Civil Building Science Engineer

Job Description

Dewberry is currently seeking a Civil Building Science Engineer for our Resilience Solutions team in our Fairfax, VA office.

The successful candidate will work with nationally known hazard mitigation specialists and building science experts to compile data on buildings codes, standards, and best practices to mitigate the impact of floods, high winds, earthquakes and wildfires on residential and commercial buildings, critical facilities, and other infrastructure.

There will also be opportunities to collaborate with FEMA’s Mitigation Assessment Teams (MATs) that are deployed after major disasters to investigate and review damage patterns, evaluate building and facility performance in response to natural hazards, and report MAT observations, conclusions, and recommendations.

The compiled data and MAT report recommendations are critical to FEMA’s mission of hazard risk reduction, and are used to update FEMA technical publications, advocate strengthening of building codes and standards, and improve building damage functions or fragility curves.

Our team also supports FEMA Building Sciences through development and revision of building and infrastructure publications, fact sheets, and disaster advisories.

We also create, update and present FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI) resident, field and virtual courses designed to promote risk reduction to federal, state, local, Tribal and partner organization course participants.

Dewberry is a leading, market-facing professional services firm with more than 50 locations and 2,000 professionals nationwide.

What sets us apart from our competitors are our people. At Dewberry, we seek out exceptional talent and strive to deliver the highest quality of services to our clients.

Whether you’re an experienced professional or a new graduate, you’ll have the chance to collaborate with the best and brightest and work on innovative and complex projects at the forefront of the industry.

Our commitment to excellence stems from our personal integrity and from other defining attributes, which we call Dewberry at Work, that have inspired our employees to be successful for more than a half-century.

This is an excellent opportunity for an enthusiastic and talented individual to join a team of outstanding professionals.

This position offers potential for professional growth in a great working environment and the opportunity to apply the latest technology to assist our clients in solving their most challenging problems.

Dewberry offers a wide range of other employee benefits, including : 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan, 529 College Savings Plans, Travel Assistance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Spending Accounts and Supplemental Life Insurance for employee, spouse, and children.

In addition, a host of discounted purchase programs are available to all employees.

Notice to Third Party Recruiters : Dewberry only compensates job placement recruiters that have a valid Dewberry-approved written agreement in place for recruiting services.

Dewberry does not compensate third party recruiters for unsolicited job placement candidate information.

Responsibilities

Work independently and with teams of engineers and architects, hazard mitigation specialists, and other subject matter experts to execute inter-disciplinary projects nationwide supporting FEMA’s Building Sciences Branch and Recovery & Mitigation Directorate as well as state and local clients.

Write, review and update FEMA technical publications and reports; prepare and deliver outreach publications to communicate findings.

Support development of hazard mitigation and building science training workshops and online webinars; deliver trainings at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, in the field, and virtually.

Lead Dewberry and non-Dewberry staff to complete tasks in the field, the office, or virtually as needed.

Monitor progress of tasks and projects against project scope, schedule, budget, and quality; allocate resources as required to meet milestones.

Contribute to business development, proposal writing and client management as needed.

Required Skills & Required Experience

Minimum Qualifications :

• Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering or Architecture, with a focus on structures;
• Skilled in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
• Skilled in technical writing and communications including reports, presentations, infographics, and fact sheets;
• Interest and ability to instruct hazard mitigation training workshops to technical and non-technical audiences;
• Ability to communicate complex technical and scientific concepts to a general audience; and
• Interest and aptitude in leading tasks.

Desired Qualifications :

• Four year-year degree in Civil Engineering or Architecture; graduate work or degree preferred;
• Registered Professional Engineering (PE) or Registered Architect (RA), or an Engineer in Training (EIT) or architect with a minimum 4 years of relevant professional experience with the intention of pursuing a PE or RA;
• Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) or certification within one year of assuming the position;
• Experience in building forensics, disaster response and recovery, building and infrastructure all-hazard resilience design;
• Familiarity in International code Council (ICC) building codes and industry standards (American Society of Civil Engineers and American Society for Testing and materials) related to natural hazard flood, coastal storm, tornado and wind, earthquake and wildfire resiliency;
• Interest and aptitude in managing projects;
• Public speaking (Toastmasters International);
• Experience working with multi-disciplinary teams; and
• Experience developing user interface and user experience (UI / UX) dashboards or other digital content using software products (Power BI, Tableau).

Must have a valid driver’s license, good driving record and ability to pass a driving record background check.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Dewberry we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace for our employee’s.

So if you’re excited about this role, but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the position description, we encourage you to apply anyways.

You may just be the right candidate for this or other opportunities.

• At this time, Dewberry will not sponsor a new applicant for work authorization.
• Dewberry is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.
• Only recipients of an offer of employment from Dewberry, will be required to submit to a background screening which may include, but is not limited to, employment verification, educational and other credential verification, driving record check, criminal background check, and an investigative consumer report.

These screenings will be conducted by Dewberry’s background vendor of choice and will be conducted in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local law.

Notice to Third Party Recruiters : Dewberry only compensates job placement recruiters that have a valid Dewberry-approved written agreement in place for recruiting services.

Dewberry does not compensate third party recruiters for unsolicited job placement candidate information.

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