Principal Structural Engineer

McDermott International, Ltd; Chennai District; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

McDermott International, Ltd. in Chennai seeks a Principal Structural Engineer to interpret complex issues and lead engineering design across projects in the oil and gas sector. You will guide discipline execution, coordinate with project management, and mentor engineers, ensuring adherence to standards and safety practices.

The role demands deep structural knowledge, strong leadership, and the ability to deliver high-quality analyses and reports while maintaining budgets and schedules.

Qualifications

• Bachelors or Masters in engineering required and professional registration preferred.
• 15–20 years oil & gas experience with major contractor or consultant focusing on detail design.
• Fluent in English; strong leadership, supervision, and organization skills.
• Deep knowledge of structural design codes, standards, and project execution.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and check work of senior/ junior engineers and conduct peer reviews.
• Perform conceptual, FEED, and detailed analyses and design per specifications, codes, and standards.
• Prepare detailed design calculations, reports and procedures; ensure schedules and budgets are met.
• Lead discipline engineering on medium to large EPC projects and interface with management.
• Provide engineering support, reviews, and technical bid evaluations as required.

Skills

Structural analysis

Team leadership

Problem solving

Communication

Design reviews

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Engineering

Tools

STAAD.Pro

ANSYS

SACS

Job description

Job Overview

The Principal Structural Engineer is responsible for interpreting internal or external business issues and recommending best practices. They will be tasked with solving complex structural-related problems and will work independently with minimal guidance. The Principal Structural Engineer may be responsible for leading functional teams or projects and is regarded as a specialist in the field of structural engineering. As such, they must have in-depth expertise in structural engineering as well as broad knowledge of the structural discipline within the engineering function.

Job Description

The Principal Structural Engineer is responsible for interpreting internal or external business issues and recommending best practices. They will be tasked with solving complex structural-related problems and will work independently with minimal guidance. The Principal Structural Engineer may be responsible for leading functional teams or projects and is regarded as a specialist in the field of structural engineering. As such, they must have in-depth expertise in structural engineering as well as broad knowledge of the structural discipline within the engineering function.

Job Overview

The Principal Structural Engineer is responsible for interpreting internal or external business issues and recommending best practices. They will be tasked with solving complex structural-related problems and will work independently with minimal guidance. The Principal Structural Engineer may be responsible for leading functional teams or projects and is regarded as a specialist in the field of structural engineering. As such, they must have in-depth expertise in structural engineering as well as broad knowledge of the structural discipline within the engineering function.

Responsibilities

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

• Perform conceptual, FEED, and detailed analyses and design as per design basis, project specifications, design codes, and standards
• Apply in-depth skills and broad knowledge of the business to address complex problems and nonstandard situations
• Prepare clear and accurate detailed design calculations and analyses including design reports and - procedures
• Manage own time to meet objectives and (as Lead Engineer) forecast and plan resource requirements
• Clearly communicate and explain difficult concepts and persuade others to adopt a point of view
• When acting as Lead Engineer, in addition:
• Direct medium or large Engineering team as a Lead Engineer
• Lead the Discipline engineering design of the assigned work area and complete it within the planned schedule and budget, in accordance with standards, MDR, and project-specific procedures and to a high professional standard
• Plan, organize, and direct all aspects of Discipline execution on the assigned project including scope, deliverables, schedule, and all manpower resources - agree allocations with the Discipline Manager
• Ensure interfaces and deliverables are clearly identified
• Maintain responsibility for progress and productivity, identifying any required corrective action
• Act as project representative for the Discipline during meetings with Project Team,
• Customer discipline lead and relevant agencies such as certifying authorities, auditors, third parties, etc.
• Train/mentor other employees in the department
• Assist and monitor MOPEX offices on projects
• Has a good understanding of the other engineering departments
• Initiate interface with other disciplines to obtain input for discipline designs
• Has a good understanding of construction/fabrication yard and client requirements
• Has commercial insight
• Helps to maintain unifi
• Prepare bid from sketching data, using experience
• Supervise engineers and designers
• Define scopes of work for engineering/construction fabrication yard
• Provide engineering support as required
• Perform engineering checks of drafting
• Perform engineering checks prepared by others within the discipline
• Perform design verification through single discipline check and assist with inter-discipline checks (IDC)
• Prepare MTOs of structures
• Prepare specifications
• Prepare subcontract
• Review of vendor data
• Prepare technical bid evaluations
• Assist in furthering the department
• Tasks as Engineering Specialist:
• Coordinate and check the work of senior and junior engineers
• Conduct peer reviews on request
• Provide technical assistance where required
• Prepare structural analyses and reports on calculations or perform specialist tasks (i.e., architectural designs, underground piping designs, complex structures, topsides, jackets, weight control reports, the center of gravity reports)
• Is specialized in several fields (geotechnical, steel, concrete, dynamic calculations, FEM, fatigue calculations, earthquake, jackets, FPSOs, blast, hydrodynamics, architectural, …)
• Is specialized in several design codes (EC, ACI/AISC/API, GOST, …)
• Check designs for operational requirements, constructability, and maintainability
• Prepare project engineering guides
• Tasks as Lead Engineer:
• Work as Lead Engineer on medium to large-size EPC projects
• Responsible for all engineering and design work on any project
• Has full control and manages work hours, materials, progress
• Work in close liaison with the Design Coordinator
• Set up all engineering computer systems
• Assist Project Manager in:
• Preparing deliverable control
• Preparing schedule
• Preparing progress reports
• Preparing man-hour and capital expenditure estimates
• Coordinate with project management
• Train personnel under their supervision
• Is responsible for discipline within the engineering group
• Manage (design) subcontracts
• Identify and manage changes in the scope of work
• Is responsible for filing of engineering work
• Give relevant feedback to the department

Reports to

Project: Lead Engineer, Project Engineering Manager, or Project Manager

Functional: Supervising Department Manager

Liaise with: All Engineering disciplines, Construction site/Fabrication Group, Safety Dept, Project Management Team,

Document Control, Project Planner, Project Cost Controller, QC and Certification Group, Procurement Group, Subcontractors

and Vendors, and Customers

Supervises

Senior Engineers, Engineers and Designers

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications and Education

• Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree in engineering
• 15-20 years of experience in oil and gas with a major contractor or consultants predominantly performing detail design
• Preferably Registered Professional Engineer or member of professional engineering society as applicable
• Seasoned structural knowledge
• Very good organizer, motivator, and supervisor
• Able to solve problems without assistance
• Keen on improving the effectiveness of the work
• HSE, TQM and cost-conscious
• Fluent in English, both oral and written
• Understanding and supporting company goals and work processes
• Show flexibility and ensure proper hand-over with regards to:
• The reassignment to other departments/construction sites/fabrication yards
• The reassignment to other McDermott offices
• The replacement of colleagues during illness and holidays
• The provision of assistance to other colleagues with heavy workloads (also other projects) when possible/desirable
• The managing/learning of future current working methods and software applications
• Detailed knowledge of design techniques and analysis methods, and detailed knowledge of the theory, content, and application of standards, codes, and guidelines as applicable
• Knowledgeable in project coordination and execution skills

About Us

Our ingenuity fuels daily life. Together, we’ve forged some of the most trusted partnerships across the energy value chain to make what was once just an idea a reality: laying subsea infrastructure thousands of feet below sea level, installing platforms hundreds of miles from shore, using our expertise to design and build offshore wind infrastructure, and reshaping the onshore landscape to deliver the energy products the world needs safely and sustainably.

For more than 100 years, we've been making the impossible possible. Today, we're driving the energy transition with more than 30,000 of the brightest minds across 54 countries.