Principal Engineer - Materials Coatings

Mc Dermott; Dubai; On-site; AED 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Mc Dermott in Dubai is looking for a Principal Engineer - Materials Coatings with a focus on complex metallurgy-related challenges. This senior role requires expertise in materials selection, coatings, and risk-based inspection for offshore and energy projects.

The ideal candidate has over 15 years of experience and a strong engineering background, ready to lead technical teams and ensure project execution meets specifications.

Qualifications

• 15-20 years of oil and gas experience with a major contractor or consultant.
• Strong background in materials engineering, metallurgy, coatings, and design techniques.
• Ability to lead engineering teams and resolve complex metallurgy-related problems.

Responsibilities

• Provide advanced technical expertise across engineering phases.
• Lead small metallurgy teams and manage assigned work.
• Prepare and review design calculations and technical analyses.

Skills

Materials engineering

Metallurgy

Coatings engineering

Oil and gas detail design

Risk-based inspection

Project coordination

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering

Job description

Principal Engineer - Materials Coatings in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is a senior Oil and Energy engineering role focused on metallurgy, materials selection, coatings, corrosion control, material specifications, risk-based inspection, vendor document review, technical audits, and discipline leadership for complex offshore, refinery, petrochemical, and EPCI projects. This position is ideal for an experienced materials and coatings engineering specialist who can solve complex metallurgy-related problems, lead technical deliverables, guide engineering teams, and support high-quality project execution.

Role Context

The Principal Engineer - Materials Coatings will provide advanced technical expertise across conceptual, FEED, and detailed engineering phases. The role requires strong knowledge of metallurgy, materials selection, coatings engineering, design codes, engineering specifications, material selection reports, risk-based inspection studies, failure investigations, vendor submittals, bid support, and multi-discipline project coordination. The successful candidate will work independently on complex metallurgy tasks, act as lead metallurgist on major or multi-office projects, supervise engineers, support proposals, and ensure engineering deliverables meet project specifications, MDR procedures, schedule requirements, and customer expectations.

Responsibilities

• Perform conceptual, FEED, and detailed materials and coatings engineering analyses according to design basis, project specifications, design codes, and standards.
• Apply advanced technical knowledge and business understanding to resolve complex metallurgy, materials, coatings, and nonstandard engineering issues.
• Prepare clear and accurate design calculations, technical analyses, design reports, procedures, and metallurgy-related documentation.
• Manage assigned work to meet objectives and forecast resource requirements when acting as Lead Engineer.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly and influence stakeholders toward practical engineering solutions.
• Lead small metallurgy teams when acting as Lead Metallurgy Engineer.
• Lead metallurgy engineering design for assigned work areas and ensure completion within approved schedule, budget, standards, MDR requirements, and project-specific procedures.
• Plan, organize, and direct metallurgy execution, including scope, deliverables, schedule, manpower resources, technical priorities, and discipline interfaces.
• Ensure discipline interfaces, responsibilities, inputs, outputs, and deliverables are clearly identified.
• Monitor discipline progress, productivity, engineering integrity, cost performance, and corrective actions.
• Act as project representative for metallurgy and materials engineering in meetings with project teams, customers, certifying authorities, auditors, third parties, and technical agencies.
• Act as coordinator, team lead, or manager for metallurgy group activities when required.
• Develop and review material selection deliverables, including material specifications, material selection reports, and material selection diagrams.
• Coordinate and contribute to risk-based inspection studies for refinery units, petrochemical units, offshore installations, and related project facilities.
• Perform vendor document reviews independently and ensure compliance with project specifications and technical requirements.
• Contribute to bid clarification meetings, bid reviews, pre-inspection meetings, and proposal activities related to materials and coatings.
• Work independently on complex metallurgy tasks and support common engineering tasks across project phases.
• Supervise, coach, and guide less experienced engineers on metallurgy procedures, standards, calculations, worksheets, software, requisitions, technical bid evaluations, and technical queries.
• Act as lead metallurgist on complex and multi-office execution projects when required.
• Coordinate, perform, and evaluate troubleshooting activities, failure investigations, and metallurgy-related inspection activities.
• Review project scope of work, specifications, schedules, contractual requirements, and inter-discipline requirements to identify concerns early and support resolution.
• Interpret contractual requirements as they relate to metallurgy and materials engineering execution.
• Prepare material selection reports and diagrams for refinery units, petrochemical units, offshore facilities, and energy project systems.
• Develop metallurgical technical specifications for assigned projects.
• Supervise and review the work of metallurgy engineers.
• Identify scope changes and raise change notifications with supporting documentation, estimates, and variation order input.
• Interface with other departments to obtain inputs required for discipline designs, drawings, reports, and technical specifications.
• Maintain close coordination with engineering disciplines, planning, project management, fabrication, procurement, QC, certification, document control, subcontractors, vendors, and customers.
• Document substantive communications related to technical decisions, assigned actions, and project commitments.
• Prepare bid proposal estimates, technical query reviews, execution statements, work-hour estimates, software requirements, and project-specific metallurgy inputs.
• Prepare bids, metallurgy engineering budgets, and execution plans, updating them as required during project execution.
• Raise technical queries to obtain missing information, clarify work scope, and maintain compliance with McDermott procedures, specifications, standards, practices, and operational requirements.
• Prepare, review, and approve metallurgy engineering design basis documents, philosophies, technical specifications, design reports, and procedures.
• Participate in finalizing deliverable lists and engineering deliverables while ensuring specification compliance and functional integrity.
• Review project schedules and fabrication schedules in relation to construction sequence, milestones, and metallurgy engineering scope.
• Attend project kick-off meetings, review meetings, vendor meetings, engineering meetings, and offshore site surveys when required.
• Provide technical direction and review support to designers producing deliverables related to engineering work areas.
• Provide design inputs to other disciplines so they can progress project deliverables.
• Review and approve vendor and subcontractor submittals, checking for compliance with project specifications and providing comments where required.
• Present technical issues and problems to customers in a timely manner and support resolution in accordance with project and company requirements.
• Supervise and guide assigned engineers and coordinate with project lead designers for discipline engineering and design deliverables.
• Maintain responsibility for engineering integrity within assigned work areas.
• Develop technical communication and presentation capability through technical papers, conferences, seminars, design presentations, and knowledge-sharing sessions.
• Lead metallurgy teams during internal audits, customer audits, third-party technical audits, and design reviews.

