Senior Geotechnical Engineer - Subsea
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Assignment Type: Contract or Full-time Staff
Expected Start Date: ASAP
Description
An opportunity exists for an experienced Senior Geotechnical Engineer to support the development and delivery of innovative subsea drilling and foundation technology for offshore energy projects. The successful candidate will provide specialist geotechnical engineering expertise across offshore foundation design, soil-structure interaction, numerical modelling, and ground characterisation. The role involves supporting both commercial engineering projects and internal research and development activities, with a particular focus on subsea foundation systems, pile behaviour, and advanced geotechnical analysis.
This position is ideal for a technically strong geotechnical engineer with experience in offshore foundations, pile-soil interaction, and numerical modelling, ideally with exposure to offshore wind, subsea engineering, marine infrastructure, or specialist foundation technology. The role will work closely with structural, mechanical, and offshore engineering teams and will contribute to the continued development of advanced analytical tools, foundation design methodologies, and innovative subsea technologies.
Key Responsibilities
- Perform advanced geotechnical analysis associated with subsea foundations, piles, and offshore structures.
- Develop and assess foundation concepts for offshore and subsea applications.
- Undertake numerical modelling of soil-structure interaction using appropriate finite element or numerical analysis methods.
- Perform static, cyclic, and dynamic analysis of pile and foundation behaviour.
- Assess lateral and axial pile response under offshore loading conditions.
- Support the development of design methodologies for subsea foundation and drilling systems.
- Develop and review geotechnical calculations, analysis reports, and technical documentation.
- Interpret geotechnical site investigation data including CPT, borehole, and laboratory testing information.
- Support the integration of geotechnical and geophysical datasets for development of ground models.
- Contribute to the development of computational tools and in-house engineering methodologies.
- Support research and development programmes associated with offshore foundations and subsea technology.
- Perform sensitivity studies and probabilistic or statistical assessments where required.
- Provide geotechnical input into concept development, FEED, and detailed engineering activities.
- Work closely with structural and mechanical engineers to assess soil-foundation-structure interaction.
- Support technical assurance, verification, and engineering design reviews.
- Review third-party geotechnical calculations, site investigation reports, and technical submissions.
- Identify geotechnical risks and develop practical engineering solutions.
- Support prototype development, testing, and technology qualification programmes.
- Provide technical input into offshore installation and foundation deployment methodologies where required.
- Liaise with clients, universities, research institutions, consultants, and specialist contractors.
- Contribute to technical publications, research collaborations, and industry development initiatives where appropriate.
- Provide technical guidance and mentoring to engineers within the wider engineering team.
Requirements
- Degree-qualified in Geotechnical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Offshore Engineering, Soil Mechanics, or a related discipline.
- Strong professional or research experience within geotechnical engineering.
- Demonstrable experience in foundation engineering and soil mechanics.
- Experience analysing pile foundations, pile groups, monopiles, or similar foundation systems.
- Strong understanding of soil-structure interaction.
- Experience undertaking numerical geotechnical modelling.
- Strong analytical and computational engineering capability.
- Experience interpreting geotechnical site investigation data.
- Ability to independently develop and review engineering calculations and technical reports.
- Strong understanding of geotechnical design principles and foundation behaviour.
- Experience working within multidisciplinary engineering or research teams.
- Ability to communicate complex geotechnical analysis clearly to engineering stakeholders.
Desirable Skills & Experience
- Offshore geotechnical engineering
- Offshore wind foundation engineering
- Subsea foundation systems
- Subsea drilling or anchoring technology
- Monopiles and offshore pile foundations
- Laterally loaded piles
- Cyclic pile behaviour
- Dynamic soil-structure interaction
- Soil-pile interaction
- Piled raft foundations
- Foundation response under seismic or dynamic loading
- Finite element modelling
- PLAXIS, ABAQUS, OpenSees, MATLAB, Python
- Development of engineering analysis tools
- CPT interpretation
- Geophysical data interpretation
- Ground model development
- Integration of geotechnical and geophysical datasets
- Probabilistic or statistical geotechnical analysis
- Offshore site investigation
- Technology development and qualification
- Research and development projects
- Collaboration with universities or research organisations
- Published academic or industry research