Director of Structural Engineering - Architecture + Engineering - $175,000 + Bonus + Relocation

Signal and Strand; Oklahoma City (OK); On-site; USD 165,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance-based bonus

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Signal and Strand is seeking a Director of Structural Engineering in Oklahoma City. The role leads the structural engineering department, guiding managers, staffing, and delivery across multiple market sectors, including aviation, civic, education, and commercial.

You will collaborate with firm leadership to shape standards, oversee project delivery, and drive performance, profitability, and growth while maintaining the culture and strategic priorities of the practice.

Qualifications

• ABET-accredited degree in civil/structural engineering.
• Active PE license with Oklahoma registration within 6 months.
• 10+ years of progressive structural engineering, including 5+ years leading teams.
• Experience in an AEC multidisciplinary environment.
• Strong written, verbal, and executive communication skills.
• Experience with vertical building structures, including steel frames.

Responsibilities

• Lead the structural engineering department and its managers.
• Oversee staffing, workforce planning, and succession within the department.
• Provide direct performance management and career development for reports.
• Drive profitability, utilization, backlog, and client satisfaction for the department.
• Collaborate with architectural studios and other market sector leaders to align resources.

Skills

PE license

Team leadership

Project management

Structural design

Education

ABET-accredited degree in civil/structural engineering

Tools

Revit

BIM workflows

Job description

Director of Structural Engineering - Architecture + Engineering - $175,000 + Bonus + Relocation

In a world of noise, we find the signal — the pulse of potential. We weave the strands of talent, vision, and purpose into organizations that endure. Blending intelligence with intuition, we honor the human art of connection at the heart of every great company.

Oklahoma City, OK | Onsite | Relocation assistance available

About the Opportunity

We are partnered with a nationally recognized, multi-discipline architecture and engineering firm on the search for its next Director of Structural Engineering. The firm has just joined a national engineering and design platform, which means more resources, bigger projects, and more room to grow, while the local leadership and collaborative culture that built the practice stay exactly as they are.

This is the seat that runs the structural engineering department: its people, its operations, its financial performance, and its project delivery. You will lead the managers who lead the engineers, shape how structural work gets planned, staffed, and delivered across the firm, and sit at the leadership table with architecture, engineering, and market sector principals. Structural engineering experience and sound technical judgement are the entry ticket. People leadership and operational excellence are the job.

The Work

The department supports multidisciplinary building projects across the firm’s primary markets: aviation, civic, education, federal, commercial, tribal, and mission-critical. The work is vertical construction, much of it steel-frame, and the portfolio spans new buildings, renovations, building assessments, complex structural systems, and alternative project delivery methods. It is varied, technically serious work with a direct line to the communities it serves.

What You Will Own

• The structural engineering department: its managers, its workforce plan, its standards, and its results.
• Department performance end to end: staffing, utilization, backlog, profitability, quality, and client satisfaction.
• The department’s voice in firm leadership, advocating for its priorities and aligning its resources with firm-wide strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop structural engineering managers and department leaders.
• Own recruiting, hiring, onboarding, retention, workforce planning, succession planning, and employee development for the department.
• Provide direct performance management and career development for your reports, and keep performance practices consistent across the department.
• Build a collaborative, accountable team culture that supports engagement, growth, and continuous improvement.
• Monitor utilization, workload, capacity, and development needs to keep the team productive and sustainable.

Department Operations and Resource Management

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for structural engineering inside a multidisciplinary architecture and engineering environment.
• Establish and continuously improve department standards, workflows, and processes that raise efficiency, consistency, accountability, and quality.
• Oversee staffing assignments, workload forecasting, utilization, backlog, and resource allocation using FTE planning, staffing forecasts, and operational metrics.
• Identify operational and project-delivery risks, implement corrective actions, and coordinate across structural engineering, architectural studios, other engineering departments, and market sector leadership.

Project Management and Delivery

• Monitor department-wide project performance: scope, schedules, budgets, staffing, utilization, profitability, design quality, and deliverable coordination.
• Resolve resource conflicts and operational challenges affecting structural project execution.
• Support project managers and multidisciplinary design teams on complex projects, coordination, staffing challenges, and escalations.
• Promote consistent project delivery and QA/QC practices that keep clients coming back.

Financial and Business Management

• Lead the financial and operational performance of the department: profitability, utilization, backlog, staffing levels, project performance, and revenue forecasting.
• Analyze operational and financial data to spot trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement and growth.
• Develop initiatives that improve profitability, resource management, project delivery, and operational efficiency.
• Participate in annual business planning, staffing forecasts, strategic planning, and long-term department development.

Executive and Multidisciplinary Leadership

• Represent structural engineering within firm leadership and advocate for the department’s priorities, resources, and strategic goals.
• Collaborate with executive leadership, market sector principals, architectural studio directors, engineering directors, and department leaders to align structural resources with firmwide priorities.
• Provide executive-level insight into department performance, staffing, project delivery, financial health, operational risks, and opportunities.
• Lead implementation of firmwide strategies, standards, processes, and organizational initiatives within the department.
• Strengthen multidisciplinary collaboration to improve resource planning, project execution, design coordination, client service, and operational excellence.

Structural Engineering Technical Oversight

• Maintain working knowledge of structural design, structural analysis, building systems, engineering standards, and applicable building codes to make informed operational and leadership decisions.
• Provide leadership support on complex structural issues, project escalations, and multidisciplinary design coordination.
• Promote consistent application of engineering standards, design procedures, and QA/QC expectations.
• Support continuous improvement of structural tools, standards, workflows, and design practices.

Who We Are Looking For

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, structural engineering, or a related engineering discipline from an ABET-accredited program.
• Active Professional Engineer (PE) license, with the ability to obtain Oklahoma registration within 6 months of hire.
• 10+ years of progressive structural engineering experience, including at least 5 years leading engineering teams, managers, or departments.
• Experience within an architecture, engineering, construction, or multidisciplinary AEC consulting environment.
• Demonstrated experience with department operations, workforce planning, resource allocation, project management, and financial performance.
• Working knowledge of structural design, structural analysis, applicable building codes, engineering standards, and QA/QC processes.
• Strong background in vertical building structures, including steel‑frame design, analysis, and detailing.
• Experience managing multiple projects, priorities, teams, and staffing requirements at once.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, interpersonal, and executive communication skills.

Nice to Have

• Experience leading a structural engineering department or regional structural practice.
• Familiarity with Revit, BIM-enabled design workflows, structural analysis software, and project management systems.
• Experience with multidisciplinary building design and alternative project-delivery methods.

Why Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and it still feels like a place you can live well: a lower cost of living, short commutes, a thriving arts and entertainment scene, professional sports, outstanding restaurants, and real outdoor recreation. For a leader who wants to build something and be visible doing it, the market and the moment line up.

Work Arrangement and Travel

Full-time, onsite in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Occasional travel for project meetings, recruiting events, conferences, and site visits.

Compensation

• Performance-based bonus
• Relocation assistance for qualified candidates

Base Compensation Range

$165,000 - $175,000 USD

Equal Opportunity & Non-Discrimination Statement
Signal and Strand is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We—and our clients—do not discriminate in employment or contracting on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, registered domestic partner status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local laws.

We comply fully with the provisions of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). All employment decisions are made based on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We are committed to providing a workplace that is inclusive, respectful, and free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.