HIRE TALENT  /  PROJECT DELIVERY  /  LAND DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER
Civil & Site Development Recruiting

Hire Land Development Engineers

Hire Land Development Engineers who own the site itself for industrial campuses, launch sites and data centers — mass grading and drainage design, stormwater and SWPPP, utility extensions, roads and building pads, entitlements and permitting, plat and ALTA coordination, and the agency submittals that decide whether dirt moves on schedule. Civil 3D fluency and permit history reference-verified.

Land Development Engineer - iRecruit.coExample profile
Luca G.
Vetted Specialists
Project Delivery
Land Development Engineer
PE · Civil 3D · CPESC
Sectors
Industrial + mission-critical sites
Data center campuses, gigafactories, semiconductor and battery plants, defense and space manufacturing, launch and test sites
Role scope
Site civil and entitlements
Grading, drainage, stormwater, utilities, roads and pads, permitting, plats and ALTA
Geography
US-wide
Industrial, defense and mission-critical network
Placement warranty
Replacement guarantee
Every model, every placement
How It Works

Hire Land Development Engineers in 3 steps

A structured process for the hire that gets a greenfield campus out of the ground — where a detention pond sized off the wrong curve number, a utility extension nobody negotiated with the district, or a plat that misses the county cycle is how a 400-acre program loses a season before the first pad is proof-rolled.

Step 01

Talk to our team

30-minute call. Align on site type and acreage, jurisdiction and agencies involved, where the program sits (due diligence, entitlements, design, or construction support), utility providers, Civil 3D and submittal standards, clearance needs, and start date.

Step 02

Review hand-selected talent

Within 2 weeks we introduce 3–5 Land Development Engineers with verified authorship of grading, stormwater and utility designs and a permit record on comparable industrial or mission-critical sites. References from civil principals and owner development managers included.

Step 03

Hire with confidence

Every placement carries a replacement guarantee. If the hire fails within the warranty window, we run a no-fee replacement search.

Why iRecruit.co for Land Development Engineer Hires

What makes our Land Development Engineer shortlist different

A Land Development Engineer on an industrial or mission-critical program is the person who turns a parcel into a buildable, permitted, served site — and the one the owner blames when the pad is late. Generic civil recruiters screen for a PE and Civil 3D on the resume; we screen for the permits that were actually issued.

01

Permit and entitlement record verified

Every candidate has documented ownership of a site plan through approval on a comparable program — rezoning or PUD, site plan and grading permits, NPDES / SWPPP coverage, Section 404 and floodplain where applicable, and plat recording. We confirm with the civil principal or owner development manager who took the approval to the board, not just the resume.

02

Industrial-scale site design fluency

Mass grading and balance across hundreds of acres, detention and water-quality design under state and MS4 rules, loop water and gravity sewer extensions negotiated with districts, truck-route and pad geometry for hyperscale halls and fab shells, and blast and cryogen setbacks on launch and test sites. Matched to your site type, not a subdivision engineer stepping up.

03

Agency and utility interface

Reference-verified relationships with county and state reviewers, DOT access permits, utility districts and electric providers — the coordination that keeps submittal cycles, will-serve letters and easement work off the critical path.

Meet Vetted Land Development Engineers

The caliber of Land Development Engineer you’ll interview

Every candidate is credential-verified, reference-checked, and matched to your site and program. Anonymized examples below reflect real placement profiles.

Vetted SpecialistsFemale Land Development Engineer - hyperscale data center campusExample profile

Anjali S.

Data Center Campus Land Development Engineer
  • Led site civil for a 620-acre hyperscale campus — 4.2M CY balanced grading, three regional detention ponds, and a 2-mile loop water and sewer extension through the district
  • Took site plan, grading permit and NPDES coverage through a county with a 90-day review cycle, released pad one four weeks ahead of the GC’s mobilization
  • Coordinated ALTA survey, plat recording and 14 utility easements with title and the electric provider for a 300 MW service
PECivil 3DStormwater design
Vetted SpecialistsMale Land Development Engineer - launch and test siteExample profile

Miguel O.

Launch and Test Site Development Engineer
  • Site development for a launch complex and engine test stand — pad and flame-trench grading, haul roads, and drainage sized for deluge-water capture and reuse
  • Carried Section 404 wetlands permitting, floodplain development permit, and state stormwater coverage on a coastal parcel with a two-year NEPA overlay
  • Laid out propellant-farm and cryogen setbacks with range safety and routed access roads to keep public roads outside the hazard arcs
Section 404 / NEPACoastal stormwaterRange interface
Vetted SpecialistsFemale Land Development Engineer - gigafactory campusExample profile

Mei L.

