Kyle Dickens spent a large portion of his childhood operating a collection of small boats that he and the Dickens family would take out at their lakeside home in Ocala, Florida. A proud Floridian, he rooted for the Florida Gators and all of the various sports teams that represented the “Sunshine State.” Intrigued by the saltwater and small beach towns, he moved 100 miles northeast to attend the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida.
After graduating with a civil engineering degree in 2012, Kyle searched for his next opportunity. He saw a Manson job posting for a field engineer and realized the regional office was only a few miles away from his house. He applied the very same day and then walked over to the Jacksonville office to introduce himself in person. “I met with Zach Chester, who previously held the role that I have now, and we sat down for an interview,” Kyle explains. “After two weeks, I got the call and the rest is history.”
After years of working in the field on projects such as the Fort Pierce Shore Protection Project and the West Coast Hopper Maintenance Dredging Project learning about hydrographic surveys, volume calculations, and maintaining computer position software, Kyle is now the Dredging Engineering Manager for Gulf and East Coast Operations.
His day-to-day consists of recruiting, hiring, and staffing for all Gulf and East Coast Dredging, organizing project teams, and work scheduling. Kyle supports more than 30 engineers with logistics and plays an early role in training new hires. “I tell new engineers the same thing that helped me early on in my career, which is to be consistent and follow-up with everything,” Kyle says.
Kyle says he enjoys that in his current role at Manson he has such an impact on training new hires. “Watching the engineers I’ve trained move into different fields at Manson is the most rewarding thing,”
Kyle says. “I’ve seen a few move into roles that require great responsibility and experience, and it’s nice to see that I’ve had a hand in their success.”
Closing in on 10 years at Manson, Kyle reflects on his time with the company and why he loves working here. “Manson holds true to its values and takes care of its people,” Kyle says. “They are really receptive to new engineers and don’t suffer from the old belief of, ’What I say goes.’ Manson is receptive to hearing all voices.”
On his days off, Kyle spends his time offshore fishing and doing other outdoor activities, but his number one priority is being a dad. He loves nothing more than spending quality time with his two kids.
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