Parsons Corporation — one of the world’s leading engineering, construction management, and infrastructure delivery companies — is seeking a highly talented Senior Coastal Engineer to join their Dubai team, delivering Ports and Marine design solutions across the MENA region. This full-time senior role covers the complete spectrum of coastal engineering design — from revetments, breakwaters, and beach design through scour protection, seawater intake/outfall structures, and bathymetric survey management — including oversight of advanced hydrodynamic modelling using the MIKE21 suite. Requiring a minimum of 8 years of coastal engineering experience and the ability to lead engineering teams and manage project delivery, this is one of the most technically prestigious coastal engineering opportunities in the UAE in 2026.
About Parsons Corporation — Delivering Engineering Excellence Globally
Identity: Global leader in engineering, construction management, and infrastructure delivery
Culture: Values people, embraces agility, fosters growth — empowering talent to achieve full potential
MENA Scope: Delivering Ports and Marine design solutions across the MENA region from the Dubai hub
Career: Endless growth opportunities, technical excellence culture, investment in employee wellbeing
Commitment: Equal opportunity employer — diversity, inclusion, and career development at the core
Technical Scope — Software, Design & Survey
MIKE21 Suite: Advanced hydrodynamic modelling software — wave propagation, sediment transport, tidal and current analysis
Coastal Structures: Revetments, breakwaters, groynes, seawalls, scour protection, beach design
Marine Structures: Seawater intake and outfall structures — design, specifications, and assessments
Surveys: Bathymetric survey specification and management; marine geotechnical investigation specifications
Standards: Marine and coastal engineering design standards — UAE approving authority experience advantageous
Position Overview
The Senior Coastal Engineer at Parsons Dubai is a senior technical leadership role within Parsons’ Ports and Marine practice — responsible for delivering coastal engineering design solutions across the MENA region from the Dubai hub. You will function as the discipline Project Coastal Engineer on projects, assuming responsibility for leading designs and providing technical excellence across the full range of coastal engineering scope: coastal protection structures, beach and groyne design, scour protection, seawater intake and outfall structures, bathymetric survey management, condition assessments of existing coastal structures, and advanced hydrodynamic modelling oversight using the MIKE21 suite.
This role demands the combination of deep coastal engineering technical expertise — spanning physical, numerical, and structural coastal design — with the senior project leadership capability to plan, direct, and supervise coastal engineering work, manage schedule, quality, and resource expenditure, lead and mentor junior engineers, and produce the technical papers, reports, and presentations that communicate project findings to clients and stakeholders across the MENA region. Experience with UAE coastal approving authorities is a particular advantage in Dubai’s active port and marine infrastructure market.
Why the Senior Coastal Engineer Role at Parsons Dubai Is Exceptional: The MENA region’s coastline — spanning the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean coast — encompasses some of the world’s most actively developed port and marine infrastructure environments, where the combination of complex wave climates, sediment transport dynamics, coral reef sensitivity, extreme heat, and high-salinity seawater creates coastal engineering challenges that demand a level of technical sophistication and regional expertise that very few engineers in the world have developed. At Parsons, working within a team delivering Ports and Marine solutions across this entire region from a Dubai base, the Senior Coastal Engineer is at the technical frontier of coastal engineering practice — solving genuinely difficult problems with real-world impact across one of the most dynamic coastal development regions on earth.
Key Responsibilities
Coastal Structure Design & Engineering
- Design coastal protection structures including revetments and breakwaters — applying coastal engineering design methodology, armour sizing calculations, wave run-up and overtopping analysis, and structural design principles to produce technically rigorous, code-compliant, and cost-effective coastal protection solutions for MENA region port and coastal infrastructure projects
- Design beaches including groynes — developing beach nourishment schemes, groyne field layouts, and associated coastal management strategies that address sediment transport dynamics, longshore drift, and seasonal wave climate variability to create stable, sustainable beach environments for coastal development and recreational facilities
- Design scour protection systems — applying knowledge of tidal and current-induced scour mechanisms, bed material characteristics, and scour protection design standards to develop effective protection measures for marine structures, subsea infrastructure, and coastal assets at risk from current-induced scour in MENA region coastal environments
- Design seawater intake and outfall structures — developing the hydraulic, structural, and environmental design of seawater intake systems for cooling and desalination facilities, and marine outfall structures for treated effluent and cooling water discharge, ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and authority requirements in UAE and MENA region coastal environments
Advanced Hydrodynamic Modelling & Survey Management
- Oversee the use of advanced hydrodynamic modelling software including the MIKE21 suite of programs — directing the setup, calibration, validation, and application of MIKE21 wave, flow, and sediment transport models to support coastal structure design, beach management, dredging, and coastal impact assessment studies across MENA region projects
- Prepare specifications and manage bathymetric surveys — developing detailed survey specifications, reviewing contractor proposals, managing survey execution, and quality-controlling the bathymetric data sets that underpin hydrodynamic model calibration and coastal infrastructure design across Parsons’ MENA region ports and marine project portfolio
- Participate in the preparation of specifications for marine geotechnical investigations — contributing coastal and marine engineering input to the development of geotechnical investigation programmes that characterise the seabed conditions required for coastal structure foundation design, scour assessment, and submarine pipeline or cable routing studies
- Inspect and assess the condition of existing coastal structures — conducting visual and technical assessments of revetments, breakwaters, seawalls, groynes, and other coastal infrastructure to evaluate their current condition, identify deterioration or damage, and develop technically sound rehabilitation, repair, or replacement recommendations
Project Leadership, Team Development & Technical Reporting
