Senior Roadway Project Engineer

Senior Roadway Design Engineer

We're seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior Roadway Design Engineer to provide technical leadership in the geometric design and development of complex roadway projects across South Carolina. This position is ideal for an engineer with deep hands-on design experience, strong proficiency in advanced modeling tools, and a proven ability to guide multidisciplinary teams toward high-quality, SCDOT-compliant design solutions. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated experience delivering roadway design projects for SCDOT.

The key responsibilities of this role include:

• Lead the roadway design process from preliminary concepts through final construction plans, with a focus on geometric layout, horizontal/vertical alignment, corridor modeling, pavement design, and cross-section development.
• Develop and review detailed 2D and 3D roadway models using Open Roads or similar platforms, ensuring accuracy, constructability, and full compliance with SCDOT standards and design manuals.
• Serve as engineer-of-record or senior technical reviewer, performing rigorous independent QA/QC of plans, design calculations, digital terrain models, and plan production deliverables.
• Integrate roadway design with drainage, traffic engineering, structures, utilities, and environmental constraints, providing technical direction to ensure coordinated, efficient, and constructable designs.
• Interpret and apply federal, state, and local design criteria—including SCDOT, AASHTO, ADA, and safety requirements—to produce technically sound and defensible design solutions.
• Mentor junior engineers and modelers, offering guidance on design methodologies, software workflows, plan production standards, and best practices in roadway engineering.
• Support agency coordination with SCDOT and South Carolina localities, addressing technical comments, resolving design issues, and facilitating approvals of plans and reports.
• Conduct field reviews and design-related site assessments to validate existing conditions, evaluate constraints, and ensure design intent aligns with real-world conditions.
• Prepare high-quality technical documentation, including design reports, roadway calculations, modeling summaries, cost estimates, specifications and supporting analyses for agency submittals.

Project Management and Leadership:
Plan, develop, coordinate and direct large projects or engineering programs. Supervise subordinate supervisors or team leaders. Conduct research in problem areas of scope and complexity. Ability and willingness to research and work in different geographies. Serve as a staff specialist, applying advanced theories and concepts. Assist in proposals, negotiations, and presentations. Collaborate with internal departments for client relationship development. Manage work routines and assign job activities.

Attend project team meetings. Provide task performance reports. Coordinate with other practices and sub-consultants. Provide technical oversight and guidance. Serve as task manager of select projects.

Training, Development, and Compliance:
Mentor and train staff. Comply with all KCI policies and procedures. Ensure projects comply with ISO standards. Conduct employee performance appraisals, when applicable. Develop professional relationships through active participation in industry associations and community involvement. Identify and assist in attracting talent to KCI.

Financial Management and Reporting:
Complete all tasks on time and within budget while fully meeting project scope. Operate within specified (corporate or project) budget parameters. Assist with receivables management. Work with the Project Manager to actively manage project budgets. Achieve or exceed budgets individual utilization targets.

Project Execution and Technical Oversight:
Conduct site visits and gather data. Prepare design calculations, drawings, specifications, and cost estimates. Review and approve shop drawings. Compare field data to base plan. Prepare preliminary concept designs. Read and interpret technical documents.

* Essential Duties and Responsibilities are the basic job functions that an employee must be able to perform, with or…