Group Leader

Pinnacle Engineering Group; East Dundee (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary & benefits

Growth opportunities

Collaborative team environment

Infrastructure exposure

Job summary

Pinnacle Engineering Group seeks a Group Leader to steer a civil engineering team from design through delivery, ensuring quality, financial performance, and client satisfaction.

You will mentor project teams, manage resources, contracts, risk, and uphold firm standards while delivering on time and within budget. Strong client engagement and cross-disciplinary leadership are essential for success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, or related field.
• PE license required.
• 10+ years in civil engineering project management.
• Experience acting in responsible charge of projects.
• Strong communication and organization skills.
• Experience leading complex or multi-disciplinary civil projects.
• Background in QC/QA, project financials, and risk management.
• Experience interacting with clients, agencies, stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead a civil engineering project team through design to delivery, ensuring quality and client satisfaction.
• Guide project scope, schedules, staffing, and budgets to meet deadlines and costs.
• Maintain accountability for technical decisions and project outcomes.
• Oversee contracts, amendments, and scope changes; negotiate where needed.
• Manage project financials, risk exposure, and profitability in line with firm goals.
• Mentor engineers and staff; foster mentoring across teams.
• Ensure compliance with company standards, safety policies, and professional obligations.

Skills

Communication

Organization

Interpersonal skills

Leadership

Project management

QC/QA

Risk management

Client relations

Education

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or related field

Job description

Summary

The Group Leader is responsible for leading a team of staff through engineering projects from design through delivery, ensuring technical quality, financial performance, and client satisfaction. The Group Leader provides direction and mentorship to project teams, manages project resources, contracts, risk, and maintains accountability for all civil engineering decisions. This role ensures excellence in project execution by guiding teams, fostering strong client engagement, and aligning project outcomes with firm standards and professional obligations.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The below statements are intended to describe the general nature and scope of work being performed by this position. This is not a complete listing of all responsibilities, duties and/or skills required. Other duties may be assigned.

• Act in responsible charge of overall civil engineering project, delivery, and firm commitments.
• Demonstrate ethical leadership, sound judgment, and total accountability for project outcomes, including technical quality, financial performance, and client expectations.
• Lead, inspire, and motivate multidisciplinary project teams through mentoring, recognition, team-building, and proposals.
• Establish and manage project scope, schedules, staffing plans, and budgets to ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget.
• Coordinate all aspects of engineering design, plan production, and project delivery, meeting established deadlines.
• Serve as the sole point of responsibility for project-level QC/QA, ensuring adherence to firm standards, applicable codes, and regulatory requirements, and coaching teams on quality expectations.
• Provide high-level technical oversight, relying on professional judgment, experience, and providing direction to subordinates or reports, rather than direct drafting or modeling.
• Guide teams in developing appropriate, defensible civil engineering solutions and accept full responsibility for decisions.
• Develop and grow strong client relationships, support team members in client communication and satisfaction efforts.
• Lead preparation, review, and negotiation of contracts, amendments, and scope changes.
• Manage project financials, engineering economics, risk exposure, and overall profitability in alignment with firm goals.
• Lead and negotiate critical and potentially controversial technical, contractual, or schedule issues internally and externally.
• Coordinate all project communications directly or through delegation, ensuring clarity, responsiveness, and alignment across teams.
• Mentor engineers and project staff at all levels; assign mentors and ensure mentoring occurs consistently across teams and the firm.
• Ensure all work is performed in accordance with company standards, safety policies, and professional engineering obligations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, or related field.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license is required.
• 10+ years of relevant engineering project management experience.
• Demonstrated experience acting in responsible charge of engineering projects.
• Strong communication, organization, and interpersonal skills for internal and external clients.
• Experience leading complex or multi-disciplinary civil projects.
• Strong background in QC/QA, understanding of project financial reporting, and risk management.
• Experience interacting directly with clients, agencies, stakeholders and the public.

What we Offer

• Competitive salary and benefits package
• Opportunities for professional growth and advancement
• Collaborative team environment with experienced professional
• Exposure to impactful transportation infrastructure projects