Gigafactory and Fab Site Development Engineer
  • Owned mass grading, pad certification and truck-route design for a 1,100-acre battery cell campus — 6.8M CY moved, pads released in three phases
  • Designed and permitted a 40-acre detention and water-quality system under a Phase II MS4 and a state industrial stormwater general permit
  • Ran rezoning, PUD and plat through two cycles of planning commission and a board vote, plus DOT access permits for a new signalized entry
EntitlementsMass gradingDOT access
Land Development Engineer Specializations

Match the Land Development Engineer specialty to your site

“Land Development Engineer” covers several civil specialties, and the right hire depends on where your program sits and what the jurisdiction demands. Below are the specializations we recruit for:

Not sure which Land Development Engineer specialty fits?

We’ll help you scope the role on the call — program stage, jurisdiction, utility providers, and how the seat splits work with your civil consultant and Permit Coordinator.

Hire Land Development Engineers →
Vetting Criteria

What we verify on every Land Development Engineer candidate

Land Development Engineer hires live and die on whether the candidate has actually carried a site through approval and out of the ground, not just drafted the sheets. Below is what every candidate has documented before you meet them:

Grading and drainage authorship

Verified ownership of mass-grading and drainage designs on comparable acreage — earthwork balance, pad elevations and certification, storm conveyance sizing, and Civil 3D surface and corridor models they built.

Stormwater and SWPPP design

Reference-verified detention, water-quality and erosion-control designs under state rules and MS4 requirements, with NPDES / SWPPP coverage obtained and inspections held through construction.

Utility extension and roads

Verified water, sewer, gas and electric extensions negotiated with districts and providers, plus haul-route, truck-geometry and DOT access designs delivered on program.

Entitlements, permits and plats

Verified record of rezoning, site plan and grading permits, Section 404 and floodplain where applicable, ALTA coordination, easements and plat recording — with reviewers and owners who confirm the approvals.

Credentials verified

PE licensure and state registrations, EIT where applicable, CPESC or CESSWI, Civil 3D and HydroCAD / StormCAD proficiency, and clearance eligibility where claimed — all checked.

Compensation alignment

Land Development Engineer, Senior and Project Manager comp bands aligned before finalists are introduced, including relocation and site-based travel terms.

FAQ

Hiring a Land Development Engineer: frequently asked questions

How long does it take to hire a Land Development Engineer?

Time to shortlist is typically 2 weeks from scoping call. Total time to placement (shortlist through offer acceptance) is typically 3–4 weeks. Seats that require a PE in a specific state, an active clearance, or a coastal / NEPA permitting record can run a week longer.

What does a Land Development Engineer cost in 2026?

Most US Land Development Engineers on industrial and mission-critical programs land between $95K and $130K base depending on metro, PE status, and program scale. Senior Land Development Engineers and Project Managers with PE licensure running hyperscale, gigafactory or launch-site sites typically run $130K–$170K, plus bonus and relocation on owner-side seats. These are market bands; we confirm live market bands during scoping. See our civil engineer salary guide for more.

How is a Land Development Engineer different from a Civil Engineer?

A Civil Engineer is the broader discipline — structures, transportation, water resources, geotech. The Land Development Engineer is the civil specialist who owns a parcel from entitlement through buildable pad: grading, stormwater, utilities, roads, permits and plats. If your need is site-specific and jurisdiction-heavy, this is the hire.

How is a Land Development Engineer different from a Site Development Engineer?

The titles overlap, and many firms use them interchangeably. Where they split, the Land Development Engineer leans toward design, entitlements and agency approvals, and the Site Development Engineer leans toward construction-phase site civil — earthwork oversight, pad certification, utility installation and as-builts. On large programs both seats exist and hand off at permit issuance.

Do you require a PE license?

Not by default. A PE is a strong signal and we verify it when claimed, but a reference-verified permit and approval record on comparable sites outweighs the stamp. Where the seat signs and seals submittals or the owner requires a PE of record, we screen for it as a hard requirement, including the specific state registration.

Can you recruit for cleared, defense or launch-site programs?

Yes. Defense manufacturing, MILCON, and launch and test sites often require a Land Development Engineer who can work under badge-and-escort rules, range-safety setbacks, and federal NEPA and Section 404 overlays. We confirm clearance eligibility or active status during scoping and shortlist only candidates who can start on your timeline.

Do you offer a placement guarantee?

Yes. Every Land Development Engineer placement carries a replacement guarantee. Guarantee terms are confirmed in writing at engagement start.

Can you build a full site development team?

Yes. Multi-hire builds (Land Development Engineer plus Site Development Engineers, Permit Coordinators, and CAD Technicians across a program) route through embedded recruiting or RPO. Common for owners and civil firms standing up an industrial or mission-critical practice.

Ready to hire

Talk to a civil and site development recruiter

30-minute scoping conversation. We’ll review the Land Development Engineer role you need — site type and acreage, program stage, jurisdiction and utilities, PE and clearance needs — then recommend the right hire path and start sourcing.

Prefer to talk it through?
Book a 30-minute intro call and leave with pricing, timelines, and next steps.
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