AI Technical Design Lead

Description

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world's most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. With more than 36,000 people in over 70 countries, we are dedicated to improving quality of life.

Our Digital Engineering team is seeking an AI Technical Design Lead with a reputation for technical excellence and innovation, delivering prestigious and challenging projects across the globe. Various work projects include new major highways, bridges, rehabilitating critical infrastructure, designing landmark structures, and rail & transit engineering work that leaves a tangible and lasting impact on communities in Canada. This role is especially focused on the design and delivery of bridges and structures within the context of rail and transit projects, supporting major transit expansions, upgrades, and new line developments.

As the AI Technical Design Lead, you will play a key role in delivering challenging schemes, mentoring junior engineers, and driving innovation through the application of digital engineering and AI tools. This role goes beyond traditional design: it's about shaping the future of bridge engineering through sustainability, digital transformation, and advanced analytics, with an emphasis on meeting the unique demands of rail and transit infrastructure.

Role accountabilities:

In this role you will lead and contribute to the design and analysis of complex structures, rail and transit infrastructure including steel, concrete, and composite types, using industry-standard tools such as AutoCAD, Revit, Civil 3D, Bentley, SYNCHRO, Niricson, SAP2000, TILOS, and MIDAS to enable Digital Twin development for design, planning, new construction, repair work, safety, logistics for construction phases and to enable digital asset management for asset longevity. You will apply sound independent engineering judgment across multiple projects—including those in the rail and transit domain—ensuring technical excellence and strict compliance with relevant codes and standards, including those specific to rail and transit authorities. You will be responsible for managing or supporting the delivery of projects from concept through to construction, ensuring that outcomes are sustainable, innovative, and work closely with teams to consistently exceed client expectations. Your work will also require a robust understanding of design risk management, developing project schedules, staging plans and quality management systems, incorporating AI ensuring all deliverables meet the highest standards.

In this position, you will also drive digital and AI innovation by collaborating with Design & Engineering teams, as well as AI and data science professionals, to develop advanced tools for structural health monitoring, predictive maintenance, and design optimization. You will play a key role in integrating AI technologies—such as generative design, computer vision, and digital twins—into highways, roads, bridges, rail and transit design workflows, with a specific focus on enhancing asset performance and safety for rail and transit clients. In addition, you will champion the adoption of automation, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and data-driven engineering processes across infrastructure and transit-related projects, supporting workflow automation to enhance efficiency and quality.

As a technical leader, you will provide subject matter expertise, technical guidance, and mentoring for a team of engineers, typically comprising 3 to 5 members. You will foster a culture of continuous improvement, knowledge sharing, and digital upskilling, ensuring your team is well-equipped to tackle emerging challenges in the industry and the specific complexities associated with rail and transit projects. Effective communication will be essential, as you will be expected to convey complex technical solutions clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including major transit authorities and stakeholders.

Finally, in this role you will collaborate across Arcadis' global regions, supporting major international infrastructure projects—including high-profile rail and transit undertakings—and ensuring the seamless integration of best practices and innovative solutions. Your leadership and collaborative approach will help drive both project success and organizational growth on a global scale.

Qualifications & Experience:

Required:

• BSc/BEng or MSc/MEng in Structural / Civil Engineering (or related discipline)
• Professional Engineer (CEng/PE) status or working towards it
• Previous relevant experience in delivering large and complex structural projects (bridges, retaining walls, etc.) across new build and existing assets, with a strong focus on rail and transit infrastructure
• Experience in leading teams and providing technical guidance
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or similar programming languages for engineering applications
• Familiarity with BIM, parametric modeling, and digital engineering workflows
• Understanding of AI/ML concepts (e.g., regression, classification, deep learning)
• Excellent communications skills, client facing presentation skills, and ability to take complex client problems and provide solutions with delivery excellence

Preferred:

• Experience with digital twin platforms, IoT sensors, or structural health monitoring
• Experience working on highways, roads, bridges and structural design projects within the rail & transit sector
• Knowledge of cloud-based workflows (Autodesk BIM360, Azure, AWS, Projectwise, Assetwise, SYNCHRO, TILOS, Bentley suite)
• Self-starter with passion for innovation, proven track record with change management and improvement practices through collaboration
• Demonstrated passion for sustainability and innovative infrastructure solutions
• Strong personal and social skills with the ability to discuss and present ideas confidently to gain client trust

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It's why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You'll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you'll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. We are dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, disability, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by law.

The salary range for this position is $128,000 - $178,000. The base salary represents Arcadis' hiring range for this position. Actual salaries will vary and will be based on various factors, such as location, skills, experience, and qualification for the role.

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