Lead/Senior Piping Stress Engineer

What Vista Does

Vista Projects is an integrated engineering firm who has been solving complex challenges in the energy industry since 1985. We are innovators at our core. We continually find better, smarter ways to design and deliver oil and gas projects, and we are proud to be contributing on some of the most exciting low-carbon and synthetic fuel developments in the North America. For our people, that means meaningful, varied work and a real chance to shape how modern engineering gets done.

We are innovators in the energy industry. We actively find ways to improve how oil and gas projects are designed and delivered, and we are contributing to some remarkable low-carbon and synthetic fuel developments; including electro sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) and gas-to-liquids (GTL) projects. We are headquartered in Calgary and maintain a satellite office in Houston.

Why We Do It

The world needs energy, and better engineering makes the projects that deliver it safer, more efficient and more sustainable. Our multi-discipline teams have designed some of the most challenging and successful projects in the North American energy sector, from early-stage studies and pilots to large-scale commercial expansions. We take pride in doing that work well, and just as much pride in continuously improving how we do it.

What You Would Do in This Role

Lead the piping stress discipline on major projects and help grow Vista’s SAGD pipeline business. As Senior / Lead Piping Stress Engineer, you will be the technical authority for facility piping and SAGD pipeline stress engineering: you will set the technical direction, run the stress scope, and mentor the team that delivers it.
You will also help shape how stress engineering works in a digital, model-centric company, where the 3D environment is the single source of truth from early design through construction and commissioning.

Technical leadership

• Serve as Lead Stress Engineer on assigned projects, setting technical direction, execution strategy, and design philosophy
• Establish project stress criteria, methodologies, acceptance limits, and line stress-criticality rules
• Perform and oversee complex static and dynamic analyses in Bentley AutoPIPE (and CAESAR II where a project requires it) to ASME B31.3, CSA Z662 and ASME B31.1 as applicable
• Lead local stress and fatigue assessments with PRG FEA tools (NozzlePro, FEPipe), covering nozzle stresses, welded attachments, and code allowables and fatigue requirements
• Review and approve stress models, calculations, FEA results, and reports
• Provide expert input on piping layout, routing, welded attachments, and support details for integrity and constructability SAGD pipelines
• Act as technical authority for SAGD pipeline stress analysis to CSA Z662: steam, produced emulsion, produced gas, and fuel gas
• Define design approaches for expansion loops, anchors and guides, buried sections, and pipeline-to-facility interfaces
• Set SAGD pipeline routing and support strategy with pipeline design and CSA leads
• Help grow the SAGD pipeline business: support proposals, develop technical solutions, and present to clients

Digital transformation

• Champion a model-centric stress workflow, defining how stress data lives in the 3D model and is shared across disciplines
• Drive integration between 3D design and stress analysis tools, and lead workflow and automation improvements
• Develop discipline standards, procedures, and best practices

Project delivery

• Set scopes of work, man-hour estimates, schedules, and priorities for projects and proposals
• Plan, allocate, and review work; update the project schedule and issue weekly progress reports with Project Management
• Keep stress work on budget, on schedule, and compliant with QA/QC; manage scope changes
• Review and approve specialty item data sheets, MRQs/MRPs, and technical bid evaluations
• Represent the discipline in design reviews, HAZOPs, constructability reviews, and client meetings, and negotiate critical engineering issues
• Support fabrication, construction, and commissioning, including resolution of field stress and nozzle issues

People leadership

• Mentor and develop junior and intermediate stress engineers, including engineering best practices
• Stay current with industry codes and regulatory requirements, and keep the team current

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (or equivalent)
• Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) registered with APEGA
• 8+ years of progressive piping stress engineering experience in oil and gas, including facility piping
• 2+ years of SAGD pipeline stress analysis to CSA Z662
• Experience across oil sands facility piping, well pads, SAGD and underground pipelines, and gas processing plants
• Demonstrated experience leading the piping stress scope on EPC projects
• Expert knowledge of ASME B31.3, CSA Z662, ASME Section VIII, API standards, and ABSA/CSA B51 requirements
• Advanced proficiency with Bentley AutoPIPE, Vista’s preferred stress analysis software
• Proven proficiency with PRG FEA tools, specifically NozzlePro, for nozzle, welded attachment, and fatigue evaluations
• Strong command of transient loads: wind, seismic, vibration, and slug flow
• Sound engineering judgment and the ability to defend technical decisions with clients and stakeholders
• Strong communication, organization, and client-facing leadership skills
• Able to meet safety requirements for site visits

Preferred

• Advanced knowledge of CAESAR II
• Brownfield, MOC, and revamp projects in operating facilities
• LNG, refining, or petrochemical experience
• Discipline Lead, Principal Engineer, or Technical Authority roles in an EPC organization
• Development of engineering standards, procedures, or best practices for piping stress and local stress evaluation
• Experience implementing model-based or digital engineering workflows
• Proposal and business development experience

Why People Like Vista

We do not just say we're a great place to work, our people do. Vista has been recognized by Great Place to Work as one of the Best Workplaces in Canada, a Best Workplace for Mental Health, and a Best Workplace for Women. These awards are earned through confidential surveys completed by our own team, so they reflect how people here actually feel and not just how we choose to describe ourselves.

What our people value most is how we work together. You will join experienced leaders and mentors who are genuinely invested in your growth, in teams built around collaboration rather than silos. We hire capable people, trust them to do their best work, and treat them as people rather than employee numbers. We are proud of the culture this creates, and we work hard to protect it as we grow.

Vista is also a place for people who like to make this better. If you are energized by innovating, by questioning how things are done and by helping vista continuously improve, you will be in good company. We back that work with strong, modern project systems run by people who know how to get the most from them, but it is our people, not our tools, that make Vista what it is.

What We Offer

An opportunity with Vista is more than a job. It is the chance to do challenging meaningful work alongside talented and supportive colleagues who want to see you succeed.

Vista offers all employees

• A challenging and rewarding work environment where you will contribute to meaningful projects across the energy industry
• Talented, collaborative colleagues who are invested in one another's success
• The chance to work alongside some of the sharpest minds in the industry, where your ideas are heard and innovation is part of how we actually work, not just something we say.
• A strong value-based philosophy that provides an informal, close-knit team environment, where you and your family feel like a part of our organization, and not just an employee number
• Competitive compensation and benefits, including a performance-linked variable pay program
• Company-sponsored social events and team sports
• Half-day Fridays and free parking
• An organization that values and encourages diversity

How to Apply

Please complete the application form below and include a cover letter concisely demonstrating how your skills and experience align with our job posting. By submitting this application, you consent to our  Privacy Policy , and you consent to receive transactional electronic messages from Vista and third parties acting on our behalf.

Note:  As part of the interview process there will be a technical testing component that will take up to two hours and can be completed at home on your own timeline. Candidates may be required to complete a security clearance procedure prior to receiving an offer.