Senior Principal Piping Engineer - EPC

Mc Dermott; Dubai; On-site; AED 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Job summary

McDermott is looking for a Senior Principal Piping Engineer based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The successful candidate will provide strategic direction for piping engineering across major oil and gas projects, with responsibilities including leading engineering teams and ensuring project delivery complies with standards and schedules.

This role demands over 20 years of experience in piping engineering, specifically within EPC environments, and the ability to influence decision-making on engineering execution and resources.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of oil and gas experience with a major contractor.
• Substantial experience in piping engineering and design for EPC projects.
• Recognized technical authority in piping materials and engineering leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead piping engineering and design execution on complex EPC projects.
• Direct engineers and specialists throughout project execution.
• Ensure discipline deliverables are reviewed and approved according to procedures.

Skills

Conceptual piping engineering

Detailed EPC design

Pipe stress analysis

Material requisitions

Technical bid evaluation

Education

Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Engineering

Tools

Engineering software for piping design

Job description

Senior Principal Piping Engineer - EPC – role Snapshot – Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Industry: Oil and Energy – Function: Mechanical Engineering – Experience: 20 years – Job Type: Full-time

Overview

Senior Principal Piping Engineer – EPC in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is a senior Oil and Energy opportunity for a highly experienced piping specialist with extensive expertise in conceptual design, FEED, detailed engineering, EPC execution, piping materials, stress analysis, material control, and multidisciplinary project leadership. McDermott International, Ltd is hiring an engineering authority capable of directing large technical teams, resolving exceptional piping challenges, controlling discipline resources, and delivering complex offshore and onshore projects safely and commercially.

Job Details

Country: United Arab Emirates City: Dubai Industry: Oil and Energy Function: Mechanical Engineering Salary: 55000-75000 Estimated salary range based on similar jobs in the job city; please confirm the final offer with the employer. Gender: Any Candidate Nationality: Any Job Type: Full-time

Role Context

The Senior Principal Piping Engineer will provide strategic and technical direction for piping engineering and design activities across major oil and gas developments. The position requires advanced judgment, innovative problem‑solving, commercial awareness, and the ability to influence project decisions that affect engineering execution, construction readiness, material expenditure, workforce allocation, and business performance. Working independently within established engineering policies, the specialist will develop practical solutions for highly complex piping systems and provide leadership from early project definition through procurement, fabrication, construction, and final delivery. When assigned as Lead Engineer, the role assumes full accountability for discipline scope, design integrity, deliverables, workforce planning, cost, schedule, productivity, interfaces, and change control.

Core Duties

• Perform and direct conceptual studies, FEED activities, and detailed piping engineering in accordance with the design basis, contractual requirements, project specifications, applicable codes, and industry standards.
• Resolve highly complex piping engineering issues through technically reliable, constructible, and cost-effective solutions.
• Apply innovative design thinking to problems involving piping layout, materials, stress, supports, fabrication, construction, and project interfaces.
• Develop discipline plans aligned with project and business objectives.
• Forecast engineering resources, assign specialist personnel, and monitor workforce requirements throughout project execution.
• Communicate complex technical recommendations clearly to engineers, project leadership, customers, vendors, and certifying authorities.
• Anticipate technical objections and present evidence-based solutions that support timely decision-making.
• Lead large piping engineering and design teams on technically demanding and nonstandard EPC projects.
• Ensure engineering activities are completed within approved schedules, work‑hour budgets, quality requirements, and project procedures.
• Define piping discipline scope, deliverables, staffing requirements, execution priorities, and design responsibilities.
• Maintain accountability for discipline progress, productivity, technical quality, and corrective action.
• Represent the piping discipline during project meetings, customer reviews, technical audits, vendor discussions, and third‑party assessments.
• Train and mentor engineers, designers, material specialists, stress engineers, and developing discipline leads.
• Supervise engineering support provided by other McDermott operating offices and monitor the quality of distributed work.
• Coordinate closely with process, mechanical, civil, structural, instrumentation, electrical, safety, fabrication, construction, procurement, quality, planning, cost control, and document control teams.
• Evaluate construction yard and customer requirements when developing engineering solutions.
• Apply commercial judgment when selecting materials, defining work scopes, reviewing bids, and recommending technical solutions.
• Maintain engineering records, design files, calculations, technical correspondence, and project data within approved systems.
• Define engineering, construction, and fabrication yard scopes of work.
• Prepare piping specifications, design criteria, engineering procedures, and technical documentation.
• Develop the technical content of piping subcontracts and specialist service packages.
• Review vendor data, supplier documentation, calculations, drawings, and manufacturing information.
• Prepare and approve technical bid evaluations, recommendations, and clarification responses.
• Support department improvement initiatives, engineering standardization, digital tools, and more efficient working methods.

