H-1B Visa Highway Engineer Jobs
Highway Engineer roles qualify as H-1B visa specialty occupations under USCIS guidelines, requiring at least a bachelor's degree in civil or transportation engineering. Federal and state transportation agencies, plus private infrastructure firms, sponsor H-1B visa petitions for this role. The 85,000-slot annual cap and April 1 filing window shape your job search timeline.
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Job Summary
The role provides highway task leadership within the WSP Pittsburgh office and surrounding areas to ensure transportation projects are delivered with a level of quality that meets or exceeds client expectations. Responsible for highway engineering and associated task administration, ensuring corporate compliance with all Local, State, and Federal design and construction standards, and providing pragmatic direction to address current and future challenges in a rapidly changing and complex business climate. This is a task leader position including the development of junior staff. In addition, this is a hybrid role, with a minimum in-office attendance of 3 days per week.
Job Duties and Responsibilities
- Provide guidance with collecting, compiling, and analyzing data from the physical work site, surveys, GIS data, subsurface utility information, and hydrologic analysis, for project development, design, and construction.
- Apply highway engineering design principles to identify improvements for various transportation project phases including alternatives analysis, preliminary engineering, final design, construction, and operation.
- Develop highway construction plans, specifications, and cost estimates, and coordinate the development of project specific Also Plans.
- Involved from project inception to completion in the management of design of infrastructure projects, including rehabilitation and reconstruction, grading, drainage, pavement design, specifications, phasing, and cost estimating.
- Oversee and monitor cross-functional teams of engineers, planners, and scientists to execute project work on multiple concurrent projects, including budgets, tracking hours and expenses, task completion, technical calculations, permit applications.
- Coordinate, review and approve highway design plans, ensuring engineering is compliant with all client guidance and policies.
- Prepare data and visualizations such as tables, charts, reports, sketches, calculations, cross-sections, and other illustrations for the interpretation or presentation of more complex data, findings, or analyses.
- Prepare comprehensive technical reports and presentations that explain research, concepts, and recommendations to address engineering, design, and/or construction issues or opportunities.
- Interact with regulatory agencies, subconsultants, and clients in a confident and professional manner.
- Collaborate with professionals, other engineers, planners, and infrastructure authorities on Federal, State, and locally funded transportation projects, as well as proposal and business development opportunities.
- Remain current in latest highway engineering techniques and practices.
- Exercise responsible and ethical decision-making regarding company funds, resources and conduct, and adhere to WSP’s Code of Conduct and related policies and procedures.
- Perform additional responsibilities as required by business needs.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering.
- 7+ years of relevant post education experience in transportation and highway design on projects for clients including the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, County of Allegheny DPW, and City of Pittsburgh DOMI.
- Pennsylvania Professional Engineer’s license required.
- Proficient with highway engineering principles, practices, process, and the application to required permitting and project work-related issues.
- Experience with transportation planning, highway design, and construction consultation; including active involvement in a variety of rehabilitation, reconstruction, and new design projects.
- Well-defined specific knowledge of relevant client-specific highway engineering guidance and best practices.
- Well-developed ability to make design decisions involving the application of highway engineering principles, and understanding plans, specifications, and cost estimating.
- Highly effective interpersonal and communication skills when interacting with others, expressing ideas effectively and professionally to an engineering and non-engineering audience.
- Demonstrated high-level of self-leadership with attention to detail, multi-tasking, and prioritization of responsibilities in a dynamic work environment.
- Works independently with minimal oversight and provides guidance and leadership to junior team or project members, with strict adherence to QA/QC.
- Highly proficient with technical writing, discipline-specific design software, i.e., OpenRoads Designer (ORD) and legacy InRoads and MicroStation.
- Well-developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills required to apply technical knowledge to reach conclusions from data collation, analyzing alternatives, computations, to arrive at the most effective solution for the client.
- Demonstrated effectiveness at coordinating and assertively directing subconsultants and others to consistently complete tasks safely and efficiently.
- Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
- Ability to work schedules that are conducive to project-specific requirements that may extend beyond the typical workweek.
- Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.
About WSP
WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world's leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 15,000 employees in over 300 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper.
WSP provides a flexible and agile workplace model while meeting client needs. Employees are also afforded a comprehensive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, life, and retirement savings focused on providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career.
At WSP, we want to give our employees the challenges they seek to grow their careers and knowledge base. Your daily contributions to your team will be essential in meeting client objectives, goals and challenges. Are you ready to get started?
