Engineering Principal

HDR; Madison (WI); On-site; USD 142,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Disability & life insurance

Paid time off and holidays

Retirement plan with employer match

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

HDR is seeking an Engineering Principal to lead Building Engineering Services projects and guide cross-disciplinary teams. You will shape project scope, schedules, and budgets while mentoring staff and supporting business development.

A PE license and extensive engineering leadership experience are required. You will collaborate with internal groups to win work, maintain client relationships, and uphold HDR’s culture of ownership and excellence.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering is required.
• 20+ years of experience in engineering or related field.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license required or equivalent.
• Proven leadership, client engagement, and project delivery capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead Building Engineering Services projects and drive cross-discipline collaboration.
• Develop scope, schedule, and fees for projects; manage staffing and budgeting.
• Mentor junior staff and contribute to BES strategy and growth.
• Engage with internal and external clients to win work and maintain relationships.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Technical leadership

Project execution

Microsoft Office

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

MS Office

Job description

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

Watch Our Story: https://www.hdrinc.com/our-story

Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

We believe building engineering is more than systems and structures, it’s about powering progress and enabling innovation. As part of HDR’s Building Engineering Services Group, you’ll help design the critical infrastructure that supports the digital age and shapes the spaces where people work, connect, and thrive. From high-performance data centers driving the future of AI to dynamic commercial environments, your work will directly support technological advancement, sustainability, and human experience. We bring together mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil engineering experts to solve complex design challenges with precision, creativity, and collaboration. Whether you’re optimizing energy efficiency, integrating resilient systems, or engineering the backbone of next-generation facilities, your contributions will help define the future of the built environment. This isn’t just a job, it’s a chance to lead innovation, engineer impact, and build a legacy of excellence.

Engineering Principal

Engineering Principals are leaders in the practice who influence culture, morale, and recruiting as well as provide leadership in the pursuit and delivery of work. An Engineering Principal not only has deep engineering expertise in their discipline, but they understand how cross discipline teams’ function. They couple that understanding with leadership and communication abilities to positively impact the success of the business. The behaviors represented by Engineering Principals are indicative to our staff, clients, and recruits of the behaviors and characteristics HDR rewards.

Winning Work

Engineering Principals have a significant impact on winning work for HDR – both for the Building Engineering Services (BES) Business Group (BG) and partner BGs. They have business development skills to identify opportunities and take the initiative to be responsive and establish relationships to win work. They promote and represent BES to our internal and external clients – they foster relationships that make people want to work with us.

• Book work in BES market sectors.
• Collaborate with partner business groups to help them win work in their market sectors by developing and leveraging our expertise, relationships, and reputation.
• Capture building engineering scope of work on HDR non-BES projects by selling our services internally.

Engineering Principals are expected to help develop scope, schedule, and fee for projects. They must communicate regarding the pursuits they are leading with operational leadership to address staffing, expertise requirements, and business needs. Engineering Principals help us identify how to engage the right people in the right work in alignment with our strategic goals: “differentiating ourselves in our markets by amplifying our collective talent and knowledge”.

Project Success

Engineering Principals understand the building design process in the market sectors in which they practice. They facilitate clear communication and provide leadership for the entire design team. An Engineering Principal needs to be a conceptual thinker who can engage and challenge our architectural designers and engineering team during the early stages of projects to inform design. They should leverage our integrated practice to add value to our project delivery process and lead engineering teams to deliver well-coordinated, high-quality designs to our clients. Engineering Principals are expected to not only provide leadership for their discipline but act more broadly as leaders in our practice. The role requires a passion for maximizing high performance design within the project constraints. They are the team members who proactively look out for all BES disciplines on project teams to elevate design while ensuring that scope, schedule, and budget are understood and respected by the team and concerns are communicated to project management in a clear and timely manner. Engineering Principals are protecting HDR’s Client relationships (internal and external) and project successes. Their leadership has a direct impact on HDR’s financial plan.

Culture, Morale & Recruiting

Engineering Principals are leaders in the company that exemplify the company culture. They demonstrate expectations of how project teams' function and emphasize collaboration and design excellence. These individuals are responsible for mentoring and building the next generation of leadership at HDR by developing technical, client and business acumen in others.

Principals recognize gaps in our expertise and project teams. They identify ways to fill those gaps by mentoring junior staff, identifying where we can shift or train staff, or identifying where we need to hire additional expertise. Principals network in the local community – leveraging their relationships to identify talent and recruit for HDR. Engineers in this role are contributing to BES’s strategy to develop expertise and strategy required to build a successful engineering practice.

Engineer Principals represent HDR through their participation in the professional and local community. They are expected to represent HDR in the engineering community, participate in speaking engagements, author white papers and technical publications and participate on industry and community boards.

Clarification from SME or Senior Engineer

• The role of Engineering Principal is a progression beyond Senior Engineer or Subject Matter Expert. But this is not a recognition that all Senior Engineers can expect to earn with time as the next step on the ladder.
• Competencies are not solely based upon technical skills.
• Subject Matter Expert/ Senior Engineer
  • Exemplary technical performance and expertise.
  • Hold the resume required to win work.
  • In-depth market sector expertise.
  • Interview performance to win work.
  • Mentor to junior staff.
  • Execute projects with little to no direction.
• Many Engineering Principals will also be SMEs.

Framework

• Report or meet regularly with Area BG Management (Business Group Manager, Professional Services Leader, Project Delivery Leader, etc.)
• Participate in strategy/visioning sessions

Values from HDR Strategic Plan

Engineering Principals are expected to guide teams to see the bigger picture beyond the immediate problem or project in front of them. Influence people to align with our company values:

nsuring the right skills, expertise, experience and the highest level of teamwork. Every time.

• Live the network.
  • We think global and act local, and as a result we learn from each other.
  • We bring together the right people for each individual client and engagement, e

• Listen first.
• To find the best answer, we need to understand the root and complexity of the problem.
• We start by listening.
• Hold ourselves accountable.
• We are empowered to find the best solutions for our clients and for our own company.
• We do the right things for the right reasons. And we take personal responsibility to see things through.
• Push boundaries.
• We strive to do things better and stretch further. From our internal processes to the work we deliver, and from the projects we do, to the careers we enable.
• Design smart.
• We have the skills and ability to tailor our approach to each situation, whether it’s tried and tested, or something more cutting edge. We deliver our best work by designing smart.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering
• A minimum of 20 years of experience
• Requires professional engineering license recognized by the licensing board for the location of the position offered. Example: Professional Engineer (PE or P.Eng) license.
• Extensive experience in project execution
• Proficient computer skills in Microsoft Office as well as standard design software.
• Must be comfortable being viewed as a technical expert in engineering analysis and design and have proven background of technical leadership on these types of projects
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment

As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, employee health, performance, and success, which includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, a retirement savings plan with employer match, employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement. (Stated benefits are for full‑time regular positions. Temporary and part‑time roles eligible for limited benefits.)

Minnesota: $142,296 - $203,280 Primary Location:United States-Wisconsin-Milwaukee Other Locations:United States-Wisconsin-Madison, United States-Minnesota-Saint Louis Park Industry:Building Engineering Schedule:Full-time Employee Status:Regular BusinessClass:Building Electrical Job Posting:Aug 17, 2026

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity. We are an Affine?? (https://www.hdrinc.com/equal-employment-opportunity-employer)