Piping Materials and Procurement

• Specify materials for piping components based on process conditions, project requirements, corrosion considerations, design temperature, pressure, and applicable piping classes.
• Provide preliminary piping data and design inputs to relevant engineering disciplines.
• Prepare piping material requisitions and ensure they accurately reflect approved project specifications.
• Review supplier quotations for completeness, technical compliance, exclusions, deviations, and scope coverage.
• Evaluate vendor bids and provide technically justified purchasing recommendations.
• Review seller documents against purchase orders, requisitions, specifications, and agreed technical requirements.
• Prepare inputs and reports for computerized piping material management systems.
• Coordinate piping procurement activities with buyers, vendors, expeditors, inspection teams, and project management.
• Monitor supplier documentation and support resolution of technical procurement issues.
• Prepare the technical sections of requisitions for piping bulk materials, specialty items, supports, and related equipment.

Material Take‑Off and Quantity Control

• Lead material take‑off and quantity control engineers across assigned projects.
• Ensure piping material take‑offs are accurate, traceable, timely, and aligned with design maturity.
• Maintain responsibility for piping material quantity development, checking, reconciliation, and reporting.
• Prepare and secure approval of the Piping Material Take‑Off Planning Form before project MTO activities begin.
• Produce an MTO Close‑Out Report following completion of the bulk material take‑off process.
• Establish controls for preliminary, intermediate, and final material quantities.
• Analyze changes in piping quantities and explain significant increases, reductions, or project trends.
• Prepare material control reports for project management, procurement, cost control, and construction teams.
• Identify potential material shortages, excess quantities, duplicate procurement, and schedule risks.
• Support project cost forecasting through accurate quantity analysis and material status reporting.

Pipe Stress and Support Engineering

• Perform and review advanced pipe stress calculations for critical piping systems.
• Assess sustained, thermal, occasional, dynamic, and equipment nozzle loading conditions.
• Recommend routing modifications, flexibility improvements, restraint arrangements, and stress mitigation measures.
• Coordinate required piping layout changes with plant design engineers and designers.
• Design technically adequate and constructible pipe support arrangements.
• Develop support concepts for high‑temperature, high‑pressure, dynamic, and heavy piping systems.
• Communicate support loads and structural requirements to civil and structural engineering teams.
• Prepare pipe support requisitions and technical documentation in accordance with project requirements.
• Review vendor‑designed supports, spring hangers, expansion joints, and specialist restraint systems.
• Verify that piping stress solutions comply with project criteria and relevant engineering codes.
• Perform calculations using approved engineering software and validated manual methods where necessary.

Project Leadership

• Assume full responsibility for piping engineering and design execution on large, unique, and complex EPC projects.
• Direct engineers, designers, specialists, and external engineering offices assigned to the project.
• Control discipline work hour budgets, material expenditure, progress, productivity, and technical performance.
• Explain engineering execution strategies to project management, discipline personnel, and customers.
• Recommend best practices that improve engineering quality, project efficiency, constructability, and cost performance.
• Work closely with the Design Coordinator, area engineering leads, construction representatives, and fabrication teams.
• Coach potential Lead Engineers and develop future piping discipline leadership capability.
• Manage engineering change proactively and explain its effect on schedule, cost, resources, procurement, and business objectives.
• Identify scope changes and maintain supporting records for variation orders and commercial recovery.
• Develop deliverable registers, engineering schedules, progress measurement systems, and discipline execution forecasts.
• Prepare man‑hour estimates, capital expenditure inputs, staffing plans, and engineering progress reports.
• Coordinate priorities and interfaces with Project Engineering Managers and Project Managers.
• Allocate work based on project needs, individual competencies, and engineering complexity.
• Ensure discipline deliverables are reviewed, approved, issued, and filed according to project procedures.
• Provide structured feedback to departmental management on performance, staffing, systems, and technical improvements.
• Monitor market developments, industry practices, engineering technologies, and customer expectations.
• Promote effective use of technology, automation, digital engineering, and innovative design methods.

