West Tunnel Practice Lead

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At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves:
What is our impact on the world?

We believe water is more than a resource; it’s a shared responsibility. As part of our Water Business Group, you’ll help shape how communities manage water for generations to come. Your work will directly support public health, environmental sustainability, and infrastructure resilience by delivering safe drinking water, treating wastewater responsibly, developing sustainable water supplies, and protecting lives and property through flood control.

This key leadership role functions in partnership with some of the best and brightest water professionals in the industry. The Central/West Tunnel Practice Lead focuses on hydraulic tunnel engineering, overseeing design teams, client relations, project development, contract documents, and various types of tunnel and civil projects, including plumbing, wastewater, stormwater, and reclaimed water infrastructure.

• Direct involvement and oversight on select projects to manage tunnel‑related services
• Advising on and reviewing alternatives analyses and feasibility studies related to tunnels
• Risk management and risk awareness of the WBG tunneling portfolio
• Sub‑consultant vetting and working with teams for sub‑consultant risk management, including required quality assurance activities and scope provisions
• Assessment and enhancement of HDR’s capabilities regarding tunnel construction and trenchless technologies, including expertise with Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) and the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM)
• Collaboration with HDR’s WBG Tunnel Practice Lead and the Geotechnical Cross Sector
• Verify qualifications and training of field staff assigned to construction‑phase services related to tunnels

• Cost engineering support
• Skills and bench‑depth management for tunnel instrumentation, mechanical, civil, and mechanical consulting and design support for projects
• Assessing terrestrial and marine construction capabilities
• Numerical modeling to support tunnel projects, including modeling of ground/structure interaction and underpinning of buildings and utilities
• Technologies for coordination/production of design (calculations), design products, and contract documents
• Site characterization and geotechnical evaluations
• Construction engineering support
• Inspections and condition assessments
• Resiliency, operations, and emergency response issues

• Master’s degree
• Ability to communicate and coordinate work within an integrated multidisciplinary team
• Applicable experience in U.S. focused tunneling design and construction
• Leading the design and construction of tunnels and underground facilities for major projects
• Rock mechanics, soil mechanics, and geotechnical engineering experience in a wide variety of ground conditions
• Experience with SEM, NATM, SCL, EPBM, and cut‑and‑cover techniques
• Track record of industry‑facing publication and presentation of technical papers and active participation in professional organizations
• Ph.D. in engineering or related field
• Previous experience managing staff, clients, and contracts, and hiring staff for an engineering consulting firm (desired)
• Excellent marketing and business development skills in addition to contacts and relationships in the discipline
• Experience in numerical analysis such as FLAC, UDEC, PHASES2, PLAXIS 2D & 3D, MIDAS GTS, MODFLOW, etc. (plus)
• Ground‑structure‑interaction modelling (FEM or similar)
• Experience in large‑scale underground projects, urban tunneling, and tunnel rehabilitation
• Prior working experience in construction or working for a contractor
• Robust interpersonal skills and professional demeanor appropriate for interacting with clients, other design professionals, and colleagues