ARA is seeking a staff civil engineer to work on-site at the Florida DOT State Materials Office (SMO) in Gainesville, FL. This engineer, along with other ARA on-site staff, will participate in our pavement engineering consulting services contract.

What you will do as a staff civil engineer:

Join a team of engineers and engineering technicians who provide nondestructive pavement testing and evaluation on state-owned roadways throughout Florida. Lead state-wide pavement construction acceptance verification for ride quality. Receive, store, and process data and images collected with a high-speed inertial pavement profiler survey vehicle. Profiler data include pavement rut-depth, smoothness, and cross-slope. After processing data, perform analysis with MS VBA macros to compare data to state specifications for construction quality assurance. Provide report summarizing results. As necessary, edit existing analysis codes or develop/write new codes. Provide direction and support to technician staff for profiler data collection. Draft annual report summarizing the year’s construction acceptance results. Assist with statewide Pavement Condition Survey (PCS) processes. Receive, store, and process data and images collected with a laser crack measurement system (LCMS) survey vehicle or collected with a traditional camera-based system. After processing data, perform quality assurance assessment. Perform hydroplaning evaluations and investigations as needed.

Other tasks, as assigned by the Florida DOT staff, may include:

Further analysis for pavement evaluation or management purposes. Preparation of other technical reports and presentation materials. Analysis of other nondestructive testing data used in the evaluation of pavement infrastructure condition (e.g., falling weight deflectometer, ground penetrating radar).

Staff civil engineer requirements:

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Civil Engineering Knowledge and understanding of common pavement engineering principles and practices, such as pavement design, evaluation, and management practices; structural capacity evaluation; pavement materials engineering; pavement performance modeling; resilient modulus analysis; soil materials characterization; statistical analysis; and general data reduction Working knowledge of MS Office products and other specialty pavement-related evaluation tools Occasional travel may be required but is very infrequent

Desired skills and experience:

2+ years of practical pavement engineering experience (graduate/academic research work may be applicable experience) Experience analyzing nondestructive pavement testing data and pavement condition data Knowledge of Microsoft VBA

We offer a comprehensive and generous benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, life, and retirement plans. The salary for this position ranges from $58,000 to $80,500/year, depending on education and experience.

About ARA:

ARA is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently employs more than 2,100 professionals and continues to grow. ARA offices throughout the United States and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in civil technologies, computer software and simulation, defense technologies, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. The corporation also provides sophisticated technical products for pavement analysis, environmental site characterization, and robotics.

ARA embraces the core values of passion, freedom, service, and growth. We provide a working environment in which highly qualified technical professionals can pursue their specialties with a maximum of support and a minimum of bureaucracy. These individuals form a network of colleagues with complementary capabilities, similar goals, and a willingness to cooperate on challenging and important technical problems. We strive for long-term associations among our staff and with our clients.

We recognize that employee ownership spawns greater creativity and initiative along with higher performance and customer satisfaction levels. ARA gives its employees the tools, training, and opportunities to take more active roles as owners. The culture is challenging; innovation and experimentation are the norm. Employees are eligible for contributions which not only add to the company’s success, but also their own through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The motto, “Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit” sums up the ARA experience.