- Function as discipline Project Coastal Engineer on projects, assuming responsibility for leading designs for the group — providing the authoritative coastal engineering technical direction that guides multidisciplinary project teams, ensures design consistency and quality across all coastal engineering deliverables, and maintains Parsons’ technical standards on MENA region ports and marine projects
- Plan, direct, and supervise coastal engineering work on projects with responsibility for schedule, quality, and resource expenditure — managing the coastal engineering discipline’s contribution to project delivery within agreed programme, budget, and quality framework, identifying and resolving resource, schedule, or technical risks proactively before they affect project performance
- Lead other engineers and design personnel in technical excellence and growth — mentoring junior coastal engineers and designers, conducting technical reviews of their work, providing targeted guidance on coastal engineering methodology and design practice, and contributing to the development of Parsons’ coastal engineering capability across the MENA region
- Prepare technical papers, reports, and presentations — communicating coastal engineering analyses, design recommendations, and project findings to clients, approving authorities, project teams, and professional society audiences with the clarity, technical rigour, and professional presentation quality that Parsons’ client relationships and regional reputation require
Regulatory Compliance, Professional Development & Authority Liaison
- Ensure compliance of marine and coastal design with all applicable codes and regulations — maintaining thorough knowledge of UAE, GCC, and international marine and coastal engineering design standards, and ensuring all Parsons coastal design outputs meet the applicable code requirements, authority submission standards, and environmental regulatory requirements across MENA region project jurisdictions
- Maintain affiliation with professional societies to keep abreast of current coastal engineering technologies, research advances, and industry best practice — contributing to Parsons’ position as a technically current and professionally active participant in the coastal engineering discipline in the MENA region and globally
- Apply experience with local UAE coastal approving authorities for marine and coastal works — where available — to navigate the submission, review, and approval processes for coastal engineering designs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other UAE emirate jurisdictions with greater efficiency and confidence than engineers without direct UAE authority experience
Required Qualifications & Skills
Core Requirements
- Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Engineering — Civil, Ocean, Coastal, or closely related discipline — from a recognised institution; this is the minimum academic qualification for the Senior Coastal Engineer role at Parsons
- Minimum 8 years of related work experience in coastal engineering — with a comprehensive, demonstrable track record spanning coastal structure design, hydrodynamic modelling, survey management, and project delivery in a consulting engineering environment, ideally with MENA region experience
- Ability to perform in a lead capacity — with demonstrated experience leading coastal engineering work streams, supervising junior engineers, and managing project delivery responsibilities including schedule, quality, and resource management
- Excellent English written and oral communications skills — with the professional communication capability to produce high-quality technical reports, present findings to clients and authorities, and lead technical discussions within multidisciplinary project teams
- Thorough knowledge of current marine and coastal engineering design standards — and the ability to select and apply appropriate engineering software for use on diverse coastal engineering project types across the MENA region
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with local UAE approving authorities for marine and coastal works — including familiarity with Dubai Maritime City Authority, Abu Dhabi Ports, Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi, or equivalent UAE authority requirements for coastal infrastructure submissions and approvals
Why Senior Coastal Engineer Roles at Parsons Dubai Are Career-Defining in 2026
The MENA region’s coastal and port infrastructure is among the most actively developed in the world — with major port expansions, coastal protection programmes, island reclamation projects, desalination facility infrastructure, and marine tourism developments creating a sustained, high-complexity demand for senior coastal engineering expertise that few regions can match. Parsons’ position as a leading engineering consultancy delivering Ports and Marine design solutions across this entire region from its Dubai hub gives the Senior Coastal Engineer access to a project portfolio of genuine technical diversity, regional significance, and professional challenge.
For a senior coastal engineer with the combination of coastal structure design expertise, MIKE21 hydrodynamic modelling capability, project leadership experience, and MENA region or UAE coastal engineering background this role demands, a Parsons position in Dubai offers the professional credibility, career development trajectory, and daily technical challenge that defines a career at the senior levels of the coastal engineering discipline. Imagine next — and apply today to join Parsons’ Ports and Marine team in Dubai.
Who Should Apply?
- Senior Coastal Engineers with 8+ Years of Consulting Experience: With a comprehensive coastal engineering track record spanning coastal structure design, hydrodynamic modelling, survey management, and project leadership — ready to assume discipline project engineer responsibility on MENA region ports and marine projects at Parsons Dubai
- MIKE21 and Hydrodynamic Modelling Specialists: With advanced MIKE21 wave, flow, and sediment transport modelling capability — experienced in directing the application of MIKE21 to coastal structure design, beach management, and coastal impact assessment studies in complex Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, or international coastal environments
- Breakwater and Coastal Protection Design Engineers: With specific design expertise in rubble mound breakwaters, revetments, seawalls, groynes, and scour protection systems — applying armour sizing, wave analysis, and structural design knowledge to coastal protection challenges in the UAE and wider MENA region
- UAE and GCC Coastal Engineers with Authority Experience: With direct experience engaging UAE coastal approving authorities — Dubai Maritime City Authority, Abu Dhabi Ports, EAD, or equivalent — and familiarity with UAE coastal infrastructure submission, review, and approval processes
- Dubai-Based or Relocating Senior Marine Engineers: Seeking a senior technical leadership role within one of the world’s most respected engineering consultancies — at a MENA region ports and marine practice that combines the professional prestige of the Parsons brand with the technical challenge and geographic scope of delivering coastal engineering solutions across one of the world’s most dynamically developed coastal regions
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