Engineering Governance and Interfaces

• Maintain discipline engineering integrity across all assigned work areas.
• Establish and manage interfaces with every relevant engineering and project function.
• Ensure preliminary and final piping information is issued to dependent disciplines on schedule.
• Review interdisciplinary comments and coordinate timely resolution of design conflicts.
• Support plot plan, model, layout, access, maintainability, operability, and constructability reviews.
• Coordinate piping design requirements with fabrication yards and construction sites.
• Ensure designs reflect practical installation, inspection, testing, commissioning, operation, and maintenance needs.
• Participate in project technical reviews, audits, safety studies, constructability sessions, and customer workshops.
• Support HSE and quality objectives throughout engineering execution.
• Apply cost‑conscious engineering without compromising safety, code compliance, reliability, or project requirements.
• Maintain effective handovers between project phases, offices, departments, and individual engineers.
• Provide temporary support to other projects, departments, fabrication yards, or construction sites when required.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree in Engineering from an accredited institution.
• More than 20 years of oil and gas experience with a major engineering contractor or consultancy.
• Substantial experience performing detailed piping engineering and design for complex EPC projects.
• Proven involvement in conceptual engineering, FEED, detailed design, procurement, fabrication, and construction support.
• Recognized technical authority in piping engineering, piping materials, stress analysis, design coordination, or engineering leadership.
• Detailed knowledge of piping design methods, engineering analysis techniques, technical standards, codes, and specifications.
• Seasoned understanding of piping components, material specifications, piping classes, supports, fabrication, and installation requirements.
• Strong knowledge of engineering software used for piping design, stress analysis, material management, document control, and project execution.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large engineering and design teams independently.
• Experience controlling discipline scope, deliverables, workforce resources, man‑hours, schedule, cost, and productivity.
• Strong project coordination, planning, reporting, and execution capability.
• Experience preparing specifications, requisitions, technical bid evaluations, subcontracts, and vendor document reviews.
• Commercial awareness with the ability to evaluate engineering decisions against cost, schedule, procurement, and construction impacts.
• Ability to communicate technical subjects effectively in written and spoken English.
• Strong organizational, supervisory, coaching, and personnel development skills.
• Professional Engineer registration or membership in a recognized engineering society is preferred.
• Commitment to HSE, total quality management, technical integrity, and cost‑conscious engineering.
• Flexibility to support other departments, McDermott offices, construction sites, and fabrication yards when business needs require.

Skills Set

• Conceptual piping engineering
• FEED engineering
• Detailed EPC design
• Piping layout and design
• Piping material specification
• Piping class development
• Material requisitions
• Technical bid evaluation
• Vendor document review
• Material take‑off management
• Material quantity control
• Piping material management systems
• Pipe stress analysis
• Critical piping systems
• Pipe support engineering
• Piping specifications
• Engineering subcontract preparation
• Fabrication yard support
• Construction engineering support
• Multidisciplinary coordination
• Design and constructability reviews
• Engineering change management
• Man‑hour control
• Progress measurement
• Resource forecasting
• Cost and schedule management
• Engineering team leadership
• Technical mentoring
• Customer interface management
• EPC project execution

Why Join Us

This position provides an opportunity to shape the engineering direction of some of the energy industry's most complex piping systems and EPC developments. The Senior Principal Piping Engineer will influence technical strategy, project economics, construction readiness, material management, and engineering performance while leading experienced professionals across international offices and project locations. The role offers substantial technical authority, direct exposure to major customers and project leadership, and the ability to advance piping engineering methods through digital technology, innovation, and practical project experience. It is well suited to an established specialist seeking long‑term professional impact within a global organization delivering offshore, subsea, onshore, and energy transition infrastructure.

About the Company

McDermott International, Ltd provides engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and technology solutions across the global energy value chain. Drawing on more than 100 years of engineering and project delivery experience, the company supports complex offshore, subsea, onshore, and emerging energy developments through an international workforce operating across numerous countries.