Job Description

ARA’s Transportation Division is seeking a motivated civil engineer to support pavement evaluation and structural analysis projects, with a strong emphasis on Traffic Speed Deflection Device (TSDD) data analysis as part of our growing TSDD program. This is a full-time position in our Austin, TX office.

At ARA, you will be part of a collaborative, innovative, and mission-driven team. This staff civil engineer will work with large datasets from network-level pavement testing programs and contribute to research and consulting projects for state DOTs, local agencies, and federal sponsors, with opportunities to work with innovative pavement evaluation technologies.

This position involves analyzing TSDD deflection data, integrating results with other pavement nondestructive testing methods such as Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and supporting the development of pavement structural models and engineering recommendations.

What you will do as a staff civil engineer:

• Perform TSDD data analysis to assess pavement structural capacity.
• Process and analyze large datasets using Python, R, or other programming languages.
• Import, process, and analyze FWD and other pavement condition datasets, and compare results with TSDD measurements.
• Perform advanced statistical analysis, data mining, and outlier detection.
• Develop network- and project-level structural indicators, remaining life estimates, and treatment triggers to enhance pavement management strategies.
• Build predictive and mechanistic-informed models (e.g., layer moduli backcalculation workflows) using machine learning techniques.
• Support the development of data processing workflows, and automated analysis tools.
• Integrate and visualize results using ArcGIS tools, and other visualization platforms.
• Contribute to pavement engineering projects, including design, analysis, materials testing, and condition evaluation.
• Support the preparation of proposals, technical reports, presentations, and project deliverables.
• Participate in field investigations to support data collection and validation.
• Collaborate with senior engineers while progressing toward independent technical development.

Staff civil engineer requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering.
• 2+ years of relevant experience or advanced degree focusing on pavement engineering, pavement design, or pavement evaluation. In addition, direct experience is required in:
  • TSDD data analysis workflows, including data processing, interpretation, or model development.
  • Python for large data management, analysis, automation, and model development.
  • GIS (Arc/GIS/QGIS) and geospatial data workflows.

• Strong technical writing and presentation skills.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with advanced statistical analysis techniques.
• Experience in pavement deflection testing data analysis, pavement structural evaluation, forensic evaluation, and layer modulus backcalculation using FWD data.
• Experience working with state DOT pavement research projects.
• Knowledge of pavement structural modeling or mechanistic-empirical concepts.
• Familiarity with GPR layer thickness interpretation.
• Experience with R programming.

About ARA:

ARA is an employee-owned international research and engineering firm recognized for solving complex challenges in the physical sciences. We provide cutting-edge services in civil and geotechnical technologies, pavement analysis, software and simulation, environmental testing, and defense systems.

As an employee-owned company, ARA fosters a culture of innovation, collaboration, and ownership. Our motto — “Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit” — captures the spirit of our work: technically challenging, impactful, and rewarding.

Join us and help shape the future of transportation infrastructure.