Project Snapshot

About the client

Our client is the UK engineering projects division of a major international energy company. From a landmark, modern integrated operations office in central Basingstoke - with ample parking and only a short walk from the mainline railway station - it develops projects and provides expert owner-engineering support to the group's businesses worldwide. The division is helping to lead the energy transition, combining traditional oil and gas activity with decarbonised and innovative solutions such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and renewables as the group moves towards a net-zero future.

Project scope

The role sits within an offshore structures discipline delivering a global portfolio of energy projects across the full life cycle - feasibility, FEED, detailed engineering and operations - on both greenfield and brownfield facilities. The discipline designs and assesses substructures and topsides for conventional energy and fast-growing energy-transition projects such as carbon capture and renewables, offering the opportunity to develop skills in new technologies on dynamic international projects.

Role overview

The Principal Engineer, Offshore Structures leads the offshore design team and provides guidance on how to execute structural analysis. The role takes a proactive approach to decision making, applies strong problem-solving skills and makes independent recommendations on solutions of varying complexity, delivering scope within schedule.

Reporting line: Leads a team of structural engineers and designers; interfaces with other discipline PDLs, planners and project management, and works within the discipline framework for the assigned project.

Key responsibilities

Structural analysis and design

•     Executes structural analysis for offshore substructures and topsides.

•     Studies and defines the best technical solutions for substructures and topsides across feasibility, FEED and detailed design.

•     Creates and verifies FEM models of fixed offshore structures (jacket and topside) for in-place and temporary conditions.

•     Defines and designs foundation systems, including foundation piles and mud mats.

Brownfield, advanced analysis and reviews

•     Leads re-design and assessment of brownfield structures, life extension and reliability analyses.

•     Directs non-linear analyses including blast, dropped objects, impact, redundancy and pushover.

•     Reviews technical documentation and analyses produced by the team before issue, and prepares sketch drawings and concept and feasibility studies.

Tendering and delivery

•     Defines and follows up tender documentation for offshore structures design, leading bidders towards the most efficient solution.

•     Sets up the internal workflow for assigned projects and plans the team's activities accordingly.

Leadership and coordination

•     Leads and directs one or more teams of offshore structural engineers across work packages.

•     Provides tutoring and mentoring to junior structural engineers.

•     Works with planners and project management to organise offshore resource workload and deliver scope to schedule.

Key deliverables

•     Structural analyses and FEM models of substructures and topsides completed and verified.

•     Foundation systems and advanced (non-linear) analyses designed and documented.

•     Brownfield assessments, life-extension and reliability studies delivered.

•     Tender documentation defined and bid evaluations concluded.

•     Team workload organised and project scope delivered to schedule.

Requirements

Education

•     Degree in an appropriate engineering discipline (Civil, Offshore, Structural, or Aerospace/Aeronautical with a focus on structures).

•     Demonstrable experience designing structures across all project phases (feasibility, FEED, detailed engineering and operations).

Experience

Must-have:

•     Strong analysis and design of offshore structures to ISO 19900 series, API RP 2A and AISC codes.

•     FEM modelling of fixed offshore structures (jacket and topside) for in-place and temporary conditions, plus foundation design.

•     Brownfield re-design and assessment, life extension and reliability analyses.

•     Non-linear analysis (blast, dropped objects, impact, redundancy, pushover) and knowledge of materials, fabrication and installation.

•     Leadership of structural engineering teams and tender documentation for offshore structures design.

Nice-to-have:

•     Experience with floaters design.

Technical skills

•     Offshore structural analysis tools (e.g. DNV SESAM Suite, USFOS, ANSYS, SACS).

•     AutoCAD, Windows OS and Microsoft Office.

Soft skills

•     Strong written and verbal communication, conveying technical information to management and stakeholders.

•     Proactive decision making and critical problem solving.

•     Team leadership, tutoring and mentoring.

•     Cross-discipline collaboration and planning.

•     Fluent English.

Description