal culture and a high level of camaraderie. Many of the people there have worked together for years, including several who previously worked together at another firm. There is a real sense of familiarity, trust, and teamwork across the organization.

Leadership describes the environment as very team-oriented, with a lot of people who genuinely enjoy working together and spending time together outside of work. The company invests in training, project manager development, annual retreats, and team-building events, including things like K1 racing and other group activities.

This is a work-hard, play-hard group, but in a real way, not the corporate brochure version where “culture” means stale bagels and a branded water bottle.

Ownership Potential

One of the biggest selling points is the long-term upside.

The firm currently has a small shareholder group and is looking to broaden ownership over time. For the right person, there could be a legitimate opportunity to become eligible for shareholder consideration within approximately two to three years, based on performance, leadership, client management, and overall contribution to the firm.

That makes this role especially attractive for someone who does not just want another project manager title. This is for someone who wants a path toward ownership, influence, and long-term career growth.

Compensation and Work Expectations

The expected workload is typical for a busy consulting engineering environment, generally around 45 to 50 hours per week.

However, the company pays straight-time overtime for hours worked over 40, or employees may choose comp time. The role is also bonus eligible.

That combination matters. A lot of firms expect the extra hours. Not all of them actually pay for them. Tiny detail. Big difference.

Summary

This is an excellent opportunity for a Southern California geotechnical engineer who wants more than just another project management role.

The right person will step into:

• A strong backlog of existing work
• Long-standing client relationships
• Large-scale residential development projects
• A collaborative team culture
• A leadership gap they can realistically grow into
• A potential path toward ownership/shareholder consideration

For someone with the right technical background, local market experience, and client-facing potential, this could be a very strong long-term move.