Entry-Level Water Resources Engineer

Job Description

Dewberry's Fairfax, VA office is seeking a motivated and innovative Entry-Level Water Resources Engineer to join our Resilience Solutions Group. This role supports the advancement of the science and practice of floodplain analysis, flood risk assessment, and water resources engineering. The successful candidate will work as part of a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, planners, and programmers to develop and apply hydraulic models, analyze riverine and floodplain systems. This position offers opportunities to work with a broad range of advanced tools and technologies, including statistical, hydrologic, and hydraulic modeling platforms, geospatial analytics, emerging digital solutions, and cloud-based computational workflows. The successful candidate will gain hands-on experience in hydraulic engineering, floodplain management, flood risk assessment, and water resources planning and design. The ideal candidate is technically curious, collaborative, and eager to expand their expertise with excellent communication and writing skills.

Dewberry is a leading, market-facing professional services firm with more than 60 locations and 2,500 professionals nationwide. What sets us apart from our competitors is 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.

Responsibilities

• Support hydraulic and water resources projects for municipal, state, and federal clients.
• Assist with the development and application of one-dimensional and two-dimensional hydraulic models of rivers, floodplains, bridges, culverts, and other hydraulic structures.
• Perform hydraulic and flood risk analyses under the guidance of senior engineers.
• Assist with floodplain mapping, flood hazard evaluations, and water resources studies.
• Use GIS and hydraulic modeling software to support project analyses and deliverables.
• Collaborate with engineers, scientists, planners, and other technical specialists on multidisciplinary projects.
• Participate in client meetings, project discussions, and field investigations as needed.

Required Skills & Required Experience

Required Skills & Experience

Candidates should demonstrate a strong foundation in hydraulic engineering, water resources engineering, and quantitative analysis. The ideal candidate is eager to learn, works effectively in a team environment, and has an interest in applying engineering principles and modeling tools to solve complex water resources challenges.

• BS or MS in Civil Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 0-3 years of relevant experience in hydraulic engineering, water resources engineering, or a related field through professional employment, internships, research, or academic projects.
• Fundamental understanding of open-channel hydraulics, hydrology, and water resources engineering principles.
• Familiarity with GIS software, including ArcGIS Pro or QGIS.
• Experience analyzing and interpreting engineering, hydrologic, geospatial, or environmental datasets.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and quantitative skills.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams and manage multiple assignments.
• Engineer-in-Training (EIT) certification or the ability to obtain certification within 12 months of hire.

 Preferred Qualifications

• Coursework or project experience involving river hydraulics, floodplain management, hydrology, or geomorphology.
• Familiarity with Python, R, or similar programming languages for automation and data analysis.
• Familiarity with FEMA flood studies and regulatory floodplain mapping.
• Experience working with hydrologic, hydraulic, meteorological, or geospatial datasets.
• Exposure to cloud computing, high-performance computing, or automated modeling workflows.
• Exposure to USACE modeling software such as HEC-SSP, HEC-HMS, and HEC-RAS.

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.

The projected range for this position is $82,500 - $85,000 annually. Depending upon other factors, i.e., skills, experience, location, market conditions, the range may vary slightly.

*At this time, Dewberry will not sponsor a new applicant for work authorization.

*Dewberry is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or sexual orientation.

*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.

Program Information

As an entry-level hire, you’ll be part of a class of peers with 0-1 year of professional experience. Our entry-level program comes together on a regular basis for professional development events and team building activities led by an advisory team to:

• Form lasting connections with peers in your class.
• Gain a better understanding of career growth and meaningful opportunities to align with your professional goals.
• Expand your knowledge of Dewberry and what we do.