Principal Engineer / Senior Project Manager - Transportation

Stanley Consultants, Inc.; Des Moines (IA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Away

Health Insurance

401K match

Profit sharing

Tuition assistance

Staff ownership

Job summary

Stanley Consultants, Inc. in Des Moines, IA is seeking a Transportation Principal Engineer with strong project management to lead highway design efforts and manage complex corridor projects.

You will mentor staff, oversee scope, schedule, cost, and quality, while engaging clients and subconsultants to win and execute major transportation assignments. The role emphasizes leadership, collaboration, and delivering high-quality engineering solutions, with hybrid work, competitive benefits, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.
• 15+ years of relevant experience; 5+ years as PM on large highway projects.
• Iowa PE license or ability to obtain within 6 months.
• PM experience with Iowa DOT and/or local government agencies.
• PM experience with City projects including public engagement.
• Experience with Iowa DOT and SUDAS design methods.
• Proven leadership, mentoring and client liaison skills.
• Knowledge of ProjectWise and Bluebeam Studio.
• MS Office proficiency (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Ability to prepare RFQ and technical proposals.
• Established relationships with key clients.

Responsibilities

• Lead, direct, and mentor project staff on transportation projects.
• Staffing recommendations for hiring and project needs.
• Develop marketing strategies for transportation opportunities.
• Adhere to QA/QC standards per quality manual.
• Participate in scoping, fee estimates and proposals.
• Review projects post-award for procedures, schedules and budgets.
• Attend client meetings on-site and off-site.
• Evaluate client needs and obtain approvals during projects.
• Prepare reports, plans, schedules and cost estimates.
• Submit documents for code compliance review and permits.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Client liaison

Negotiation skills

Business acumen

Proven communication

RFQ / proposals

Microsoft Office

Public speaking

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

Iowa PE license or ability to obtain within 6 months

Tools

ProjectWise

Bluebeam Studio

Roadway design software

Job description

Stanley Consultants is an award-winning and industry-leading global consulting engineering firm, with an unmatched commitment to culture, values, and ethics. We are dedicated to client experience and solve the most complex challenges to create a sustainable, connected, and enriched world for all.

With over a century of experience serving the energy, federal government, transportation, and water sectors, we have helped improve lives and shape the infrastructure systems that connect us. As an employee-owned organization with a People First approach, we stand apart from other engineering consulting and services firms. At Stanley, your voice counts, your growth matters, and your success is our success.

Stanley Consultants offers flexible work options, competitive pay and great benefits, a strong sense of community, and the chance to build a meaningful, long-term career!

Job Title - Principal Engineer / Project Manager, Transportation

Location - Des Moines, IA

Job Type – Hybrid

Requisition ID - 11275

Are you motivated, energetic and connected with clients, contractors and subconsultants in the A/E/C industry? Is your passion for leading transportation projects contagious? Do you enjoy executing winning strategies for pursuits? Is work/life balance important to you? If this describes you, we are looking for a talented and ambitious Transportation Principal Engineer in our Des Moines, IA office. You will provide engineering and project management expertise on highway projects including roadway studies and design, drainage and utility systems, preliminary and final design, preparation of construction documents, cost estimates, project scheduling, and overall project management of large, complex highway corridors. This position offers exciting challenges and opportunities to develop the program while managing all activities related to project scope, schedule, cost, quality, communications, and resources, mentoring young staff engineers, assisting in transportation market business development, and participating in professional organizations and technical committees.

What You Will Be Doing

• Lead, direct, and mentor project team design staff on transportation projects, including plan development for a comprehensive range of transportation design projects such as horizontal and vertical geometry, cross sections, earthwork modeling, 3D roadway modeling, quantities calculations, construction specifications, and utility coordination
• Assist in staffing requirements and make recommendations for hiring staff
• Assist in the development of marketing strategies for transportation project opportunities. Contact new and existing clients to build relationships leading to more work for the department
• Adhere to company standards for quality assurance and quality control as defined in the quality manual
• Participate in project scoping, fee estimating and proposal preparation, interviews, and negotiations
• Review department project(s) after award to collaborate on work procedures/sequences and developing schedules, budgets, staffing, sub consultant involvement, and progress billings
• Attend on-site and off-site client meetings
• Evaluate client needs and identify requirements
• Meet with client management as necessary during the term of a project to resolve issues and to obtain approvals at the project’s completion
• Prepare and modify reports, specifications, plans, construction schedules, cost estimates, environmental studies, and designs for projects
• Evaluate need for design changes and makes appropriate recommendations
• Submit documents to federal, state, and local agencies for code compliance review and obtain permits when required

This position offers exciting challenges and opportunities to develop the Iowa program while managing all activities related to project scope, schedule, cost, quality, communications, and resources; mentoring young staff engineers, assisting in transportation market business development, and participating in professional organizations and technical committees.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering
• A minimum of 15 years of relevant experience; 5 years of experience as a Project Manager on large or complex highway projects
• Iowa Professional Engineer (PE) license required or ability to obtain within 6 months
• Project Management experience with the Iowa Department of Transportation and/or local government agencies developing, delivering, and managing highway design projects
• Project Management experience with City projects including public engagement throughout the project from concept through completion
• Experience with Iowa DOT and Iowa SUDAS design methods, plan preparation, standards and specifications.
• Demonstrated capabilities and success in managing medium to large multi-disciplined projects, multi-office projects, and/or multiple projects
• Working knowledge of roadway design software’s used to prepare engineering and design documents
• Knowledge of virtual collaboration tools such as ProjectWise and Bluebeam Studio
• Experienced in and fully capable of using the Microsoft software suite including Word, Excel, and Power Point
• Experienced in preparing technical approaches and work plans (write ups) to support RFQ’s and technical proposals
• Proven leadership, communication, mentoring and client liaison skills
• Business acumen including negotiation skills
• Established relationships with key clients

Work-Life Balance

We realize there’s more to life than just work. We help you meet the demands of work, family and personal life through several flexible options.

What we offer

Member-Owned. Member-ownership is at the heart of our culture, aligning client satisfaction, company performance, and personal reward.

Paid Time Away. Stanley Consultants offers numerous paid holidays, generous paid time off (PTO), parental leave, and professional development leave.

Health Insurance. We provide a comprehensive insurance package including medical, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, Doctor On Demand, wellness reimbursement, and mental health resources.

Financial Health. We offer life insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance, identity theft protection, and many other benefits.

Professional Growth. When your skills grow, so do we, which is why we offer tuition assistance, professional society membership, and more.

Financial Rewards. We share our prosperity with members through company stock ownership, a generous 401K match, incentive compensation, and profit-sharing contributions to retirement 401K plans.

Stanley Consultants does not welcome unsolicited resumes from staffing and recruiting agencies. Any unsolicited resumes submitted to Stanley Consultants, including but not limited to resumes submitted directly to Stanley Consultants members, or any of our representatives, will be deemed the property of Stanley Consultants.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.