GHD Opens Engineering Design Hub in Orlando

Fulfills need for innovative engineering skills to support regional and national infrastructure growth

 Recruitment efforts underway for 100 new jobs by June 2024

Orlando, FL: GHD has opened a new office in Orlando, Florida that will be home to its US-based Engineering Design Organization (EDO) hub. GHD is a global professional services company operating in the markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Across the Americas, GHD also has EDOs located in Ontario, Canada and Santiago, Chile with design offices located across the US and Canada.

GHD will grow its Orlando design hub team to 100 professionals by June 2024 with an initial focus on those capable of delivering projects across multiple markets and a specific emphasis on U.S. Federal, infrastructure and water design delivery. Plans call for hiring an additional 100 engineers in 2025.

“With continued US infrastructure investment at local and federal levels and spending related to resiliency for our manufacturing sectors, GHD is investing in growing its engineering and design capabilities. The EDO has been identified as crucial across all markets and business groups for 2024 and supports GHD’s trajectory of continued growth in the Americas,” said Steven Davie, general manager, US Southeast, GHD. “This is an opportunity to establish a Design Hub based on aggressive growth in the Americas over the next two to five years.”

The U.S. was chosen as the location for GHD’s new design hub to align with the company’s business expansion goals and will allow GHD to increase its delivery capacity for its markets and the U.S. Federal growth initiative. Orlando was chosen because of Florida’s growth, business-friendly environment, affordable cost of living and access to a talented workforce and universities.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), infrastructure, including water treatment systems, flood defenses, roads, bridges, ports and airports, is the backbone of Florida’s economy. Poor infrastructure affects businesses and people alike who are less productive when goods and services go offline or are delayed.

According to Kathi Ruvarac, ASCE Florida Section president, “The role and future of a civil engineer in Florida is incredibly bright now. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, growth of civil engineers in Florida is anticipated to be between 5% and 8% over the next ten years. Civil Engineers are of vital importance to fulfilling the investment of Florida’s infrastructure with the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021.”

As noted in GHD’s Aquanomics report, the Southeastern region of the US (states included are Florida, Georgia and Virginia) could face total GDP losses of $400 billion between 2022 and 2050 due to droughts, floods and storms with losses of $176 billion specifically from storms.In terms of industry, the region’s fast-moving consumer goods and retail sector will be hit hardest with projections that the sector will lose $227 billion due to water risk by 2050.

“Investing in infrastructure and having the engineering skills and expertise to drive it are necessary for the state to thrive”, added Davie. “Growing our engineering design organization in line with this investment enables GHD to deliver larger, more complex projects to our clients, along with providing career-enhancing jobs in the engineering field.”

Engineers and designers are encouraged to apply in the disciplines of civil; process mechanical; building mechanical; structural; electrical instrumental; and control and BIM management/coordination. Experience with federal projects and the water market is beneficial.  Information on GHD careers can be found here

About GHD

GHD is a leading professional services company operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Committed to a vision to make water, energy, and communities sustainable for generations to come, GHD delivers advisory, digital, engineering, architecture, environmental and construction solutions to public and private sector clients. Established in 1928 and privately owned by its people, GHD’s network of 11,000+ specialists are connected across more than 160 offices located on five continents.  www.ghd.com.  Find a local office here.

GHD in the Americas

GHD has long-standing client relationships, a significant project and economic footprint in the Americas and represents 40 percent of GHD’s global workforce with nearly 4,000 professionals in over 130 offices in the US, Canada, and Chile. In 2023, our Canadian business was named as one of Canada’s Top 100 employers. GHD ranks #9 in international design firms operating in the US and #8 in Canada according to Engineering News-Record’s 2022 annual survey of key market segments. These rankings reflect the size and significance of our growing North American businesses. Find a local office here.