Fire Protection Engineer (5+Years)

Coffman Engineers, Inc. • Los Angeles, CA

8d • $100,000 - $130,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Coffman Engineers is seeking a highly skilled and self-motivated Fire Protection Engineer with at least five (5) years of experience to join our growing Downtown Los Angeles office. The successful candidate will support the design and delivery of fire protection engineering projects while working closely with clients, architects, contractors, authorities having jurisdiction, and multidisciplinary project teams. This role focuses on project delivery, technical analysis and design, client coordination, and supporting the continued growth of our fire protection engineering practice. The successful candidate will contribute to projects from planning through construction while collaborating with engineers across multiple disciplines and Coffman offices. This position is ideal for an engineer who enjoys responsibility, client interaction, and technical problem solving while developing project management and leadership skills. The role offers the opportunity to grow with an established fire protection group while contributing to the long-term success of the Downtown Los Angeles office.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in fire protection engineering or consulting.
• Bachelor’s degree in Fire Protection Engineering, Fire Sciences, or related engineering field.
• FE/EIT required, PE preferred.
• Experience performing fire/life safety code analysis and designing fire protection systems for building projects.
• Experience applying the California Building Code, California Fire Code, applicable NFPA standards, and local permitting processes.
• Experience preparing construction documents, technical reports, and engineering calculations using industry-standard software tools.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple assignments and responsibilities.
• Self-starter, persistent, and follows through in a consistent manner.
• Passionate about client service and takes ownership of work product.
• Able to multi-task and prioritize in a fast-paced environment.
• Possesses strong critical thinking, organizational, and analytical abilities.
• Maintains positive working relationships with internal and external customers.
• Strong understanding of A/E/C industry terminology and procedures.
• Strong organizational ability, detail-oriented, high degree of accuracy.
• Performs well under pressure.
• Positive contributor to overall office and department goals, culture, and morale.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Ability to provide peer reviews of colleagues' work product.
• Ability to work with counterparts in other offices to share workload when required.
• Positive, can-do attitude.
• Well versed in fire protection engineering for buildings, including fire/life safety code consulting, fire suppression systems, fire alarm systems, egress analysis, passive fire protection strategies, and applicable California codes and NFPA standards.

Nice To Haves

• California Fire Protection Engineer PE registration.
• Experience coordinating with multidisciplinary project teams.
• Experience with fire suppression, fire alarm, and mass notification system design and analysis.
• Experience performing building and fire code analysis, egress analysis, and passive fire protection evaluations.
• Experience with smoke control systems, special inspections, commissioning, or acceptance testing.
• Experience developing code alternatives, engineering judgments, or performance-based design approaches.
• Experience with healthcare, aerospace, industrial, laboratory, higher education, K-12, civic, commercial, or institutional projects.
• Experience with construction administration and contractor coordination.
• Experience managing project scope, schedule, budget, and client communication.
• Proficiency with Revit, AutoCAD, Bluebeam, and Microsoft Office Suite.
• Experience with CONTAM, FDS, Pathfinder, hydraulic calculation software, or other fire protection engineering tools.
• Experience preparing proposals, scopes, and fee estimates.
• Experience collaborating with the Southern California architectural and engineering community.
• Participation in SFPE, NFPA, or other professional organizations.
• Experience in performing field investigations and existing-building assessments.

Responsibilities

• Provide fire/life safety consulting services for a variety of building types and clients.
• Perform building and fire code analysis, egress analysis, fire-resistance-rated construction analysis, and life safety evaluations.
• Design and analyze automatic fire suppression, fire detection, alarm, and mass notification systems.
• Prepare engineering calculations, technical reports, code studies, plans, specifications, and construction documents.
• Support smoke control system design, analysis, testing, and special inspection activities.
• Develop code alternatives, engineering judgments, and performance-based design approaches where appropriate.
• Coordinate fire protection and life safety requirements with architectural, structural, civil, mechanical, electrical, and low voltage disciplines.
• Manage project tasks and deliverables while maintaining quality, schedule, and budget objectives.
• Participate in client meetings, site visits, field investigations, construction meetings, and discussions with authorities having jurisdiction.
• Review submittments, shop drawings, RFIs, contractor requests, and field conditions during construction.
• Assist with proposal development, scope preparation, and fee estimates.
• Support client development efforts through strong project delivery, technical excellence, and client relationships.
• Coordinate with other Coffman offices to balance workload and share technical expertise.
• Contribute to office growth initiatives and maintain positive relationships within the local A/E/C community.
• Assist project managers, department leadership, and business development staff in developing technical proposals and supporting client relationships.
• Deliver high-quality engineering consulting services.

Benefits

• Paid overtime at 1.0 times hourly rate
• Competitive end-of-year discretionary bonus based on company/team/personal performance
• 401k with maximum of 5% Contribution Matching for 9% Employee Contribution
• Flexible PTO program
• Family-friendly policies

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior