Lead Marine Engineer

Galveston, TX
Full Time
GALV
Manager/Supervisor

Lead Marine Engineer

Company Overview:

Gulf Copper LLC, a subsidiary of Davie Defense, is a leading Marine Repair and New Construction company based in Galveston, Texas, with more than 75 years of ship repair and fabrication experience on the Gulf Coast. Gulf Copper’s primary business is the repair and refurbishment of marine vessels, ship construction, and fabrication for transportation, government, and oil and gas markets.

Benefits:

  • 401k Retirement Plan
  • Section 125 Plan (Pre-Tax Health/Dental Insurance Premium Deduction)
  • Group Health & Dental Plan
  • Short & Long Term Disability Insurance
  • Life & Voluntary Life Insurance
  • Holiday & Vacation Pay
  • Employee Assistance Program

Overview and Purpose

The Lead Engineer Manager for Arctic Security Cutters is responsible for overseeing all engineering activities supporting the design, development, integration, production, test and delivery and lifecycle management of Arctic-capable security vessels. This role provides strategic technical leadership, works within a multidisciplinary engineering team, and ensures project execution aligns with regulatory standards, operational needs, and program timelines.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
This position is responsible for the following: Other duties may be assigned.
  1. Lead and mentor a team of engineers across multiple disciplines (mechanical, electrical, structural, systems, and marine engineering).
  2. Oversee the development, validation, and integration of complex systems designed for Arctic operations and extreme environments.
  3. Review and approve engineering plans, drawings, analyses, and design changes.
  4. Ensure technical accuracy, compliance, and alignment with mission and operational requirements.
  5. Serve as the primary marine engineering point of contact for the Arctic Security Cutter program.
  6. Manage engineering schedules, deliverables, milestones, and resource allocation.
  7. Collaborating with program managers, shipyard engineering and production teams, and quality leads to ensure seamless execution.
  8. Identify risks, develop mitigation plans, and resolve technical challenges affecting cost, schedule, or performance.
  9. Ensure all engineering work adheres to applicable standards, including, as applicable Class, Flag State, USCG, NAVSEA, and environmental regulations.
  10. Support technical audits, reviews, inspections, and compliance verification activities.
  11. Work closely with customers, government agencies, and external vendors to communicate technical strategies and resolve issues.
  12. Support proposal development, contract requirements, statements of work, and engineering estimates.
  13. Promote best practices in engineering, documentation, configuration management, and lifecycle support.
  14. Drive innovation for cold-weather performance, ice-capable systems, and Arctic mission readiness.

Required Education & Experience:

  1. Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Marine, Mechanical, Electrical, Naval Architecture, or related).
  2. Seven (7+) years of engineering experience in shipbuilding, maritime systems, or defense programs.
  3. Three (3+) years of leadership or engineering management experience.
  4. Strong technical background in vessel design, systems integration, or complex maritime projects.
  5. Experience working with government or military programs.
  6. Professional Engineer license or eligibility.
  7. Experience with Arctic-capable vessels, icebreakers, or cold-weather engineering preferred
  8. Familiarity with USCG cutter programs, military standards, or classified project environment preferred

Working Conditions:  

  1. Office and shipyard environments. 
  2. Occasional travel for program reviews or supplier coordination may be required. 

Necessary Equipment Operation:  

  1. MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Power Point, etc.).  
  2. Ability to use Customer Supplied programs or websites.  
  3. Office equipment, including telephone, scanner, computer, printer, etc.  

Special Skills:

  1. Strategic thinking
  2. Excellent communication, decision-making and project leadership skills.
  3. Technical leadership
  4. Problem-solving and risk mitigation
  5. Team development and coaching
  6. Cross-functional collaboration
  7. Strong sense of accountability and urgency.

* An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. Equal Employment Opportunity Posters. If you’d like to view a copy of the company’s affirmative action plan or policy statement, please email: [email protected].  If you have a disability and you believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to submit an online application, please e-mail: [email protected].

Share

Apply for this position

Required*
We've received your resume. Click here to update it.
Attach resume or Paste resume
Attach resume as .pdf, .doc, .docx, .odt, .txt, or .rtf (limit 5MB) or Paste resume

Paste your resume here or Attach resume file

To comply with government Equal Employment Opportunity and/or Affirmative Action reporting regulations, we are requesting (but NOT requiring) that you enter this personal data. This information will not be used in connection with any employment decisions, and will be used solely as permitted by state and federal law. Your voluntary cooperation would be appreciated. Learn more.
Invitation for Job Applicants to Self-Identify as a U.S. Veteran
  • A “disabled veteran” is one of the following:
    • a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
    • a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
  • A “recently separated veteran” means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.
  • An “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.
  • An “Armed forces service medal veteran” means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.
Veteran status


Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability
Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026
Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Please check one of the boxes below:

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.

You must enter your name and date
Human Check*