Senior Coastal Engineer

Environmental Science Associates (ESA) seeks a highly experienced Senior Coastal Engineer to provide leadership for ESA’s coastal engineering practice with staff located throughout the Pacific and Gulf coasts. We are looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic team member with 20+ years of work experience, a passion for coastal processes and engineering with nature, and the desire to help lead, train and mentor our top-notch coastal engineering group.

Who You Are

A professionally licensed coastal engineer with 20+ years of professional experience designing and managing coastal engineering projects with an emphasis on nature-based solutions, coastal resilience, and flood management along the Pacific Coast and/or the Gulf Coast.

You have led and managed complex coastal engineering tasks/projects of moderate complexity that have included preparing engineering evaluations, flooding and/or erosion studies, technical reports, design plan sets, specifications, cost estimates, construction schedules and construction support. You are highly familiar with all the engineering steps to get from concept to construction bid package, including working closely with related engineering fields such as geotechnical, structural, and hydraulic engineers and landscape architects.

You have led, managed, mentored, and/or supervised multidisciplinary design and engineering teams including delegating and guiding Engineers through simple to complex tasks. You are an effective communicator who fosters teamwork and inclusion, and shares knowledge and expertise with more junior staff through mentoring and direct supervision.  You have provided senior engineer review and oversight on large-scale coastal engineering projects, with an emphasis on Living Shorelines, nature-based solutions and multi-benefit flood and erosion protection.

You hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher in coastal engineering or a closely related discipline, and have a Professional Engineers license in California, Washington, Oregon and/or Florida.

What You Will Do for ESA

Help plan, design and/or manage a wide of array of challenging and exciting projects including Living Shorelines design, ecosystem restoration, climate change resilience, fisheries habitat enhancement, engineering with nature, and coastal flood & erosion management.  

As a senior leader, contribute to annual and long-term strategic planning for our coastal engineering and coastal resilience practice.  In addition, cultivate best practices in civil engineering; facilitate knowledge sharing and technical training; mentor and manage more junior staff; and develop and oversee implementation of engineering QA/QC protocols specific for coastal engineering and wave analysis. 

Help manage workflow and make staffing and recruitment recommendations.  Collaborate with other engineers, hydrologists, fluvial geomorphologists, landscape architects, ecologists, biologists, and other specialists in advancing coastal engineering and habitat restoration approaches and other project solutions from concept to implementation. 

Thrive in a fast-paced, challenging environment and be able to manage multiple responsibilities and deadlines, while working on a team or independently.

Be located in one of ESA’s Regions:  Southeast (Gulf Coast), Northwest, or California.

What’s Special About ESA

Joining ESA means becoming part of a close-knit team of environmental professionals who contribute to outstanding projects, improve environmental stewardship, and advance a more sustainable and resilient future for our communities and wild places.

At ESA, we provide benefits such as medical, dental, and vision insurance (paid at 70% for you AND your family), annual allocations of company shares through our ESOP, a 401(k) plan with company match, annual performance-based bonuses, and paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays, to name a few.

We also provide specific programs whether you want to further your technical expertise, sharpen your business acumen, or help lead the next generation of employee-owners. We want to support you in reaching your career goals through tuition reimbursement, professional development bonuses, and attendance at conferences.

What’s Special About ESA’s Coastal Engineering Group

Our Coastal Engineering team is leading efforts throughout the West and Gulf Coasts to understand the increasing vulnerability of our shores, infrastructure, and communities and working to develop adaptation strategies and sound land use planning and policy.  ESA has particular expertise in sea-level rise evaluation, flood hazard and erosion risk assessment and management, and nature-based adaptation solutions. We integrate traditional engineering expertise with an understanding of natural hydrologic processes to develop innovative, creative, and sustainable green and grey solutions.

We are implementing innovative and creative Living Shoreline and nature-based sea level rise adaptation projects throughout the West and Gulf coasts, including gravel beaches, horizontal levees, oyster reefs, and marsh creation with reused dredged sediments.  We have designed some of the most notable managed shoreline retreat projects that reduce coastal hazards while increasing recreational opportunities, including Birch Bay and Lowman Beach in the Northwest, and Surfer’s Point and San Francisco’s Ocean Beach in California.  Along the Gulf of Mexico, we have worked with the Gulf States, counties, parishes, and federal agencies to plan and prioritize coastal restoration projects funded by the RESTORE Act.  We also specialize in coastal lagoons and have developed management and enhancement plans for dozens of lagoons throughout the West Coast.

The coastal engineering group is part of our 80-person Environmental Hydrology & Design practice, which includes civil and coastal engineers, hydrologists, hydrographers, geomorphologists and landscape architects. Much of our work is oriented toward the restoration of habitat and ecosystem function, often as part of multi-benefit flood management and/or recreation projects. As a highly-integrated team, we value creative thinking, teamwork, and a passion for protecting our fragile yet precious creeks, rivers, wetlands, and coasts.

To read about some of our exciting projects, check out these links:

• Ocean Beach Master Plan
• Heron's Head Park Shoreline Resilience Project
• Giant Marsh Living Shoreline
• Surfers’ Point Shoreline Management 
• Oceanside Local Coastal Program Update
• Aliso Creek Estuary Restoration
• Philippe Park Living Shorelines Project
• Rock Creek Ponds Ecosystem Restoration

#LI-ZV

Who We Are 

We are a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm who values diversity and inclusion and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique. Our culture is built on mutual respect, recognizing that our variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives leads to better solutions, which fosters our continued success for our employee-owners and clients. 

In accordance with ESA’s duty and responsibility to provide and maintain a safe workplace that is free of known hazards and to minimize the exposure to potential hazards, any employee who works from an ESA office or conducts any other in-person ESA work-related activity is required to submit their proof of vaccination status or have received an approved exemption and accommodation in states which this applies. 

ESA is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. (EOE M/V/F/D)