Coastal and Hydrodynamic Modeling Engineer

WSP; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 157,000; Full time

Job summary

WSP is seeking a Coastal & Hydrodynamic Modeling Engineer in New York City to support coastal resilience, flood risk, and waterfront projects. You will work with a multidisciplinary team on modeling, design, and climate adaptation across the NYC metro region.

The role requires a Civil/Water Resources background, 4–6 years of modeling experience, and a NY PE license or ability to obtain via comity, with at least two days per week in the NYC office.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil/Water Resources or closely related field.
• PE license in NY or ability to obtain via comity within an agreed period.
• 4–6 years in coastal or water resources engineering with modeling experience.
• 2+ years in NYC or NY metro market is a plus.
• Experience with coastal, estuarine, riverine, or urban flood modeling.

Responsibilities

• Develop, calibrate, validate, and apply numerical coastal and hydrodynamic models.
• Analyze coastal flooding, storm surge, tidal hydraulics, waves, and sediment transport.
• Support coastal resilience planning and waterfront infrastructure studies.
• Analyze geospatial datasets and present results in reports and client presentations.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across WSP practices.

Skills

Coastal engineering

Hydrodynamic modeling

GIS

Numerical modeling

Python

Technical writing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering

PE license in NY or comity

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

EFDC+

ADCIRC

Delft3D

MIKE 21

SWAN

HEC-RAS 1D/2D

CMS

ArcGIS Pro

Job description

This Opportunity

WSP is currently initiating a search for a Coastal & Hydrodynamic Modeling Engineer to join our growing Water Resources and Coastal Engineering practice in New York City. This position will support a diverse portfolio of projects focused on coastal resilience, flood risk management, waterfront infrastructure, climate adaptation, storm surge analysis, hydrodynamic modeling, sediment transport, and coastal engineering design.

The successful candidate will work with a multidisciplinary team of water resources engineers, planners, GIS specialists, coastal engineers, and climate adaptation professionals to deliver practical and technically rigorous solutions for public-sector clients throughout the New York metropolitan region. Experience in northeast area is a plus.

This position is based in WSP's New York City office. The selected candidate is expected to work from the NYC office at least two days per week to support collaboration with the local team. Alternative WSP offices, including Morristown, Lawrenceville, Philadelphia, Albany, Buffalo, or other New York State locations are available, with periodic travel to NYC as needed.

Your Impact

• Develop, calibrate, validate, and apply numerical hydrodynamic, coastal, and flood models for planning, design, and resilience studies.
• Perform coastal flooding, storm surge, sea level rise, tidal hydraulics, wave, sediment transport, and shoreline process analyses.
• Support coastal resilience planning, waterfront infrastructure design, flood-risk evaluations, and climate adaptation projects.
• Analyze and interpret geospatial, hydrologic, hydraulic, meteorological, and oceanographic datasets.
• Prepare technical memoranda, reports, model documentation, graphics, and client presentations.
• Collaborate with engineers, scientists, planners, and GIS specialists across WSP practices.
• Participate in project coordination meetings, field investigations, and data-collection efforts.
• Contribute to model QA/QC, technical reviews, and the advancement of internal modeling practices.
• Support proposal development, scopes of work, level-of-effort estimates, and client-facing technical discussions.

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Coastal Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license in New York, or the ability to obtain New York licensure through comity within an agreed period.
• Four to six years of professional experience in coastal engineering, water resources engineering, hydrodynamic modeling, or a closely related field.
• Minimum 2 years of project experience in New York City or the New York metropolitan market is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience developing, calibrating, validating, and applying numerical models for coastal, estuarine, riverine, or urban flood systems.
• Experience evaluating coastal flooding, storm surge, tidal processes, sea level rise, waves, or sediment transport.
• Proficiency with at least one coastal or hydraulic modeling platform such as EFDC+, ADCIRC, Delft3D, MIKE 21, SWAN, HEC-RAS 1D/2D, CMS
• Working knowledge of GIS, including ArcGIS Pro, for model development, spatial analysis, and results presentation.
• Strong technical writing, analytical, organizational, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within multidisciplinary project teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Coastal Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience with EFDC+ for hydrodynamic, sediment transport, or water-quality modeling.
• Experience with coastal sediment transport, shoreline change, dredging, or waterfront infrastructure studies.
• Experience evaluating compound flooding, including interactions among tides, storm surge, precipitation, drainage, and riverine flows.
• Programming or data-analysis experience using Python, MATLAB, R, or comparable tools.

Compensation

Expected Salary (all locations): $89,600 - $156,600

WSP USA is providing the compensation range that the company in good faith believes it might pay and offer for this position, based on the successful applicant’s education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities in addition to internal equity and specific geographic location. WSP USA reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, and/or federal law.