Home / Careers / Professional Engineer (PE) — Seller-Doer / San Diego, CA
Now hiring · San Diego, CA 92101 · $115k–$150k / year
Professional Engineer (PE) — Seller-Doer — San Diego, CA
We are looking for seller-doer engineers: licensed Professional Engineers who are as comfortable in a contractor's office pitching a testing program as they are reviewing a compaction report or sealing a geotechnical letter. You carry a business development target and a technical workload at the same time, you keep the clients you win, and your compensation follows the revenue you bring in. The company handles the laboratory, the certified field staff, and the quality system; you bring the relationships and the stamp.
This is a project-site position supporting programs in and around San Diego, California, staffed through the Los Angeles, CA regional hub on a project basis with travel as assigned.
Field days near San Diego mean seismic structural concrete, hillside grading, and lab-heavy soils programs, and a record that follows you project to project.
What you'll do
- Develop and maintain a book of clients — general contractors, owners, developers, and design firms — for materials testing, special inspection, and geotechnical services
- Scope, price, and write proposals; negotiate terms; convert opportunities into signed work
- Serve as engineer of record on the projects you win: review field and laboratory data, resolve failing tests, and seal reports and letters
- Direct technicians and inspectors on your projects and coordinate with the laboratory on testing schedules
- Represent the company at owner meetings, pre-construction meetings, and industry events in your market
What we're looking for
- Active PE license (civil, geotechnical, or structural) in the state of the posting, or ability to obtain it by comity within 90 days
- 6+ years in construction materials testing, geotechnical engineering, or special inspection, including client-facing responsibility
- A record of bringing in work, or a clear, credible plan for how you would in this market
- Comfortable pricing, negotiating, and saying no to a bad contract
What a week in this job looks like
Two or three days of the week are spent selling: coffee with a project executive who has a new job starting, a proposal for a testing program on a tilt-wall distribution center, a lunch-and-learn at an architecture firm, a follow-up on last month's bid. The rest is engineering: reviewing the week's compaction and concrete results on your projects, resolving a low break with the contractor and the structural engineer, and sealing the geotechnical letter a client has been waiting on.
The two halves feed each other. The clients you sell to are the ones whose data you review, so the relationship is built on how you handle their problems, not on a sales pitch.
Compensation and how a seller-doer is measured
Base salary runs $115,000 to $150,000 depending on license history, market, and the book of business you bring. On top of the base, seller-doers earn a share of the revenue from the clients they develop, paid on collected invoices and set out in writing in the offer. The measures are plain: revenue won, revenue retained, and the quality record on the projects you seal.
Texas positions are dispatched from the Sugar Land headquarters; project-site positions elsewhere are staffed on a project basis with travel and per diem as assigned, and the listing for your city says which one it is.
Support behind you
You are not selling a one-person shop. Behind every proposal is a staffed laboratory in Sugar Land, ACI- and NICET-certified field technicians, ICC special inspectors, a licensed nuclear gauge program, and a documented AASHTO R18 quality system. The proposals, scheduling, and reporting run through the company's own platform, so your time goes to clients and engineering, not paperwork.
How hiring works, and our commitment
Apply with your license, your project history, and an honest account of the work you have won and kept. Expect a direct conversation with the people you would work for, references that get called, and a written offer consistent with this posting. The role requires a valid driver's license and regular travel to client offices and jobsites in your market, with pre-employment screening consistent with client requirements.
We are an equal opportunity employer and consider every applicant without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status.
Apply for this position — upload your resume and we fill in the form
The work behind this job in San Diego
Materials Testing in San Diego · Geotechnical in San Diego · Forensic in San Diego
Nearby openings
Professional Engineer (Seller-Doer) — Los Angeles, CAProfessional Engineer (Seller-Doer) — San Jose, CAProfessional Engineer (Seller-Doer) — San Francisco, CAProfessional Engineer (Seller-Doer) — Fresno, CA
FAQ
Working in San Diego — common questions
Is the Professional Engineer (PE) — Seller-Doer position in San Diego an office job or a field job?
Office, client offices, and jobsites. Seller-doer engineers split their week between business development (client visits, proposals, meetings), project engineering at a desk, and site time when a project needs the engineer in the field.
Which hub covers San Diego?
The Los Angeles, CA regional hub, about 111 miles away. Work in San Diego is staffed on a project basis through that hub.
Do I need to relocate to San Diego?
Not necessarily. Project-site positions are staffed with travel and per diem as assigned; candidates already living near San Diego are preferred when a project starts there.
What certifications does a Professional Engineer (PE) — Seller-Doer in San Diego need?
An active Professional Engineer license is required; it is what lets you seal the reports and letters your projects produce. Civil or geotechnical PE is the usual path; a structural PE fits the special inspection side. The company pays for your license renewals, comity applications, and continuing education.
What tests will I run on San Diego projects?
Fresh concrete testing at the truck — slump (ASTM C143), air content (ASTM C231), temperature (ASTM C1064), unit weight (ASTM C138), cylinder casting (ASTM C31) — and nuclear density on fill lifts (ASTM D6938) against the ASTM D698 or D1557 Proctor, plus aggregate and soil sampling for the laboratory.
What should I include in my application?
Years of experience, any certifications (ACI, NICET, ICC, nuclear gauge), and either a resume file or a short work history in the form. Applications without certifications are welcome for entry-level roles.