This job opportunity is available at ANY location in the United States. Ideally, selected candidates will be near a JACOBS U.S. based office, but we intend to hire the "best" candidates.
Your Impact
Jacobs' Data Center & Hyperscale practice is experiencing record growth — and civil engineering is at the center of it. From the $10B+ Hut 8 River Bend campus in Louisiana to our strategic NVIDIA partnership driving next-generation AI factory development, Jacobs is delivering some of the most technically complex hyperscale programs in North America. We are building the practice's civil engineering leadership bench to match that ambition.
As a Senior Civil Engineer SME within our Advanced Manufacturing group, you will serve as the technical authority for civil site engineering across a national portfolio of hyperscale data center and advanced technology campus programs. This is not a project-only role — you are setting the civil engineering standards, governing the quality of civil deliverables produced by project teams and Global Integrated Delivery (GID) partners, mentoring the next generation of Jacobs civil engineers, and leading the permitting and regulatory strategy on programs that have no tolerance for schedule risk.
This role is open to candidates located anywhere near a Jacobs US office. Jacobs will recruit the best available civil SME — geography is a filter, not a barrier.
What You'll Do
Civil Site Design & Technical Leadership
You will lead civil site engineering across the full design lifecycle for multi-building hyperscale campus programs — from site selection and feasibility through construction documents, permit applications, and construction administration:
- Lead campus-scale mass grading and earthwork design for hyperscale programs of 50–1,000+ acres, including cut and fill optimization, soil import and export strategy, phased grading sequencing that maintains continuous operation of in-service facility phases, subgrade preparation specifications, and earthwork volume tracking.
- Design and govern stormwater management infrastructure for large impervious-surface campuses: storm sewer collection and hydraulic analysis, wet ponds, bioretention, underground detention, and discharge management consistent with post-development hydrology constraints and NPDES permit conditions.
- Lead site utility infrastructure design for hyperscale campuses — domestic water service, sanitary sewer capacity and routing, natural gas for emergency generator systems, fire protection water supply, and cooling tower makeup water, including reclaimed water systems to support Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) targets.
- Design heavy-duty pavement systems for campus roads, diesel fuel delivery routes, cooling tower crane access pads, transformer pad access, and security perimeters — accounting for extreme axle loads and repetitive heavy vehicle cycles unique to mission-critical facility operations.
- Provide civil technical leadership for underground fuel storage systems (UST) supporting large generator plants: secondary containment design, leak detection integration, spill containment grading, and EPA and state UST regulatory compliance.
- Coordinate geotechnical investigation programs with subconsultants; interpret boring logs and laboratory test data; translate geotechnical findings into earthwork specifications, compaction criteria, and foundation coordination inputs for the structural engineering team.
- Develop and maintain Jacobs civil engineering design standards, grading and drainage specification templates, standard detail libraries, and stormwater BMP criteria for the data center practice — ensuring consistency and quality across a national project portfolio.
- Provide technical governance for civil deliverables produced by project teams and GID partners: reviewing grading plans, utility plans, drainage reports, SWPPP documents, and IFC construction drawings for code compliance, permit condition adherence, and Jacobs quality standards.
- Mentor mid-level and junior civil engineers across the practice — developing technical depth, standards fluency, and project leadership capability.
Permitting, Entitlements & Regulatory Strategy
Hyperscale data center programs require complex, multi-agency permitting and land development entitlements that directly constrain site feasibility and construction schedule. The civil SME owns the regulatory pathway:
- Lead land use entitlement strategy for greenfield and adaptive-reuse hyperscale campus sites — rezoning applications, conditional use permits, site plan approvals, and variance requests — working closely with owners, land use counsel, and local planning authorities to protect schedule and maximize development yield.
- Direct NPDES Construction General Permit compliance strategy for large disturbed-area programs, including SWPPP development, BMP selection, QSP coordination, inspection program design, and regulatory agency response. Navigate state-specific regimes including Virginia VSMP, AZPDES, Texas CGP, and similar frameworks with schedule-sensitive permit sequencing strategies.
- Lead Clean Water Act Section 404 and Section 401 permitting for sites with jurisdictional wetlands, waterways, or Waters of the U.S. — including wetland delineation coordination, permit application strategy, mitigation planning, and agency negotiation to protect program schedule.
- Navigate floodplain permitting, LOMR/CLOMR applications, and endangered species Section 7 consultations for complex hyperscale site development programs in regulated markets.
- Develop early-release civil permit packages — rough grading permits, land disturbance permits, and utility installation permits — sequenced to support fast-track Design-Build and EPCM construction schedules while full entitlement packages are advanced in parallel.
- Serve as the civil SME interface with Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), state regulatory agencies, utility providers, and local planning bodies throughout design, permitting, and construction administration phases.
