Staff or Senior Engineer

Make an impact with your engineering expertise! The City of Urbandale is seeking its next Staff Engineer or Senior Engineer. In this role, you’ll design and review projects that shape our community—streets, trails, sidewalks, stormwater systems, and more. You’ll also have the opportunity to review plats, easements, and construction plans; oversee City construction projects; provide cost estimates and engineering studies; and help ensure City infrastructure is safe, efficient, and sustainable.

What sets Urbandale apart? Our engineers share work across the department, giving you hands-on experience with a variety of projects while still allowing you to develop a specialty area that supports your professional growth. We welcome applicants from all levels of engineering backgrounds to apply and grow with us!

Explore the Staff/Senior Engineer RECRUITMENT BROCHURE to learn more about the role, the department, and the City of Urbandale.
 
Schedule: 
Monday - Friday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM

7/1/25-6/30/26 Staff Engineer Salary Range: 
$80,448 - $105,864
 
7/1/25-6/30/26 Senior Engineer (PE) Salary Range: 

The City of Urbandale offers a comprehensive benefits package. Full-time benefits for this position include:

• $5,000 sign-on bonus for licensed Senior Engineer (PE) candidates
• Relocation package available of up to $5,000 for Senior Engineer (PE) candidates relocating from over 60 miles to move within the city limits of Urbandale
• 2025 individual health insurance for only $77.86 per month; or family health insurance for only $238.94 per month
• Dental, vision, and flexible spending account options
• 15 paid vacation days per year
• 12 paid sick days per year
• 10 paid holidays + 3 additional personal holidays
• 4 weeks of paid parental leave
• IPERS retirement plan
• 457(b) retirement plan with 2% City match
• City-paid life insurance policy plus additional voluntary life insurance options
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Onsite wellness center

Routine job duties listed below are the tasks assigned to the team of Senior and Staff Engineers to design, review, and complete infrastructure projects for the City of Urbandale. Duties are divided amongst the engineering team members and may be shifted from year to year depending on the workload from both private development and capital improvement projects.

Our ideal candidate is someone who is eager to work on a wide variety of projects and enjoys applying engineering principles to serve the public. We are looking for someone who will be ready to both work independently and collaborate with co-workers on projects and tasks. The engineering team strives to provide reliable infrastructure to City residents for years to come, including minimizing risk to the public, providing for future growth, and managing public resources responsibly.

• Designs capital improvements projects, including but not limited to: street construction and maintenance, trails, sidewalks, and storm water improvements. Staff Engineers under supervision.
• Reviews construction plans, plats and cost estimates submitted by consulting engineers and utility companies to ensure compliance with established requirements.
• Reviews easement documents, design, and construction projects, (preliminary plats, final plats, construction drawings, site plans and legal descriptions/easement documents) in accordance with State laws and Engineering standards, minimizing risk to the public, and managing public resources responsibly.
• Performs CIP and project budget review and provides engineering cost estimates. 
• Reviews as-built plans for subdivisions, capital improvement projects, site plans, and individual home lots per the City's Subdivision and Site Plan ordinances.
• Updates GIS base mapping to facilitate mapping and asset management of city infrastructure and to organize and manage electronic file structure.
• Observes and may perform construction inspection duties on projects including but not limited to: paving, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, grading, water main and drainage structures to ensure compliance with construction specifications and approved plans. Prepares partial pay application based on field measured quantities.
• Prepares letters, city council memos, resolutions, and other documents.
• Performs engineering calculations.
• Performs engineering consultation services for other city departments.
• Attends construction meetings such as, but not limited to, preconstruction, utility coordination, and project update meetings
• Ensures that the City and Department's mission, goals and objectives are fully supported and initiated.
• Staff Engineers utilize global positioning system (GPS) to locate city infrastructure systems such as sanitary sewer, storm sewer, signs and fiber optics.
• Staff Engineers conduct traffic counts and prepare traffic studies.
• Performs other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

• Provides oversight & direction for the Senior Engineering Technicians, Engineering Technicians, Stormwater Technician, Right of Way Technician/Utility Locator and GIS Technician.
• Supervises City’s MS4 Storm Water Phase II Program including Public Education and Outreach, Illicit Discharge and Elimination, Construction Site Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance Program, Post Construction Storm Water Management, and Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping.
• Supervises the City’s Storm Water Utility Program, including the Urbandale Storm Water Grant Program.
• Oversees Infrastructure Management Programs for the department, including GASB34 requirements. 
• Oversees the Asset Management Database of the Department's Infrastructure, including database file structure, office standard practices and reports, user and role administration, and staff training.
• Analyzes data related to traffic, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, and pavement management. Utilizes engineering standards to recommend modifications to the city’s infrastructure as needed or requested. Prepares response letters for public requests for traffic studies and projects.
• Performs utility plans review and coordination.
• Selects, trains, supervises and oversees daily work of engineering interns.

Typical qualifications for a Staff Engineer would be equivalent to:

• Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering or similar field.
• Engineering Intern (EI) Certificate or ability to obtain Engineering Intern Certificate within 12 months of employment. 
• Valid Iowa Driver's License.

Typical qualifications for a Senior Engineer would be equivalent to:

• Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering.
• Iowa Professional Engineering (PE) License required.
• At least 3-5 years related work experience.
• Valid Iowa Driver's License.

Supplemental Information

The City of Urbandale is filling one (1) opening for Senior Engineer or Staff Engineer, based on experience. The recruitment process for this position will consist of a phone interview and an oral board interview. 

Tentative Timeline:
Posting Closes: 10/19/25 11:59 PM
Phone Interviews: Week of 10/27/25 - 10/31/25
Oral Board Interviews: Week of 11/3/25 - 11/7/25
Anticipated Start Date: 12/8/25

All candidate communication will occur via the City's online career site: www.governmentjobs.com (NEOGOV). Be sure to apply with a valid email that you check regularly. Candidates are also encouraged to sign-up to receive text message notifications. 
 

Post-offer/pre-employment reference checks, background /motor vehicle report check, and drug test is required. The City of Urbandale is an Equal Opportunity Employer. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact the Human Resources Department at hr@urbandale.org or (515) 331-6738 prior to the application deadline.