WSP USA (and all of its U.S. companies) is an Equal Opportunity Employer Race/Age/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Disability or Protected Veteran Status.
The selected candidate must be authorized to work in the United States.
NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES:
WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or other staffing services. Unsolicited resumes include any resume or hiring document sent to WSP in the absence of a signed Service Agreement where WSP has expressly requested recruitment/staffing services specific to the position at hand. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers or other business leaders, will become the property of WSP and WSP will have the right to hire that candidate without reservation – no fee or other compensation will be owed or paid to the recruiter, employment agency, or other staffing service.
This Opportunity
Job Summary
The role provides highway task leadership within the WSP Pittsburgh office and surrounding areas to ensure transportation projects are delivered with a level of quality that meets or exceeds client expectations. Responsible for highway engineering and associated task administration, ensuring corporate compliance with all Local, State, and Federal design and construction standards, and providing pragmatic direction to address current and future challenges in a rapidly changing and complex business climate. This is a task leader position including the development of junior staff. In addition, this is a hybrid role, with a minimum in-office attendance of 3 days per week.
Job Duties and Responsibilities
- Provide guidance with collecting, compiling, and analyzing data from the physical work site, surveys, GIS data, subsurface utility information, and hydrologic analysis, for project development, design, and construction.
- Apply highway engineering design principles to identify improvements for various transportation project phases including alternatives analysis, preliminary engineering, final design, construction, and operation.
- Develop highway construction plans, specifications, and cost estimates, and coordinate the development of project specific Also Plans.
- Involved from project inception to completion in the management of design of infrastructure projects, including rehabilitation and reconstruction, grading, drainage, pavement design, specifications, phasing, and cost estimating.
- Oversee and monitor cross-functional teams of engineers, planners, and scientists to execute project work on multiple concurrent projects, including budgets, tracking hours and expenses, task completion, technical calculations, permit applications.
- Coordinate, review and approve highway design plans, ensuring engineering is compliant with all client guidance and policies.
- Prepare data and visualizations such as tables, charts, reports, sketches, calculations, cross-sections, and other illustrations for the interpretation or presentation of more complex data, findings, or analyses.
- Prepare comprehensive technical reports and presentations that explain research, concepts, and recommendations to address engineering, design, and/or construction issues or opportunities.
- Interact with regulatory agencies, subconsultants, and clients in a confident and professional manner.
- Collaborate with professionals, other engineers, planners, and infrastructure authorities on Federal, State, and locally funded transportation projects, as well as proposal and business development opportunities.
- Remain current in latest highway engineering techniques and practices.
- Exercise responsible and ethical decision-making regarding company funds, resources and conduct, and adhere to WSP’s Code of Conduct and related policies and procedures.
- Perform additional responsibilities as required by business needs.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering.
- 7+ years of relevant post education experience in transportation and highway design on projects for clients including the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, County of Allegheny DPW, and City of Pittsburgh DOMI.
- Pennsylvania Professional Engineer’s license required.
- Proficient with highway engineering principles, practices, process, and the application to required permitting and project work-related issues.
- Experience with transportation planning, highway design, and construction consultation; including active involvement in a variety of rehabilitation, reconstruction, and new design projects.
- Well-defined specific knowledge of relevant client-specific highway engineering guidance and best practices.
- Well-developed ability to make design decisions involving the application of highway engineering principles, and understanding plans, specifications, and cost estimating.
- Highly effective interpersonal and communication skills when interacting with others, expressing ideas effectively and professionally to an engineering and non-engineering audience.
- Demonstrated high-level of self-leadership with attention to detail, multi-tasking, and prioritization of responsibilities in a dynamic work environment.
- Works independently with minimal oversight and provides guidance and leadership to junior team or project members, with strict adherence to QA/QC.
- Highly proficient with technical writing, discipline-specific design software, i.e., OpenRoads Designer (ORD) and legacy InRoads and MicroStation.
- Well-developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills required to apply technical knowledge to reach conclusions from data collation, analyzing alternatives, computations, to arrive at the most effective solution for the client.
- Demonstrated effectiveness at coordinating and assertively directing subconsultants and others to consistently complete tasks safely and efficiently.
- Proven track record of upholding workplace safety and ability to abide by WSP’s health, safety and drug/alcohol and harassment policies.
- Ability to work schedules that are conducive to project-specific requirements that may extend beyond the typical workweek.
- Occasional travel may be required depending on project-specific requirements.
About WSP
WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world's leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 15,000 employees in over 300 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper.
