Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Arcadis; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 96,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

Arcadis, the world’s leading company in sustainable design and engineering, is seeking a Senior Geotechnical Engineer to join our Vancouver team. This role involves leading and delivering engineering work on major infrastructure projects in civil, transportation, ports, and marine sectors.

With at least 10 years of geotechnical engineering experience, the successful candidate will oversee geotechnical investigations and analyses, ensuring high technical quality and client satisfaction. The position offers the opportunity to work on significant projects like the Fraser River Tunnel Project and contribute to industry-defining work.

Qualifications

• Registered as a Professional Engineer in British Columbia or any Canadian province.
• Minimum 10 years of geotechnical engineering experience on large infrastructure projects.
• Proven ability to mentor and guide junior engineers and effective collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver geotechnical engineering work on various projects.
• Plan and oversee geotechnical site investigations, ensuring technical execution meets project requirements.
• Prepare design reports, calculations, drawings, and specifications to ensure accuracy and compliance.

Skills

Geotechnical engineering

Deep foundations design

Shallow foundations design

Seismic assessment

Technical writing

Project management

Education

Graduate degree in geotechnical engineering or related discipline

Tools

PLAXIS

AutoCAD

Civil 3D

Job description

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. We are more than 34,000 people, in over 30 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description

As part of our continued growth in Western Canada, Arcadis is seeking a Senior Geotechnical Engineer to join our expanding team in Vancouver. This role is suited for a technically strong and motivated professional with experience delivering large and complex infrastructure projects in the roads, rail and transit, and port and marine sectors.

Reporting to the Geotechnics Discipline Team Lead, the successful candidate will play an important role in shaping and delivering multi-disciplinary projects. You will support planning, design, and construction phases while drawing on Arcadis global network of technical specialists. You will work closely with both private and public sector clients, mentor and guide junior colleagues, and contribute to strengthening our geotechnical practice in Western Canada.

Our team is currently involved in major infrastructure programs such as the Fraser River Tunnel Project in Vancouver and the Ontario Line transit project in Toronto. This position provides the opportunity to contribute to industry-defining work from concept through detailed design and into construction delivery.

Role accountabilities

In this role, you will lead and deliver geotechnical engineering work on a variety of civil, transportation, ports, and marine projects, guiding them from concept through construction. Your primary focus will be to ensure high technical quality and client satisfaction at every stage.

You will be responsible for planning, coordinating, and overseeing geotechnical site investigations and exploration programs, including developing the scope of work, budgeting, scheduling, and ensuring technical execution meets project requirements.

You will interpret and characterize ground conditions based on geotechnical and geophysical data, translating these findings into practical design parameters and recommendations.

Additionally, you will perform and review detailed geotechnical analyses and designs for shallow and deep foundations, retaining structures, excavations, slopes, ground improvement, and seismic and soil-structure interaction assessments. Part of your responsibilities will involve preparing and reviewing design reports, calculations, drawings, specifications, quantities, cost estimates, and other technical deliverables to ensure accuracy and compliance with project standards.

During the construction phase, you will provide technical services such as reviewing contractor submissions, offering field support, and assessing any changed conditions that may arise. You will manage multidisciplinary project scopes, schedules, budgets, and risks, ensuring coordinated and efficient delivery across teams.

As a leader within the team, you will mentor and guide junior and intermediate engineers, supporting their technical development and maintaining a high standard of practice. You will also support and lead client engagement and proposal development, which includes work planning, budgeting, and preparing compelling, winning submissions. Your expertise and leadership will be instrumental in the successful delivery of complex geotechnical projects.

Qualifications & Experience

• Registered as a Professional Engineer in British Columbia or any other Canadian Province.
• Minimum 10 years of geotechnical engineering experience on transportation, civil, ports, marine or large infrastructure projects.
• Graduate degree in geotechnical engineering or a closely related discipline is preferred.
• Strong proficiency in interpreting ground investigations and developing geotechnical parameters, and preparing Geotechnical Interpretative Reports (GIR) and Geotechnical Design Reports (GDR).
• Proven design experience with deep and shallow foundations, retaining structures, excavations and tunnels, slopes and embankments, and a range of ground improvement techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to perform geotechnical seismic work including liquefaction assessment, mitigation strategies, and seismic numerical modelling using PLAXIS or equivalent tools.
• Experience with marine or port structures, offshore geotechnics, soft soils, or rock engineering is considered an asset.
• High level of technical competence with geotechnical and numerical modelling software including PLAXIS, RS Pile, LPile, APile, SHAFT, GROUP, Seep W, Slope W, Slide2, CPeTIT, CLiq, LiqSV, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Settle3 or equivalent.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and problem solving skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and guide junior engineers, support knowledge sharing, and foster a positive and collaborative learning environment.
• Excellent technical writing skills with proven experience preparing high-quality engineering reports, memoranda, and design documentation.
• Strong understanding of the Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual (CFEM) 2023 and the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code CSA S6‑19 and CSA S6‑25.

The salary range for this position is $96,000 – $145,000. The base salary represents Arcadis’ hiring range for this position. Actual salaries will vary and will be based on various factors such as location, skills, experience, and qualification for the role.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging: We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. We are dedicated to a policy of non‑discrimination in employment on any basis including race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by law.