Hydraulic Structures Engineer

Location: Sacramento / Rancho Cordova, CA
Sector: Hydropower | Dams | Water Infrastructure | Hydraulic Structures
Employment: Full-Time
Recruitment Partner: LVI Associates

The Opportunity

LVI Associates is partnering with a leading, employee-owned global engineering and infrastructure organization to identify a Hydraulic Structures Engineer for its growing Sacramento-area practice.

This is an opportunity for a structural or civil engineer who wants to work beyond traditional vertical structures and develop deeper expertise across dams, spillways, intakes, outlets, water conveyance systems, gates, and other major hydraulic and hydropower structures.

The successful engineer will join a multidisciplinary team delivering complex water and energy infrastructure projects across the West Coast and broader Western United States. The work spans engineering analysis, design, rehabilitation, procurement, and construction support, giving engineers exposure to projects from early technical evaluation through execution.

Unlike a narrowly defined structural design position, this opportunity provides significant interaction with specialists across structural, civil, geotechnical, mechanical, electrical, water, and hydropower engineering disciplines.

What You'll Be Working On

Projects may include:

• Hydroelectric generating facilities
• Concrete dams and dam rehabilitation
• Spillways and energy dissipation structures
• Intake and outlet structures
• Hydraulic control structures
• Water conveyance infrastructure
• Large gates and associated structural systems
• Existing structure assessments and rehabilitation
• Municipal water infrastructure
• Hydropower facility upgrades and modernization
• Concrete and steel hydraulic structures
• Construction-stage engineering and technical support

The broader Sacramento hydropower practice is actively working around dam and water conveyance projects, radial gates and large valves, providing a strong concentration of hydraulic infrastructure expertise locally.

Key Responsibilities

Depending on experience, responsibilities will include:

• Performing structural analysis and design of hydraulic and water-retaining structures.
• Developing engineering calculations, technical analyses, design drawings, specifications, and construction documentation.
• Evaluating existing hydraulic structures and developing rehabilitation or retrofit solutions.
• Supporting the design of dams, spillways, intake structures, outlet works, conveyance structures, and hydropower facilities.
• Coordinating with civil, geotechnical, hydraulic, mechanical, electrical, and construction professionals.
• Developing plans, specifications, estimates, engineering analyses, and other design deliverables.
• Supporting equipment procurement and construction-phase activities where appropriate.
• Reviewing calculations, drawings, technical reports, and engineering deliverables.
• Working directly with technical specialists and project leadership on complex engineering challenges.
• Coordinating design interfaces between structural components and hydraulic, geotechnical, or mechanical systems.
• Participating in technical meetings with clients and multidisciplinary project teams.
• Supporting field investigations, condition assessments, and construction activities.
• Providing technical mentorship to developing engineers as experience allows.
• Helping establish technical approaches and design solutions for increasingly complex assignments.

More experienced candidates may also take responsibility for organizing and overseeing multidisciplinary project teams, mentoring junior engineers, and developing teams capable of executing complex hydropower assignments.

What We're Looking For

LVI Associates would be interested in speaking with engineers coming from structural, civil structural, hydraulic structures, dams, hydropower, heavy civil, or water infrastructure backgrounds.

Ideally, you'll bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Professional experience in structural or civil engineering.
• Experience designing reinforced concrete and/or structural steel systems.
• Exposure to hydraulic structures, dams, hydropower, heavy civil infrastructure, or water-related structures.
• Strong understanding of structural analysis and engineering fundamentals.
• Experience producing calculations, drawings, specifications, and technical engineering documentation.
• Ability to collaborate within multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Particularly valuable experience:

• Dams and spillways
• Hydropower facilities
• Intake and outlet structures
• Water conveyance systems
• Water-retaining concrete structures
• Gates and embedded mechanical systems
• Existing structure rehabilitation
• Seismic analysis or retrofit
• Structural condition assessments
• Construction engineering
• Multidisciplinary PS&E delivery
• Client-facing project engineering

Depending on level, California PE licensure or the ability to obtain California registration would be highly valuable.