Job Details

We are assisting our confidential client with the search for a Principal Engineer to support Seismic and CSA Integration for advanced nuclear reactor projects. In this role, you will support the development of plant level requirements and strategies relevant to complex seismic design and licensing activities, perform technical review of work products, and facilitate the integration and implementation of strategies and work products across project disciplines. Candidates must have extensive experience in seismic design and analysis, soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis, civil/structuraldesign and analysis, safety and probabilistic analysis, seismic fragility evaluations, peer review, with a focus on seismic vulnerabilities (seismic interactions), and requirements/criteria development for nuclear power projects.
The successful candidate will coordinate with engineers working on structures, systems, components, and engineering analyses for successful integration of input and requirements for nuclear plant seismic design and analysis. The Engineer will coordinate scope, schedule and technical integration for system design, 3D model and drawing development, and also support cross functional collaboration with licensing, safety analysis, and PRA.

Location: Remote/Bellevue, WA
Length of Assignment: 12 months with potential to extend
Benefits: Three insurance levels, 401K + match, sick leave, and the opportunity to support advanced energy technology development.
Eligibility: U.S. citizens and those authorized to work in the U.S. are encouraged to apply. Work sponsorship is not available at this time.
Responsibilities

• Provide continuous oversight of seismic design scope, covering building and structural systems, foundations, equipment supports, and integrated plant analyses such as soil-structure interaction (SSI), seismic fragility development, and PRA inputs.
• Coordinate and direct complex multi-system analyses, including SSI studies, seismic model development, external hazard characterization, and building seismic qualification, ensuring consistency with plant-level methodologies and licensing strategy.
• Perform and guide SSI analyses using in-house SASSI tools; establish repeatable frameworks, workflows, and benchmarks that improve analysis efficiency and traceability across multiple structures.
• Develop, document, and implement seismic design bases and strategies, supporting both deterministic and probabilistic methods; apply risk-informed, performance-based methodologies (e.g., LMP, RIPB) to define design acceptance criteria for SSCs.
• Author, review, and refine plant- and system-level requirements and specifications, integrating seismic and structural criteria into design deliverables and ensuring seamless alignment with plant-level engineering.
• Interface across design disciplines (mechanical, I&C, nuclear safety, systems) to ensure seismic requirements, structural criteria, and performance expectations are clearly defined, properly allocated, and implemented across interfacing designs.
• Ensure adherence to licensing and code requirements (ASCE, ACI, AISC, ASCE 4/7/43, NUREG guidance), verifying they are correctly integrated into CSA products and aligned with the clients licensing strategy.
• Support cost studies and trade-off evaluations as the CSA/seismic SME, ensuring technical rigor while balancing constructability, schedule, and economic considerations.
• Surveil subcontractor performance, monitoring design deliverables, verifying compliance with technical requirements, and ensuring design processes and quality programs are properly implemented.
• Lead and support design and integration reviews, chairing cross-functional resolution sessions for CSA/seismic challenges, and facilitating targeted technical forums (e.g., working groups, decision boards, digital/in-person reviews).
• Integrate seismic and CSA design information into licensing products, including regulatory submittals under the Licensing Modernization Project (LMP), ensuring design-basis alignment with licensing commitments.
• Report emerging technical risks to project and engineering management, providing timely recommendations for mitigation and escalation when needed.
• Drive continuous improvement, applying nuclear industry best practices to seismic modeling, fragility methods, and structural qualification, while identifying opportunities for improved efficiency, quality, and integration.

Key Qualifications & Skills

• Education: M.S. degree in Civil engineering or equivalent or higher
• 12+ years of civil/structural design and analysis and/or probabilistic risk assessment experience
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and with minimum direction to solve challenging problems
• Candidate must have strong analytical/problem solving skills
• Candidate must be a self-starter and possess ability to coordinate with internal and external engineering and design teams with minimal direction
• Experience with new nuclear power plant design projects
• Experience with risk-Informed performance based, and probabilistic methodologies for application to seismic design and analyses
• Experience in a broad range of design and integration topics throughout a product lifecycle, including conceptual design, final design, and construction
• Experience with structural design for complex external hazard loading such as seismic and aircraft impact
• Experience with commercial codes and standards such as UBC, ACI 318, AISC 360 and ASCE 7
• Experience with nuclear codes and standards such as ACI 349, ACI 359, AISC N690, ASCE 4, and ASCE 43
• Experience working projects with NRC or DOE regulations
• Ability to deliver projects that include many competing objectives and design constraints, with ability to resolve conflicts between objectives.
• Ability to work on tasks that require a multi-disciplinary approach.
• Experience working to quality standards on design activities, such as ASME NQA-1 or ISO 9001.
• The successful candidate will possess a high degree of trust and integrity, communicate openly and display respect and a desire to foster teamwork.

Estimated Compensation Range: $69 - $115
per hour. All experience levels considered.

About Hansell Tierney
Hansell Tierney is one of the premier staffing and recruiting companies in the Pacific Northwest. Launched in 2001, we are a woman-owned business that serves and staffs Northwest organizations by doing things the right way, not just the easiest way. Hansell Tierney partners with candidates and clients to match the best candidates with interesting local opportunities. We navigate every relationship with the highest level of discretion and service while holding ourselves accountable to our promises. Our business thrives on our deep understanding of the job market and our ability to skillfully tailor our recruitment process to meet our clients' unique needs.

This Organization Participates in E-Verify
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