Principal Structural Civil Engineer

AES US • Louisville, CO

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The AES Corporation, a global power company with 8,300 employees across 12 countries, is seeking an experienced Structural Engineer to support design development, project engineering, plan reviews, owner's engineer roles, and construction of photovoltaic (PV), high voltage (HV), sub-station, and grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). This role involves close coordination with AES Business Development, Engineering, and Construction teams. The Structural Engineer will act as the team's subject matter expert for structural design, providing technical support across solar PV, substation, HV, and battery storage projects. Key responsibilities include reviewing structural plans, evaluating the structural basis of design, assessing economical construction alternatives, performing quality control and assurance, and offering technical guidance on pile load testing, Lpile analysis, foundation types, concrete and steel design, corrosion issues, and costing. The ideal candidate will have experience with the analysis, design, and review of structural steel pile foundations, reinforced concrete design, and evaluation of other structural systems common to PV, BESS, and HV utility-scale plants. This position can be based at an AES Renewables office or remote, with up to 25% travel required.

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree in Structural Engineering or equivalent technical field.
• 10 + years professional experience in structural engineering.
• 5 + years of experience with PV and Battery Energy Storage System design and WTG foundation design and/or 2+ years of experience with HV Substation and Overhead Line design.
• Proficiency in field experience with structural, civil, geotechnical, and /or design build construction.
• Experience with Structural Engineering standards and codes in the US.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Nice To Haves

• PE or SE qualifications, or on track to become qualified.
• Master’s degree in structural engineering.
• Experience with Lpile, finite element analysis (SAP2000, STAAD, or similar) or other advanced modeling tools.
• Spanish language skills.
• OSHA 10-hr or comparable job-site safety certification.

Responsibilities

• Provide support for early-stage foundation design options for project estimating purposes.
• Collaborate with external engineering vendors to develop conceptual design approaches and tools for various foundation systems (e.g., piles, anchors systems, grade beams, helical foundations).
• Support innovation and standardization of conceptual design methodologies across foundation types.
• Review and occasionally provide preliminary structural designs for projects in early development.
• Review of geotechnical reports for structural impacts on projects in development.
• Support project engineering with external Owner’s Engineer (OE) engagements with SOW, vendor coordination, and reviewing proposals.
• Support Project Engineers in procuring OE services and /or external services; ensure consistent, high-quality reviews.
• Support OE reviews as needed.
• Provide technical input, design solutions, and reviews for structural deliverables identifying areas for value engineering (e.g., PV Racking, BESS, HV Substation and Gen-Tie /Overhead line).
• Review and comment on structural engineering calculations, studies and RFI’s across projects (e.g., design calculations, snow, wind, corrosion studies).
• Review design packages for conformance with industry codes and standards, prudent industry practices, AES contractual technical specifications and AHJ requirements.
• Perform site visits to assess structural issues during construction and operations.
• Support or perform root-cause analysis for structural issues.
• Conduct Job Site Assessment (JSA)s and safety walks to identify job-site hazards.
• Coordinate with HV and project engineers to assess and provide recommendations to project schedules.
• Build and maintain a database of foundation designs (historical and current).
• Analyze design evolution (e.g., steel tonnage from concept to IFC) to guide cost and design decisions.
• Provide rapid, data-backed material impact estimates for design changes.
• Draft and update structural specifications to current industry practices and trends by incorporating lessons learned from past projects.
• Verify structural calculations are complete and recommendations are incorporated into construction documents.
• Support the Project Management and Engineering to troubleshoot issues during construction or operations and maintenance and develop repair/remediation options.
• Support the Innovation team with product reviews related to structural design.
• Develop tools, guidance, and training to enable Project Engineers and other engineering staff to review structural designs independently.
• Serve as SME for complex or ambiguous structural engineering review outcomes.
• Continuously improve internal design-review and QA processes.
• Contribute to AES Renewables growth planning through process-improvement task forces and strategic initiatives.
• Develop and refine tools for structural concept design and estimating.
• Provide support for field design issues and escalate to external engineering when needed.

Benefits

• medical, dental, and vision coverage
• life insurance
• 401(k) eligibility
• paid time off (including vacation, sick leave time, and parental leave)

What This Job Offers

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