WSP provides a flexible and agile workplace model while meeting client needs. Employees are also afforded a comprehensive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, life, and retirement savings focused on providing health and financial stability throughout the employee’s career.
At WSP, we want to give our employees the challenges they seek to grow their careers and knowledge base. Your daily contributions to your team will be essential in meeting client objectives, goals and challenges. Are you ready to get started?
WSP USA (and all of its U.S. companies) is an Equal Opportunity Employer Race/Age/Color/Religion/Sex/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/National Origin/Disability or Protected Veteran Status.
The selected candidate must be authorized to work in the United States.
NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES:
WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or other staffing services. Unsolicited resumes include any resume or hiring document sent to WSP in the absence of a signed Service Agreement where WSP has expressly requested recruitment/staffing services specific to the position at hand. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers or other business leaders, will become the property of WSP and WSP will have the right to hire that candidate without reservation – no fee or other compensation will be owed or paid to the recruiter, employment agency, or other staffing service.
See all 133+ H-1B Visa Highway Engineer Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new H-1B Visa Highway Engineer Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding H-1B Visa Sponsorship as a Highway Engineer
Verify your PE license transfers across states
Many highway engineering roles require a Professional Engineer license, but reciprocity rules vary by state. Confirm your credential is recognized where your target employer operates before applying, since an unlicensed candidate weakens the specialty occupation argument in your H-1B petition.
Search LCA filings for infrastructure employers
Use the OFLC Wage Search to pull certified Labor Condition Applications for highway or civil engineering job titles. Employers with recent LCA activity have already cleared DOL's prevailing-wage process, signaling genuine H-1B sponsorship history rather than theoretical willingness.
Target FHWA-funded project contractors specifically
Firms holding Federal Highway Administration contracts are accustomed to compliance-heavy hiring and typically have established immigration workflows. Filter your search on Migrate Mate for employers with H-1B filing history in civil and transportation engineering to surface this contractor pool quickly.
Document the degree-to-role nexus early
USCIS scrutinizes whether your civil or transportation engineering degree directly supports the highway engineer job duties listed in the petition. Prepare a written duties analysis before your offer stage so your employer's attorney can build the specialty occupation case without delays.
Negotiate filing before the April 1 registration window
H-1B cap registration opens in March for an October 1 start date. If you're interviewing in late fall or winter, push for an offer letter and signed documents finalized by early February so your employer can register you without rushing internal approvals at the last minute.
Use O*NET to anchor your job description language
The O*NET profile for highway engineers lists standardized task descriptions that align with USCIS specialty occupation criteria. Share the relevant O*NET codes with your employer's HR team so the job description submitted with your I-129 petition uses recognized, defensible occupational language.
H-1B Visa Highway Engineer: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a highway engineer role qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation?
Yes. Highway engineering meets the USCIS specialty occupation standard because it typically requires at least a bachelor's degree in civil or transportation engineering for entry into the position. Roles involving roadway design, traffic analysis, drainage systems, or transportation planning consistently satisfy this threshold, provided the employer documents the degree requirement clearly in the petition.
Do state DOTs and federal agencies sponsor H-1B visas for highway engineers?
Most state Departments of Transportation are government entities and cannot sponsor H-1B petitions directly, since government employers are not eligible petitioners under the H-1B program. However, private engineering consultants contracted to state DOTs, such as firms working on FHWA-funded projects, can and frequently do sponsor H-1B visas. Targeting those contractors is the practical path for most applicants.
How do I find highway engineer employers that actively sponsor H-1B visas?
Search Migrate Mate to filter highway and civil engineering roles by employers with verified H-1B filing history. You can also cross-reference by pulling certified LCA records through the OFLC Wage Search, filtering by civil engineering job titles and your target metro area, which shows which firms have recently cleared DOL's prevailing-wage certification step.
How does the H-1B prevailing wage requirement affect highway engineering job offers?
DOL requires your offered salary to meet the prevailing wage for your specific job title, level, and work location before it will certify the LCA. Highway engineering prevailing wages vary significantly by metro area and experience level. Use the OFLC Wage Search to look up the wage level for your role and location before finalizing salary negotiations with a prospective employer.
Can a highway engineer on OPT switch to H-1B status without leaving the U.S.?
Yes, you can change status from F-1 OPT to H-1B without departing the U.S. if your employer files your I-129 petition before your OPT expires and you're selected in the lottery. If your OPT ends before October 1 and you're cap-gap eligible, your work authorization automatically extends through September 30, bridging the gap until your H-1B takes effect.