Fire Life Safety Engineering Team Leader (FPE)

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising; Walnut Creek (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

HDR is seeking a Fire Life Safety Team Leader (FPE) in California to lead the FLS group within HDR’s Building Engineering Services. The role focuses on recruiting, staff development, and driving technical excellence across diversified markets, including commercial, healthcare, and critical facilities.

Travel may be required, and the role emphasizes leadership within an employee-owned culture. The candidate should possess a California P.E.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required.
• Minimum of 7 years of fire protection or related engineering experience.
• Professional registration/certification may be required.
• Strong communication and listening skills.
• Ability to manage multiple assignments.
• Proven leadership and organizational abilities.
• Active participation in employee-owned culture.

Responsibilities

• Recruit and grow the FLS business class in Northern California.
• Supervise the Northern California FLS team, including engineers and designers.
• Collaborate on staffing, forecasting, and proposals.
• Lead marketing, planning, and client engagements.
• Ensure technical excellence across key markets.
• Participate in budgeting and strategic planning.
• Lead project delivery as design lead or project manager.
• Maintain quality assurance and coordinate with HDR network.
• Travel domestically/internationally up to 15%.

Job description

Fire Life Safety Engineering Team Leader (FPE) - ( 193956 )

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.

The Building Engineering Services Group (BES) provides industry leading mechanical, electrical, plumbing, site civil, structural, and specialty design services for a wide variety of buildings that include public, municipal, private, and government project types. Projects are a balance of local as well as across the region and the globe. With a team of experienced staff in specific market areas such as Healthcare, Datacenters, Science and Technology, Commercial Real Estate, Finance, Hospitality, Industrial, Municipal, Manufacturing, Transportation, and Federal facilities; we provide engineering excellence for our clients.

We are searching for Fire & Life Safety (FLS) Team Lead at our Walnut Creek office.

In the role of the Fire Life Safety Team Lead, you will have the opportunity to:

• Work with Building Engineering Services (BES) leadership and the FLS team to recruit and grow the FLS business class in Northern California, leveraging an established local and regional fire protection network.
• Serve as the direct supervisor and manager for the Northern California FLS team, including fire protection engineers, EITs, and ICC, NFPA, or NICET certified designers, and drive hiring, performance management, professional development, mentoring, and team culture.
• Work as a collaborative team with fellow area FLS leads for work staffing, staff forecasting, and project proposals.
• Participate in business class strategic planning, budgeting, and plan implementation.
• Identify and collaborate with market sector leadership to ensure FLS technical excellence in key markets including commercial, civic, industrial, federal, water, transportation, healthcare, education and laboratories, and mission critical facilities.
• Engage with clients and community stakeholders.
• Be involved in marketing, planning, proposals, and interviews in key markets.
• Promote HDR, BES, and our FLS business class within the engineering and architecture community, including participation in conferences and client engagement.
• Function as design lead or engineering project manager for key projects.
• Assist in the responsibility for operations of the FLS work group, including staff development, profitability, morale, quality control and marketing support
• Assist with administrative responsibility for section staff and technical service functions, and lead and coordinate services with other sections
• May function as an Assistant Project Manager and assist in responsibility for production on projects in addition to management responsibilities.
• Assist in ensuring that all work is planned, organized, controlled, checked, and evaluated through proactive management and quality assurance/quality control practices.
• Be directly involved with industrial and public clients in marketing, project production and related issues
• Assist in the selection, training, development and management of technical personnel
• Implement, monitor, and support company policy.
• Work cooperatively with other business class directors, business class leads, operations managers, technical directors, marketing managers, and project management on business class efforts.
• Actively participate in work-sharing and fire protection practice development with HDR’s nationwide network of FLS engineers, EITs, and ICC, NFPA, or NICET certified designers with varying levels of experience.
• Take responsibility for area coordination, monitoring and improvement of technical competencies of business class staff and products to meet client needs and market drivers, all within direction and goals of business class plans.
• Participate in delivery of project services to meet client expectations.
• Participate in business class practice and professional discipline groups, project teams and activities to continually improve standards and best practices, and implement effective quality assurance and quality control reviews.
• Work cooperatively with National Directors and marketing staff in local and national marketing and production efforts
• Perform other duties as needed.

Travel (domestic and international) may be required at various times and is estimated to be 15% or less.

Preferred Qualifications

• Works cooperatively with other area business class leaders, operations managers, technical directors, and marketing managers on business class efforts.
• Maintains a California Professional Engineer (FPE) registration and has related technical experience.
• Actively engaged in professional or industry associations to enhance HDR technical expertise and brand.
• Master’s degree in Fire Protection Engineering, Architectural Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering with fire protection emphasis.
• Maintains NFPA, ICC and/or NICET certification.
• Experienced in development and management of diverse teams.
• Preference given to local candidates.
• Committed to quality, improvement, and HDR values.
• In-person office culture.
• This position is subject to a governmental background check.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• A minimum of 7 years experience
• Professional registration, license or certification may be required based on role
• Strong communication and listening skills
• Ability to handle multiple assignments
• Good leadership and organizational skills
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must

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.

Primary Location

United States-California-Folsom

Schedule

Full-time

Employee Status

Regular

Job Posting

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity.

We are an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.

We design solutions to the world's greatest challenges. We're always looking for great talent to join our global teams.