Structural Engineer

hireneXus; Itasca (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

hireneXus in Itasca, IL is creating an in-house structural engineering role to support their modular building and enclosure manufacturing. The position requires designing and analyzing steel structures to meet safety and code compliance, coordinating across architectural, mechanical, electrical, and manufacturing teams, and preparing engineering packages for customer approvals and fabrication.

The role offers growth toward licensure, with a path to stamp projects where possible.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Civil, Structural, or Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• 3–7 years of experience doing structural calculations on steel structures or similar.
• Proficiency in finite element analysis and structural software; working knowledge of AutoCAD/SolidWorks or equivalent 3D modeling tools.

Responsibilities

• Conduct gravity, wind, seismic, snow, transportation, and lifting load analyses for modular and skid-based structures.
• Develop designs, calculations, and construction details for floors, walls, roofs, frames, and connections.
• Prepare engineering packages and supporting docs for customer approvals, permitting, fabrication, and field installation.
• Coordinate with architectural, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, and project management teams to deliver buildable designs.
• Account for transportation and installation realities, including crane lifting points and site conditions.
• Help standardize calculations for non-PE projects and publish for internal and customer validation.
• Stamp projects in-house if licensed in the shipping state; otherwise perform initial analysis and optimization.

Skills

Structural analysis

Load calculations

Team coordination

Communication

Project management

Licensure readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Civil/Structural/Mechanical Engineering

Tools

RISA

SAP2000

AutoCAD

SolidWorks

Job description

Modular Building & Enclosure Manufacturing

Compensation: $100k to $130k base, tiered by licensure (top of range reserved for a fully licensed Illinois Structural Engineer)

Reports to: Engineering Manager

Team: Individual contributor role, newly created to support company growth

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Civil, Structural, or Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
• 3 to 7 years of experience completing structural calculations on steel structures or similar, using software such as RISA, SAP2000, or equivalent
• Proficiency in finite element analysis and structural engineering software, along with working knowledge of AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or equivalent 3D modeling tools
• Ability to analyze structures for gravity, wind, seismic, snow, transportation, and lifting loads to ensure safety, performance, and code compliance
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to coordinate structural requirements across architectural, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, and project management teams
• A track record of managing competing priorities and critical timelines in a production-driven environment

Nice to Have

• Professional Engineer (PE) license, or ideally an Illinois-licensed Structural Engineer (S.E.)
• Experience with modular, prefabricated, or transportable structures, including transportation constraints, crane lifting points, rigging loads, and site setting conditions
• Experience preparing engineering packages and calculations for customer approvals, permitting, or fabrication
• Familiarity with project management software such as Microsoft Project, Procore, or equivalent

The Opportunity

Our client is a well-established, family-run heavy industrial manufacturer with a multi-decade track record designing and building custom structures, including modular buildings and skid-based projects. This is a newly created role, built specifically to support the growth of the company's enclosures division as demand for modular and code-certified structures continues to expand.

Today, all officially stamped structural work is outsourced to third-party PE firms, while informal calculations are handled internally through SolidWorks FEA analysis and hand calculations. This role exists to change that. Leadership wants to bring sound structural engineering in-house, both to support day-to-day design work and, over time, to reduce reliance on outside firms.

What You'll Do

• Conduct structural analysis: Perform gravity, wind, seismic, snow, transportation, and lifting load analysis on modular buildings and skid-based structures to ensure safety, performance, and code compliance.
• Develop structural designs and calculations: Build out structural designs, calculations, and construction details for floors, walls, roofs, frames, and connection systems.
• Prepare engineering packages: Create and review structural drawings, calculations, and supporting documentation for customer approvals, permitting, fabrication, and field installation.
• Coordinate across teams: Work with architectural, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, and project management functions to deliver complete, buildable designs.
• Account for transportation and installation realities: Ensure designs reflect transportation constraints, crane lifting points, rigging loads, and site setting conditions specific to modular construction.
• Support standardization: Help establish standard calculations for projects that do not require a PE stamp, and publish them for both internal use and customer-facing design validation.
• Bridge the licensure gap: If licensed in the state a given project is shipping to, stamp that project directly. If not yet licensed in that state, complete the initial analysis and structural optimization to bring more of this work in-house over time.

Why This Role Is Different

This is a rare opportunity to build something rather than maintain it. The company is intentionally not filtering candidates by licensure status; whether someone is an experienced, unlicensed structural engineer or a fully licensed Illinois S.E., there is a real seat here, with compensation and scope shaped around where that person is in their career. For a licensed candidate, this is a chance to bring stamped work in-house that is currently sent to outside firms. For an unlicensed candidate with strong steel calculation experience, this is a chance to own structural analysis for a growing product line and to build toward licensure with a company that will benefit directly from that progression.

The role sits at the center of a genuine growth story. As the company's modular and code-certified building business expands, this hire will directly shape how structural engineering gets done, from establishing standard calculations to defining what stays in-house versus outsourced going forward.

The Culture

This is a company where people build careers, not just resumes. Retention is strong, and tenure runs long, reflecting a leadership team that genuinely invests in its people. Joining now means joining at a formative moment, helping build out a function from the ground up rather than stepping into a fully defined process. The ideal candidate will bring technical rigor and a builder's mindset, someone who is comfortable establishing standards where none exist yet while collaborating closely with a manufacturing team that has deep institutional knowledge of how these products come together.