Ideal Profile

• Bachelor's degree or master's degree in Engineering.
• 15-20 years of oil and gas experience with a major contractor or consultant.
• Strong background in detailed design for oil and gas, refinery, petrochemical, offshore, or EPCI projects.
• Detailed knowledge of materials engineering, metallurgy, coatings, design techniques, analysis methods, standards, codes, and applicable guidelines.
• Strong experience preparing material selection reports, material selection diagrams, metallurgical specifications, and technical procedures.
• Knowledge of risk-based inspection studies, failure investigations, troubleshooting, vendor document review, and metallurgy-related inspections.
• Strong project coordination and engineering execution skills.
• Preferably registered as an Engineer in Training or member of a relevant professional engineering society where applicable.
• Willingness to become or continue as a subject matter expert in one or more metallurgy or materials engineering areas.
• Working knowledge of English, both written and spoken.
• HSE-conscious, TQM-conscious, and cost-conscious approach to engineering work.
• Eager to learn, open to continuous development, and committed to improving technical capability.
• Ability to work independently on complex metallurgy tasks and lead engineers on assigned projects.
• Ability to support reassignment to other departments, construction sites, fabrication yards, or project offices when required.
• Flexible approach with willingness to support colleagues during workload peaks, absences, or urgent project requirements.
• Ability to learn and apply current and future working methods, software applications, and engineering systems.
• Accredited engineering degree may be required for specific regions.

Skills Set

• Materials engineering
• Coatings engineering
• Metallurgy
• Principal engineering leadership
• Oil and gas detail design
• FEED engineering
• Conceptual design
• Material selection
• Material selection reports
• Material selection diagrams
• Metallurgical specifications
• Corrosion control
• Risk-based inspection
• RBI studies
• Failure investigation
• Troubleshooting
• Metallurgy-related inspections
• Vendor document review
• Subcontractor submittal review
• Technical bid evaluation
• Bid clarification meetings
• Pre-inspection meetings
• Proposal support
• Engineering design basis
• Technical specifications
• Design reports
• Engineering procedures
• Design calculations
• Offshore installations
• Refinery units
• Petrochemical units
• EPCI project execution
• Project coordination
• Scope change management
• Variation order support
• Technical queries
• Engineering audits
• Design reviews
• Customer interface
• Certifying authority coordination
• Fabrication coordination
• Procurement coordination
• QC coordination
• Certification support
• Discipline leadership
• Team mentoring
• Engineering integrity
• Cost monitoring
• HSE awareness
• TQM awareness
• Technical presentations

Why Join Us

This opportunity is ideal for a Principal Engineer - Materials Coatings who wants to lead specialist metallurgy, materials, and coatings engineering activities for major energy projects in Dubai. The role offers exposure to complex offshore and EPCI execution, material selection strategy, risk-based inspection, vendor coordination, failure investigation, technical audits, customer interface, and discipline leadership within a global engineering and construction environment.

About the Company

McDermott International, Ltd is a global engineering, procurement, construction, and installation company serving the energy industry. With more than 100 years of project delivery experience, McDermott supports complex offshore, subsea, onshore, and energy transition projects across international markets. The company delivers integrated solutions across the energy value chain, including subsea infrastructure, offshore platforms, fabrication, construction, offshore wind infrastructure, and sustainable energy developments through a global workforce operating across multiple countries.