Quick Summary
We are seeking a Senior Coastal Engineer – Technical Lead with 20+ years of experience in coastal engineering, hydraulics, and water resources to lead and grow our coastal engineering capabilities.
Responsibilities
~1 min readWe are seeking a Senior Coastal Engineer – Technical Lead with 20+ years of experience in coastal engineering, hydraulics, and water resources to lead and grow our coastal engineering capabilities.
This is a highly technical leadership position for an accomplished engineer who can provide technical direction on complex coastal, waterfront, and hydraulic projects while mentoring engineering staff and helping establish best practices across the organization.
The position offers a flexible work environment with a combination of in-office and remote work.
- Serve as the technical lead for coastal and hydraulic engineering projects.
- Lead engineering analyses, modeling, design, and technical decision-making for complex coastal and waterfront projects.
- Provide expertise in coastal processes, waves, tides, currents, storm surge, flooding, sediment transport, erosion, scour, and hydraulics.
- Lead or review hydrodynamic, wave, coastal, and hydraulic modeling.
- Lead the development and design of shoreline protection, seawalls, revetments, breakwaters, waterfront facilities, dredging/navigation improvements, flood protection, drainage, and coastal resilience projects.
- Establish design criteria, technical approaches, and engineering standards.
- Provide senior-level QA/QC and technical review of calculations, models, reports, plans, and specifications.
- Mentor engineers and develop the technical capabilities of the coastal engineering team.
- Serve as a trusted technical advisor to clients and represent the firm in technical meetings and design reviews.
- Support project pursuits, technical proposals, and development of coastal engineering opportunities.
- Bachelor's degree in Civil, Coastal, Ocean, Water Resources Engineering, or a related engineering discipline; advanced degree preferred.
- 20+ years of relevant engineering experience, with significant coastal and hydraulic engineering experience.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license required.
- Recognized technical expertise in coastal engineering and hydraulics.
- Strong understanding of hydrodynamic, wave, hydraulic, and coastal-process modeling.
- Experience with tools such as Delft3D, ADCIRC, SWAN, MIKE, HEC-RAS, XBeach, or comparable modeling platforms.
- Demonstrated experience leading complex engineering analyses and designs.
- Strong engineering judgment with the ability to evaluate modeling results, challenge assumptions, and develop practical and constructible solutions.
- Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor technical staff and communicate effectively with clients, agencies, and multidisciplinary teams.
At GFT, a privately held AEC firm, we innovate where transportation, water, power, and buildings converge. We call this the Infrastructure of Life. We measure our success by the strength of our relationships – that’s why we’re the employer of choice for 5,000+ of the industry’s brightest engineers, planners, architects, inspectors, designers, and more.
Our clients choose us for our expertise and prefer us for our nimble approach, creativity, and personal touch. Backed by over a century’s experience, together we’re building a lasting legacy for future generations: stronger communities, a healthier planet, and better lives.GFT: Ingenuity That Shapes Lives™ is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veterans’ status or other characteristics protected by law.
Unsolicited resumes from third party agencies will be considered the property GFT.
GFT does require the successful completion of a criminal background check for all advertised positions.
Location: Chicago, ILCore Business Hours: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PMEmployment Status: Full-Time
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Location & Eligibility
Listing Details
- Posted
- October 13, 2026
- First seen
- October 13, 2026
- Last seen
- October 13, 2026
Posting Health
- Days active
- 0
- Repost count
- 0
- Trust Level
- 55%
- Scored at
- October 13, 2026
Signal breakdown
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