Forensic Civil Engineer, Highway/Rail

HKA Global

3d

About The Position

HKA is a global leader in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, and expert witness services. We tackle complex challenges with our multi-disciplinary expertise.

As trusted consultants and advisors, we deliver solutions in uncertain and disputed situations, ensuring the best outcomes for clients worldwide. Our experts have testified globally on major cases spanning across a wide range of industries and sectors.
As part of the HKA team you can expect:
A strong collaborative culture with a mutual pursuit of your success alongside the success of our teams.
The opportunity to solve problems creatively, contribute to our innovative direction, and be valued as an individual
The ability to leverage HKA’s strong network and presence in various industries and reputation for exceptional expert witnesses to accelerate career development and connections.
The Opportunity:
HKA is seeking a senior Forensic Civil Engineer specializing in highway and rail infrastructure to support litigation, arbitration, and dispute matters across Canada. This role is focused on horizontal civil infrastructure and involves detailed evaluation of transportation systems where performance, safety, and standard of care are disputed.
You will investigate complex failures and operational issues, prepare independent expert opinions, and provide testimony in matters involving public agencies, contractors, and private owners. This role offers the opportunity to apply deep transportation expertise in a consulting setting that values independence, technical credibility, and clear expert reasoning.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering
• Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) license in at least one Canadian province required; additional provincial registration preferred.
• 15+ years of transportation, roadway, or rail engineering experience.
• Demonstrated experience with pavement systems, rail infrastructure, drainage, and transportation design or maintenance.
• Forensic engineering and dispute consulting experience, including preparation of expert opinions for contested matters.
• Minimum 1+ year of experience serving as an Expert Witness, with formal testimony provided in depositions, arbitration, and/or court proceedings.
• Strong client delivery and relationship management experience, including work with legal counsel, public agencies, and private owners.
• Experience contributing to business development, including proposal development and client relationship expansion.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills suitable for litigation environments.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree considered an asset.

Responsibilities

• Lead forensic investigations involving highways, pavements, rail corridors, trackbed/subgrade conditions, embankments, drainage systems, and associated transportation infrastructure.
• Conduct site inspections and evidence collection following distress/failure events, service disruptions, safety incidents, flooding/erosion impacts, and construction or maintenance disputes.
• Determine cause, origin, extent, and contributing factors, including evaluation of design intent, materials selection, construction practices, quality control/quality assurance, operations, maintenance, and lifecycle performance.
• Prepare independent, litigation-ready expert reports (and supporting exhibits) for arbitration, mediation, and court proceedings, addressing causation, standard of care, and responsibility.
• Provide expert witness testimony in depositions, arbitration, and/or court, including testimony under cross-examination.
• Collaborate with attorneys, insurers, public agencies, contractors, and other technical experts to develop coordinated opinions and respond to opposing expert positions.
• Support dispute strategy through clear communication of technical issues, identification of evidentiary gaps, and preparation for expert meetings, joint statements, or hearings.
• Advise clients on remediation options, risk mitigation, constructability considerations, and dispute resolution pathways.
• Review and analyze drawings, specifications, calculations, geotechnical reports, inspection records, maintenance logs, traffic/load data (as applicable), and construction documentation.
• Evaluate compliance with Canadian standards and guidelines (e.g., TAC and provincial MTO standards; AREMA where applicable) and assess standard-of-care expectations.
• Assess pavement and materials performance (e.g., asphalt/concrete distress mechanisms), drainage/hydraulic influences on performance, and subgrade/formation issues impacting serviceability.
• Perform or direct technical analyses such as pavement condition and distress mapping, drainage investigations, materials review/testing coordination, and rail corridor condition assessments.
• Develop technically sound repair, rehabilitation, and mitigation recommendations, including prioritization of corrective actions and long-term performance considerations.

Benefits

• At HKA we recognize that our people are critical to our ongoing success. Our priority is to provide an inclusive and collaborative culture aimed at providing the best opportunities for our people to thrive and develop in their chosen career path.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees