Hydrology & Hydraulics Practice Leader

Hydrology And Hydraulics Practice Leader

GEI is seeking an experienced and recognized Hydrology And Hydraulics Practice Leader to lead and grow our H&H practice in California and support projects throughout the United States.

This position combines technical leadership, staff development, client engagement, business development, and project delivery. The successful candidate will work within GEI's seller-doer model, serving as a trusted technical advisor to clients while building a high-performing team and expanding GEI's capabilities in flood risk management, water resources planning, climate resilience, and hydraulic infrastructure.

The Practice Leader will collaborate across GEI's offices and technical disciplines to pursue and deliver complex, high-value projects for State, federal, and local agency clients.

Essential Responsibilities & Duties

• Provide strategic and technical leadership for GEI's hydrology and hydraulics practice.
• Establish a clear vision and growth strategy for the practice based on client needs, market opportunities, and GEI's broader water resources capabilities.
• Serve as a senior technical advisor and subject-matter expert on complex hydrologic and hydraulic studies, designs, and programs.
• Lead, review, and provide quality assurance for hydrologic, hydraulic, floodplain, reservoir operations, and water resources modeling.
• Guide the application of numerical models and analytical methods, including HEC-RAS, HEC-HMS, HEC-Res Sim, and other industry-standard modeling platforms.
• Lead technical evaluations involving flood risk management, climate change, extreme storm events, watershed hydrology, riverine and urban flooding, dam and spillway hydraulics, levees, channels, culverts, pump stations, and other hydraulic structures.
• Support the planning, analysis, and design of resilient water resources and flood management infrastructure.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with current and prospective clients, regulatory agencies, teaming partners, and industry leaders.
• Identify and pursue strategic business opportunities that expand GEI's H&H portfolio and strengthen long-term client relationships.
• Lead or support the preparation of proposals, scopes of work, fee estimates, technical approaches, presentations, and interviews.
• Serve as a project manager, principal-in-charge, or technical lead for selected projects and programs.
• Support successful project delivery by maintaining high standards for technical quality, schedule, budget, client service, and risk management.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop H&H professionals at all career levels.
• Establish consistent technical practices, quality-control procedures, modeling standards, and documentation expectations across the practice.
• Promote collaboration and effective sharing of staff and technical resources among offices, disciplines, and project teams.
• Support succession planning and create meaningful career-development opportunities for emerging technical and project leaders.
• Represent GEI at professional organizations, technical conferences, industry events, and client forums.

Experience Requirements

• Minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible experience in civil engineering, hydrology, hydraulics, flood management, or a closely related water resources field.
• Demonstrated experience leading technically complex and multidisciplinary water resources projects.
• Proven success developing client relationships, securing new work, and growing a technical practice or service area.
• Experience leading and developing technical staff and building collaborative, high-performing teams.
• Strong knowledge of California water resources, flood management institutions, regulatory requirements, and public agency clients is highly desirable.

Education and Licensure Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Master's degree with an emphasis in hydrology, hydraulics, or water resources engineering is preferred.
• Current registration as a Professional Civil Engineer in California, or the ability to obtain California registration within an agreed-upon period.

Minimum Qualifications

• Recognized technical expertise in hydrology, hydraulics, flood risk management, or related water resources disciplines.
• Advanced knowledge of hydrologic and hydraulic modeling methods and industry-standard software, including HEC-RAS and HEC-HMS. Experience with HEC-Res Sim and other one-dimensional, two-dimensional, watershed, reservoir operations, or flood forecasting models is desirable.
• Experience with the analysis and design of rivers, floodplains, levees, dams, spillways, channels, culverts, pump stations, and other hydraulic systems.
• Understanding of climate change analysis, extreme event hydrology, risk-informed decision-making, and resilient infrastructure planning is desirable.
• Familiarity with GIS, terrain data, remote sensing, CAD, and model-data management applications.
• Strong business development, client management, negotiation, and proposal-development…