Structural Engineering Recruiters
Advastar has supported structural design firms, fabricators and owners with their engineering hires
Structural engineering recruiting for design firms, fabricators and owners
Advastar recruits structural engineers for consulting design firms, design-build contractors, steel fabricators, precast producers and owners with in-house engineering. We place analysis and design engineers, detailers and modelers, SE and PE licensed project engineers and the department heads and principals who run structural practices.
Structural is a small, credential-bound market where the specialisms matter more than most hiring managers account for. An engineer who has spent eight years on steel-framed commercial buildings is not interchangeable with one doing post-tensioned concrete parking structures, and neither is a natural fit for seismic retrofit or restoration work on an existing building. Connection design, industrial structures and forensic and failure investigation are narrower still. When a structural search stalls, the reason is usually that the requirement contains three of these specialisms and the market contains people who have one.
Licensure is the second constraint. A PE is the baseline for most project-level roles, and the SE is a separate credential that some states require for certain structure types and others do not recognize at all. It changes who can seal work in which jurisdiction, and it changes compensation substantially. We verify licensure against the issuing board, note the states a candidate is licensed in and tell you what comity would realistically take if the person you want is licensed somewhere else.
We work nationally on a direct-hire, contract, contract-to-hire and payrolling basis. Advastar has more than 60 years of combined staffing experience across engineering and construction, and our engineering desk understands that structural firms sell billable hours, which means a hire has to be chargeable at a defensible rate from a reasonably early date to be worth making at all.
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Our structural engineering talent network
- 8,600 structural engineers and detailers in network
- 1,850 PE or SE licensed structural engineers
- 35 states with active structural placements
- 29days median time from search kickoff to offer
Structural engineering talent categories commonly supported
Cast-in-place, precast and post-tensioned concrete design. Parking structures, podium construction and long-span concrete framing, where the design approach and the software differ meaningfully from steel practice.
Pipe racks, equipment foundations, silos, conveyor structures, transmission structures and plant framing. Structural work driven by process and equipment loads rather than architectural program.
Engineers assessing existing structures: condition assessment, repair design, facade and envelope structural work and expert investigation after a failure or claim.
Engineers with seismic design and retrofit depth, working to ASCE 7 and jurisdiction-specific requirements. A specialism concentrated in a handful of states and priced accordingly.
Structural steel design and connection engineering, including delegated design work for fabricators. RAM, RISA and SAP experience plus the AISC detailing knowledge that separates a designer from a checker.
Engineers producing gravity and lateral design for buildings and structures, working through schematic design to construction documents. Screened on structure type, framing material and the size of what they have personally designed rather than assisted on.
Detailers and modelers producing shop drawings and coordinated models in Tekla, Revit and SDS/2. The group that determines whether a fabricator’s shop runs smoothly or fights the drawings.
Department managers, office leads and principals accountable for utilization, technical quality and client development, usually recruited confidentially while the incumbent is still in place.
Software, codes and credentials we screen for
- ACI Concrete Design
- ADAPT Post-Tensioning
- AISC Steel Design
- ASCE 7 Load Provisions
- Condition Assessment & Repair Design
- Connection Design
- ETABS
- Foundation & Geotechnical Interface
- IBC Compliance
- IDEA StatiCa
- PE Licensure
- RAM Structural System
- Revit Structure
- RISA-3D
- SAP2000
- SDS/
2 - SE Licensure
- Seismic Design & Retrofit
- STAAD.Pro
- Tekla Structures
Real-world outcomes: structural engineering searches we have delivered
- Read Case Study: Structural Consultancy – Seismic Practice Launch
Structural consultancy – seismic practice launch
- SE-licensed practice lead recruited confidentially from a competing firm
- Design engineers with ASCE 7 retrofit experience hired underneath
- Licensure and comity timelines mapped before offers so the office could seal work on schedule
- Read Case Study: Steel Fabricator – Delegated Connection Design
Steel fabricator – delegated connection design
- Connection engineer with IDEA StatiCa and AISC depth recruited directly
- Two Tekla detailers added so shop drawings and engineering sat in one group
- Contract-to-hire used for the detailing roles while volume was confirmed
- Read Case Study: Building Owner – Restoration and Assessment Team
Building owner – restoration and assessment team
- Restoration engineer with condition assessment and repair design experience placed
- Forensic investigation background prioritized after two facade claims
- Structural detailer added to document repair scopes for competitive bidding
What hiring managers say about Advastar
Why clients trust Advastar
Forbes 2026Best of Recruiting & Best of Staffing
Advastar was named to Forbes' 2026 Best of Recruiting and Best of Staffing lists, both compiled from independent surveys of the clients and candidates we work with.
Read the AnnouncementGE EnergyStaffing Partner of the Year
GE Energy named Advastar its Staffing Partner of the Year in 2025 through the GE Vernova supplier program.
60+ yearsof combined structural engineering expertise
Our structural engineering recruiters bring more than 60 years of combined recruiting experience to every search we run.
Tell us who you need to hire
- Tell us about the role you need to fill
- A recruiter calls you within one business day
- Together we agree on a plan to fill the role
Find your next role
- Tell us what kind of work you want
- A recruiter reviews your details and gets in touch
- We put you forward for jobs that fit
GE Energy Staffing Partner of the Year
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Our structural engineering recruiting team
David Case
President, Advastar Engineering Services
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Tim Shearer
VP & National Managing Director
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Robert Cornelio
Director of Business Development
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Jaime Summers
Senior Recruiter
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Amanda Martin
Recruiter
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Christen Trent
Recruiter
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Laura Carrillo Barrios
Recruiter
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Lisa Wombwell
Office Manager
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Frequently asked questions about structural engineering recruitment
Design engineers, project engineers, connection and detailing specialists, BIM modelers, restoration and forensic engineers, industrial structures engineers and the department managers, office leads and principals above them.
Because structural specialisms do not transfer as easily as job titles suggest. Steel-framed commercial, post-tensioned concrete, seismic retrofit, industrial framing and restoration are close to separate professions. A requirement combining three of them usually describes someone who does not exist.
The PE is the general professional license and the baseline for most project-level structural work. The SE is a separate structural-specific credential that some states require for certain structure types, some accept and some do not recognize. It affects who can seal what, where, and it carries a meaningful compensation premium.
Directly with the issuing state board before submittal. We record which states a candidate is licensed in, and where a role needs licensure the candidate does not yet hold, we give you a realistic comity timeline instead of letting it surface after an offer.
Yes. Fabricator-side engineering is its own market – delegated connection design, shop drawing production, erection engineering – and the candidates come from a different pool than consulting design engineers.
Yes, though it is a small pool. Condition assessment, repair design, facade and envelope work and failure investigation require experience that consulting design engineers usually do not have, so these searches take longer and we say so at kickoff.
Yes. Tekla, SDS/2 and Revit Structure detailers are placed frequently, often contract-to-hire while a fabricator or firm confirms sustained volume.
No. Our structural work is engineering only. Architectural design, interior design and related disciplines sit outside what this desk covers.
Civil covers transportation, water, site development and geotechnical work. Structural covers the design of the structure itself. Some firms employ both, but the licensure emphasis, software and candidate pools are separate.
Median from kickoff to accepted offer is about 29 days, longer than most of our engineering searches because licensure and specialism narrow the pool. Confidential leadership searches typically run six to eight weeks.
Yes. Contract and contract-to-hire are common for peak design workload, a single large project or covering a leave, and we handle payrolling where the person is already identified.
We recruit nationally across the United States, with active structural placements in 35 states. Because licensure is state-specific, we always confirm where a candidate can seal before submitting them.