Senior Marine Engineer – Ship Completion & Delivery

Location: Port St. Joe, Florida
Contract Duration: Approximately six months
Openings: Two immediate contract positions
Work Environment: Shipyard, onboard vessels, and engineering office
Position Level: Senior / Subject Matter Expert

Position Summary

We are seeking two highly experienced Senior Marine Engineers to provide onsite engineering support during the final stages of vessel construction, including system startup, testing, commissioning, regulatory closeout, trials, and delivery.

These are senior, hands-on contract positions for engineers who can enter active vessel completion programs, quickly understand vessel designs and current construction status, and independently take ownership of complex engineering problems through resolution.

Successful candidates will have extensive experience working in shipyards, aboard vessels, or within marine design and engineering organizations. Direct experience supporting vessels through late-stage construction, machinery startup, commissioning, dock and sea trials, regulatory or classification closeout, and final delivery is strongly preferred.

The engineers must be capable of operating with minimal supervision and working effectively across engineering documentation, actual shipboard conditions, production, testing, equipment vendors, and regulatory requirements.

Primary Responsibilities

• Provide senior-level onsite marine engineering support during vessel completion, machinery startup, testing, commissioning, trials, and delivery.
• Independently investigate and resolve engineering issues affecting construction, system operation, testing, regulatory compliance, and vessel delivery.
• Support the startup and commissioning of main propulsion, auxiliary machinery, piping, exhaust, fuel, cooling, lubrication, and other shipboard mechanical systems.
• Troubleshoot machinery and system problems identified during installation, startup, testing, and operation.
• Evaluate shipboard conditions against drawings, specifications, vendor technical information, regulatory requirements, and accepted marine engineering practices.
• Conduct ship checks and field investigations to document existing conditions and develop practical engineering solutions.
• Review and develop engineering drawings, sketches, redlines, calculations, technical dispositions, and supporting documentation.
• Work directly with shipyard engineering, production and test personnel, equipment vendors, vessel representatives, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Support machinery startup, system testing, dock trials, sea trials, and other vessel acceptance activities.
• Investigate deficiencies and equipment-performance problems, determine root causes, and recommend technically sound corrective actions.
• Evaluate field changes and proposed solutions for their impact on system functionality, interfaces, maintainability, safety, regulatory compliance, and vessel delivery.
• Assist with the resolution and closeout of outstanding engineering, construction, testing, classification, and regulatory items.
• Review vendor drawings, technical manuals, equipment data, and system documentation as necessary to resolve shipboard issues.
• Support applicable classification society and regulatory compliance activities.
• Provide engineering support for gas-fueled vessel requirements when applicable.
• Coordinate solutions across mechanical, electrical, structural, production, testing, vendor, and regulatory disciplines.
• Maintain clear documentation of technical issues, decisions, recommendations, corrective actions, and resolution status.
• Identify emerging technical risks that may affect startup, testing, trials, schedule, or vessel delivery and communicate them to project leadership.

Required Qualifications

• Extensive professional experience in marine engineering, shipbuilding, ship repair, vessel conversion, or a comparable shipyard engineering environment.
• Demonstrated experience working in shipyards and aboard vessels during construction, repair, conversion, commissioning, or completion.
• Significant practical knowledge of marine machinery and shipboard mechanical systems, including:
  • Main propulsion machinery
  • Auxiliary machinery
  • Piping systems
  • Fuel and lubrication systems
  • Cooling and exhaust systems
  • Pumps, valves, and associated equipment
  • Machinery controls, instrumentation, and sensors
• Experience supporting machinery and system startup, commissioning, testing, troubleshooting, and corrective action.
• Direct experience supporting vessels through late-stage construction, trials, and delivery.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, system diagrams, equipment documentation, specifications, and regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to investigate complex shipboard problems independently and develop practical, executable solutions.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with shipyard engineering, production and testing organizations, vendors, vessel representatives, classification societies, and regulatory bodies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision in a fast-paced shipyard environment.
• Ability and willingness to work onboard vessels and in active industrial and shipyard environments.
• Must be currently authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working for both a shipyard and a marine design or engineering organization.
• Experience with vessel completion, machinery commissioning, dock trials, sea trials, and final delivery.
• Previous responsibility as a lead engineer, chief engineer, engineering manager, technical lead, or senior shipyard engineer.
• Commercial vessel construction and delivery experience.
• Familiarity with ABS, USCG, and other applicable classification and regulatory requirements.
• Experience supporting regulatory waivers, equivalencies, or technical compliance matters.
• Experience with LNG or other gas-fueled vessels.
• Familiarity with the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk, commonly known as the IGC Code.
• Experience resolving late-stage construction and commissioning issues involving engineering, production, testing, vendors, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Professional Engineer license or other relevant professional credentials are desirable but not required.

Desired Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a seasoned marine engineer who has personally helped take vessels from construction through machinery startup, commissioning, trials, regulatory closeout, and delivery.

This individual should be equally comfortable reviewing drawings in an engineering office, inspecting machinery spaces, troubleshooting equipment with a vendor, working with production personnel to implement a practical correction, and supporting test teams during machinery and system startup.

Once assigned an issue or area of responsibility, the engineer will be expected to identify the relevant technical information and stakeholders, develop a practical path forward, and drive the matter through documented closure without requiring continuous supervision.

Contract Details

• Two positions are available immediately.
• Each assignment is expected to last approximately six months.
• The work will be performed primarily onsite in Port St. Joe, Florida.
• Candidates must be available to work in an active shipyard and onboard-vessel environment.
• Candidates must be currently authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.