Principal Mechanical Engineer

Principal Mechanical Engineer

Location:

Lenexa, KS, US Job Level: Senior Level Home District/Group:
Kiewit Power Engineering Department:
Design Engineering Market:
Power

Employment Type:

Full Time

Position Overview:

As a Principal Mechanical Engineer in our power group at Kiewit, you will serve as a technical authority for the mechanical engineering scope of complex power projects. You will guide safe, constructible, cost-effective designs for greenfield and brownfield facilities, including simple-cycle and combined-cycle generation, cogeneration, and other evolving power technologies. Your work will shape the balance of plant systems and mechanical packages that make reliable power generation possible.

You will provide mechanical guidance and expertise across pursuits, feasibility studies, and front-end engineering. You will also support detailed design efforts including procurement, construction support, commissioning and startup. Key functions of the role will be performing technical risk assessments, independent design reviews on high-risk designs and troubleshooting field issues. At Kiewit, designs become facilities built by one of the industry's largest self-perform contractors.

This is an opportunity to provide principal-level technical leadership, mentor engineers and designers, improve mechanical standards, and help deliver next-generation power infrastructure across North America.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the mechanical discipline technical authority and/or Mechanical Engineering Lead for EPC power projects, accountable for technical execution, deliverable quality, constructability, safety, and compliance with project scope, schedule, and budget.
• Lead or oversee mechanical engineering from proposals, feasibility studies, and front-end engineering through detailed design, procurement, construction support, commissioning, startup, performance testing, and as-built documentation.
• Establish and approve mechanical design criteria, system descriptions, design bases, engineering execution plans, equipment lists, line lists, mechanical load and auxiliary power estimates, and discipline deliverable plans.
• Direct the design and integration of plant and balance-of-plant systems, including gas turbine and steam turbine interfaces, HRSGs and boilers, steam cycles, boiler feedwater and condensate, cooling water, water treatment, fuel gas and fuel oil, compressed air, hydrogen, chemical systems, drains and vents, and plant utility systems.
• Perform or approve sizing calculations and specifications for major equipment and packages, including combustion turbine generators, steam turbine generators, HRSGs, boilers, condensers, cooling towers, pumps, heat exchangers, compressors and blowers, tanks, pressure vessels, and water treatment equipment.
• Develop and review P&IDs, equipment datasheets, mechanical specifications, general arrangements, piping layouts, 3D model interfaces, and procurement packages for mechanical systems and components.
• Optimize plant layout and piping routes using process diagrams, site constraints, access, operations, maintenance, safety, lifting and removal requirements, thermal expansion, and future expansion considerations.
• Oversee piping flexibility and thermal stress reviews, pipe support design, valve and in-line specialty selection, insulation requirements, and mechanical interface reviews; apply applicable ASME, NFPA, AWWA, plumbing, and project-specific codes and standards.
• Prepare technical scopes of work, RFQ packages, bid evaluations, recommendation summaries, and vendor coordination plans for major equipment and mechanical packages.
• Review and approve vendor drawings, calculations, data sheets, deviations, and equipment documentation for compliance with project requirements, specifications, codes, and applicable company standards.
• Lead model reviews, constructability workshops, value engineering, design risk reviews, and field walkdowns; incorporate construction and operations feedback into practical, cost-effective engineering solutions.
• Provide technical support to construction, commissioning, startup, and performance testing teams, including resolution of RFIs, design changes,…