Senior Fire Protection Engineer — Lead Design & Code Compliance

DLR Group; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 177,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Disability Insurance

Wellness programs

Flex spending

Paid holidays

Paid time off

401(k) plan

Employee stock ownership

Bonus opportunities

Job summary

DLR Group is seeking a Senior Fire Protection Engineer to lead fire protection design from schematic design through construction administration across Federal, K-12, Healthcare, Higher Education, Justice/Civic, Sports, and Culture & Performing Arts sectors.

You will collaborate with the mechanical team to develop drawings and perform required calculations, delivering coordinated building designs that elevate human experience through performance-driven solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related engineering.
• 7+ years of experience in the design and analysis of fire protection systems.
• Active Fire Protection Professional Engineer (PE) licensure.
• Demonstrated experience with both new construction and renovation/retrofit of fire protection systems.
• Strong working knowledge of IBC, IFC, and NFPA codes and standards.
• Excellent verbal, written, and organizational skills, with the ability to communicate effectively across multidisciplinary teams, clients, and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead fire protection engineering teams across multiple regions, providing technical leadership, staff oversight, mentorship, and project-specific support.
• Manage the planning, execution, and delivery of fire protection design services firmwide, ensuring schedules, milestones, budgets, and quality standards are met.
• Develop fire protection scopes of work, project budgets, proposals, and design strategies across a diverse range of project types and market sectors.
• Prepare and review fire and life safety analyses, building code compliance reviews (IBC Chapters 1–10), and applicable NFPA standards.
• Oversee the production, coordination, and quality assurance of construction documents, technical reports, specifications, and plan review deliverables.
• Coordinate with clients, consultants, vendors, and local and state authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) to support permitting, approvals, and effective project execution.
• Lead construction administration activities including submittal reviews, site observations, construction meetings, and issue resolution during implementation.
• Support business development efforts through client relationship management, participation in interviews, and contributions to proposals/RFP responses.

Skills

Fire protection design

Project leadership

Team mentorship

Client relations

Construction administration

Code compliance (IBC/IFC/NFPA)

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Fire Protection Engineering

Professional Engineer (PE) licensure

Job description

DLR Group is seeking a Senior Fire Protection Engineer to lead fire protection design from schematic design through construction administration across Federal, K-12, Healthcare, Higher Education, Justice/Civic, Sports, and Culture & Performing Arts sectors.

You will collaborate with the mechanical team to develop drawings and perform required calculations, delivering coordinated building designs that elevate human experience through performance-driven solutions.