Engineering Manager - Forensic Practice (In-Office)

Engineering Manager - Forensic Practice

Location: Plano, Texas | In Office
Position Type: Full-Time
Salary Range: $170,000–$200,000 DOE
Relocation Assistance: Available for qualified candidates

The Opportunity

Paragon is looking for an experienced engineering leader to join our firm as the Engineering Manager - Forensic Practice, leading the day-to-day operations and development of our forensic engineering team.

While a background in forensic investigations is beneficial, our primary focus is finding a skilled civil engineer and strong operational and people manager with the leadership experience to develop engineers, manage resources, and lead a high-performing technical team.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who wants to take ownership of managing people, performance, resources, and operations within a growing engineering and consulting firm. You will lead a team of forensic engineers while working closely with our Engineering Director, Project Operations, and firm leadership to ensure investigations are staffed appropriately, executed efficiently, and delivered with the level of technical quality and responsiveness our clients expect.

The role requires someone who can see both the people and the operation. You will coach and develop engineers, manage changing workloads and priorities, resolve challenges, strengthen processes, and help build the systems and leadership structure necessary to support continued growth.

The right person is a strong technical leader who is organized, decisive, adaptable, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced consulting environment. You know how to hold people accountable while developing them, make sound decisions when priorities compete, and create an environment where talented professionals can perform at a high level.

Why This Role

• Leadership Impact: Lead and develop a growing team of forensic engineers and directly influence the performance and success of the practice.
• Real Ownership: Take responsibility for engineering staffing, workload, team performance, development, and day-to-day operations.
• Operational Influence: Identify opportunities to improve workflows, resource planning, project delivery, and overall team efficiency.
• Client Exposure: Build relationships with attorneys, insurance professionals, contractors, architects, property owners, and commercial clients.
• Build for Growth: Help develop the people, processes, and systems needed to support the continued growth of Paragon’s forensic practice.
• Relocation Support: We are open to experienced candidates outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area and are willing to assist qualified candidates with relocation to the Plano area.

What You’ll Own

Engineering Team Leadership: Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a growing team of forensic engineers. Establish clear expectations, provide ongoing feedback, conduct performance evaluations, support career development, and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Staffing & Resource Management: Own the day-to-day allocation of engineering resources across active projects. Balance workloads, capabilities, project requirements, deadlines, and changing client priorities to ensure the team is positioned to deliver effectively.

Operational Performance: Oversee the daily operational performance of the forensic engineering group. Monitor workload, project delivery, utilization, quality, and team performance and address issues before they become larger operational problems.

Project & Workflow Coordination: Work closely with Project Operations to coordinate staffing, scheduling, investigations, technical reviews, deadlines, and other project requirements. Maintain visibility into upcoming demands and proactively plan for resource needs.

People Development: Identify individual strengths and development opportunities, delegate responsibility appropriately, build technical and leadership capabilities, and help develop future leaders within the engineering team.

Technical Leadership & Escalation: Serve as a primary point of escalation for technical questions, engineering challenges, workload conflicts, and personnel matters. Provide sound engineering judgment and help the team navigate complex or unusual project situations.

Process Improvement: Identify workflow bottlenecks, recurring challenges, and opportunities for improvement. Develop and implement practical solutions that improve efficiency, consistency, communication, and project execution.

Client Leadership: Develop and maintain trusted relationships with attorneys, insurance carriers, adjusters, contractors, architects, property owners, and commercial clients. Participate in technically complex client discussions and project strategy meetings and support business development through technical expertise and responsive client service.

What You Bring

Experience & Education

• Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, structural engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive technical experience.
• 5+ years of progressive experience managing engineers, technical professionals, field personnel, or comparable teams.
• Professional engineering licensure preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading and developing engineering or technical teams.
• Experience managing personnel, allocating resources, and balancing multiple concurrent projects and deadlines.
• Strong operational leadership experience involving staffing, scheduling, workflow, resource planning, or project delivery.
• Experience developing and maintaining client relationships in a consulting or professional-services environment.
• Proven ability to lead effectively through changing priorities and competing demands.
• Ability to travel to project sites as needed, primarily throughout Texas and surrounding states.

Relevant Technical Background

Experience in one or more of the following areas is highly valued:

• Civil or structural consulting engineering
• Commercial land development
• Site development engineering
• Construction administration
• Building envelope consulting
• Facility assessment or asset management
• Structural investigations
• Forensic engineering or forensic investigations
• Surveying or geomatics management
• Infrastructure consulting
• Multi-disciplinary engineering consulting

Prior forensic engineering experience is beneficial but is not required. Experience successfully managing engineering teams, field crews, inspectors, survey crews, or other technical professionals is highly valued.

How You Lead

You understand that strong technical teams need both technical credibility and effective leadership. You establish expectations, communicate clearly, follow through, and hold people accountable while giving them the support and resources they need to succeed.

You are comfortable making decisions and adjusting quickly when project demands change. You can look across a large workload, identify where attention is needed, prioritize resources, and keep the team moving without losing sight of quality.

You develop people rather than simply manage assignments. You recognize individual strengths, provide meaningful feedback, delegate responsibility, and create opportunities for engineers to grow professionally and technically.

You also understand the importance of client service. You communicate confidently with clients and professionals, exercise sound judgment in complex situations, and represent Paragon with professionalism and technical credibility.

Most importantly, you enjoy building high-performing teams, solving operational problems, developing people, and creating the structure needed for a growing engineering practice to succeed.

Work Environment & Physical Requirements

This is a full-time, in-office position based in Plano, Texas. Core working hours are generally between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Central Time; however, this leadership role requires flexibility to work outside of core hours as needed to support project demands, client needs, deadlines, travel, and other business priorities.

Paragon operates in a highly technology-driven environment, and comfort working with computers, phones, tablets, and other business and engineering technology is important to success in this role.

The position requires the ability to travel to and from project sites as needed, typically throughout Texas and surrounding states.

The employee is regularly required to sit, stand, reach, bend, and move throughout office and project environments. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals to perform the essential functions of the position.

Benefits

Paragon offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• 32 paid days off annually, including 20 paid time-off days, 10 paid holidays, and 2 volunteer days
• 401(k) with 100% company match up to 4% of eligible earnings, with no vesting period
• Medical coverage, 70% company-paid for employees and their families
• Dental and vision coverage, 100% company-paid for employees and their families
• Company-paid life, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and disability benefits
• Paid maternity and bonding leave
• Wellness and monthly night-out reimbursements
• Student debt assistance for eligible job-related degrees
• Continuing education and professional development opportunities
• Employee referral bonus
• TSA PreCheck and CLEAR reimbursement
• Additional tenure-based benefits and employee perks

Paragon 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, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Paragon is a growing engineering and consulting firm providing structural engineering, forensic investigation, and related professional services. Our work brings together technical expertise, problem solving, client service, and collaboration across a wide range of projects and complex matters.

This position offers the opportunity to lead an important part of the organization, develop a talented engineering team, and play a meaningful role in the continued growth and evolution of Paragon’s forensic practice.