Healthcare Engineering Principal

HDR, Inc.; Phoenix (AZ); On-site; USD 190,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

HDR, Inc. is seeking a Healthcare Engineering Principal to serve as a senior technical leader, client advisor, and healthcare market champion for HDR's Building Engineering practice.

The role focuses on growth, quality, and technical excellence across Arizona and the Southwest while supporting national Health Sector initiatives. The successful candidate will mentor multidisciplinary teams, guide complex projects, and strengthen HDR's reputation in healthcare facility design.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering is required.
• Minimum 15 years related engineering experience.
• Minimum 7 years project management experience.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license or equivalent required.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and oversight on complex healthcare projects.
• Mentor engineers and lead multidisciplinary teams.
• Support recruiting, retention and professional development.

Skills

Leadership

Business development

Strategic planning

Mentorship

Client relationships

Public speaking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Master's degree in Engineering preferred

Tools

MS Office

MS Project

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? 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.

In the role of Healthcare Engineering Principal, you will serve as a senior technical leader, client advisor, and healthcare market champion for HDR's Building Engineering practice to support Healthcare Architecture. You will help drive the growth, quality, and technical excellence of healthcare engineering services across Arizona and the Southwest while supporting HDR's national Health Sector initiatives.

The successful candidate will combine deep healthcare engineering expertise with strong client relationships, business development acumen, and a passion for recruiting and mentoring multidisciplinary teams. This individual will serve as a trusted advisor to healthcare clients, support strategic pursuits, support project delivery excellence, and elevate HDR's reputation as a leader in healthcare facility design.

As a Healthcare Engineering Principal, you will establish the standard of practice for healthcare engineering in the southwest, provide senior technical guidance on complex healthcare projects, and collaborate across disciplines to deliver innovative, resilient, and sustainable solutions for hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, academic medical centers, and specialty healthcare environments.

Primary Responsibilities

Technical Leadership and Engineering Excellence

• Demonstrate exceptional leadership and serve as a recognized healthcare engineering expert within HDR.
• Establish and advance technical standards, best practices, and innovation within healthcare engineering disciplines.
• Serve as a senior technical advisor on complex healthcare projects and multidisciplinary design teams.
• Provide technical oversight, quality assurance, and risk management support throughout project delivery.
• Promote design excellence, innovation, resiliency, and sustainable engineering solutions.
• Support project teams with healthcare code compliance, operational planning, and engineering system strategies.
• Share lessons learned and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across HDR's healthcare engineering practice.

Healthcare Market Leadership

• Support the strategic growth of HDR's healthcare engineering practice throughout Arizona and the Southwest.
• Collaborate with Health Sector Leadership, Building Engineering Leadership, Managing Principals, and local leadership to implement healthcare growth strategies.
• Monitor healthcare market trends, emerging technologies, regulatory changes, and client priorities.
• Serve as a healthcare thought leader internally and externally through industry engagement, speaking opportunities, publications, and professional organizations.
• Help strengthen HDR's healthcare brand and visibility throughout Arizona's healthcare community.

Client Development and Business Growth

• Coordinate with the Architecture practice to support relationships with healthcare clients, healthcare systems, architects, contractors, and industry partners.
• Identify, qualify, and develop opportunities that align with HDR's healthcare growth objectives.
• Participate in strategy development, market positioning, and client account planning.
• Lead and support capture planning efforts and strategic pursuits.
• Develop competitive fee strategies and project approaches.
• Support proposal development, qualifications packages, and interview preparation.
• Participate in client presentations and project interviews.
• Collaborate across HDR business groups to identify cross-sector opportunities and strengthen client relationships.

Project Delivery Leadership

• Serve as Principal-in-Charge, Senior Technical Lead, or Executive Project Advisor on major healthcare projects.
• Support successful project execution, client satisfaction, profitability, and quality outcomes.
• Guide project teams through complex technical challenges and multidisciplinary coordination.
• Monitor project performance, project health metrics, and key delivery indicators.
• Provide leadership during project reviews and critical milestone decisions.
• Foster a culture focused on quality, safety, innovation, and client service excellence.

Team Development and Mentorship

• Mentor engineers, project managers, and emerging technical leaders.
• Support recruiting, retention, and professional development initiatives.
• Help attract and develop highly qualified healthcare engineering professionals.
• Foster a collaborative culture consistent with HDR's employee-owned values.
• Encourage knowledge sharing and succession planning across the healthcare engineering practice. [linkedin.com], [dice.com]

Key Success Factors

The ideal candidate will be:

• Recognized as a trusted healthcare engineering leader in Arizona and the Southwest.
• A strategic thinker with strong technical depth and market awareness.
• Skilled at developing long-term client relationships and winning new work.
• A proven mentor and collaborator.
• Capable of balancing technical leadership, project execution, and business growth responsibilities.
• Passionate about improving healthcare environments through innovative engineering solutions.
• A role model for HDR's values, quality culture, and employee-owned mindset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Engineering preferred.
• 20 years of progressive engineering experience, including significant healthcare project experience.
• Extensive experience delivering complex healthcare facility projects.
• Demonstrated success serving as Principal-in-Charge, Technical Lead, or Senior Project Manager on major healthcare programs.
• Proven business development and client relationship management experience within the healthcare market.
• Strong understanding of healthcare facility operations, codes, regulations, and healthcare infrastructure systems.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills.
• Experience with sustainable design, resilience strategies, and high-performance healthcare facilities preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to mentorship, technical excellence, and HDR's employee-owned culture.
• Willingness for limited travel as needed to support clients, projects, and business development activities.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering
• 15 years related experience
• A minimum 7 years project management 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.
• MS Office and MS Project experience is required (Access experience would be plus)
• Demonstrated leadership, business development and strategic planning 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-Arizona-Phoenix

Industry: Building Engineering

Schedule: Full-time

Employee Status: Regular

BusinessClass: Building Mechanical

Job Posting: Aug 26, 2026