Principal Civil Engineer - Water

Ready to make your mark on one of the UK’s most important infrastructure investment programmes? This is an exciting opportunity for experienced Civil Engineers to join a growing Regulated Water Asset Design team, delivering essential projects that will help shape the future of the water industry.

With significant investment underway through AMP8, you’ll have the opportunity to work across a diverse portfolio of water and wastewater infrastructure projects, supporting major water companies and leading contractors across the UK and internationally.

Whether you already have experience in the water sector or are looking to transition from another area of civil engineering, you’ll be supported to develop your expertise, broaden your experience and progress your career. With opportunities at both Senior and Principal Engineer level, this is your chance to take on meaningful technical challenges and contribute to projects that make a lasting difference.

As a Senior or Principal Civil Engineer, you’ll play an important role in delivering civil engineering design solutions across water and wastewater infrastructure. Working within an established team with long-term client relationships, you’ll contribute to projects spanning wastewater treatment, water treatment, sewerage and water networks.

At Principal Engineer level, you’ll take greater ownership of project delivery, lead multidisciplinary teams, manage client relationships and contribute to the strategic growth of the team. At Senior Engineer level, you’ll have the opportunity to develop your technical expertise, take responsibility for design packages and build towards greater project and team leadership.

What’s on offer?

  • Generous annual leave: Enjoy a competitive holiday allowance to support a healthy work-life balance.
  • Pension provision: Plan for your future with access to a workplace pension scheme.
  • Flexible working: Opportunities for flexible working arrangements to help balance professional and personal commitments.
  • Health and wellbeing support: Access wellbeing resources and initiatives designed to support you throughout your career.
  • Professional development: Ongoing training, mentoring and development opportunities to strengthen your technical and leadership capabilities.
  • Chartership support: Opportunities to work towards professional accreditation, with support for relevant ICE or CIWEM membership progression.
  • Career progression: Clear opportunities to develop your skills and progress from Senior Engineer to Principal Engineer and beyond.
  • Exposure to major investment programmes: Get involved in the AMP8 water industry capital investment programme, working on essential infrastructure schemes across the UK.
  • Support to transition into water: If your background is in another engineering sector, benefit from tailored mentoring and training to help you build your expertise in water infrastructure.
  • International opportunities: Broaden your experience through projects and collaboration across the UK and international markets.
  • Technical and leadership development: Take ownership of projects, lead multidisciplinary teams and help shape innovative approaches to water infrastructure design.

The role

  • Taking ownership of project delivery, ensuring health and safety, technical quality, programme and budget requirements are met.
  • Managing and coordinating multidisciplinary engineering teams to deliver effective, high-quality design solutions.
  • Supporting the delivery of water and wastewater infrastructure projects across treatment works, sewerage systems and water networks.
  • Building strong relationships with clients, understanding their requirements and ensuring projects deliver successful outcomes.
  • Identifying opportunities to expand service offerings by collaborating with wider engineering teams across the UK and internationally.
  • Contributing to innovative engineering approaches, new services and digital solutions that improve project delivery.
  • Supporting sustainability initiatives, including Future Ready principles and the transition towards Net Zero.
  • Acting as an advocate for technical excellence and best practice within the team and on client-led initiatives.
  • Contributing to bids, proposals, resource planning and budget development.
  • Mentoring and supporting graduate engineers and degree apprentices, helping them develop their technical capabilities and professional careers.
  • Supporting recruitment, team development and the continued growth of the civil engineering function.
  • Continuing to develop your own technical, project management and leadership skills.

What you need to succeed

  • A degree in Civil Engineering.
  • Chartered Engineer status, or significant progress towards professional membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) or the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).
  • Experience managing or coordinating engineering design teams, including civil engineers and supporting disciplines.
  • A proven ability to deliver engineering projects within agreed budgets and timescales.
  • Experience undertaking technical checking, design reviews or technical approval for linear civil engineering infrastructure, industrial projects or process-related design.
  • Experience mentoring or coaching junior engineers and supporting their technical and professional development.
  • Client-facing experience, with the ability to build productive working relationships and understand client requirements.
  • Strong written, verbal and presentation skills, with the confidence to communicate technical information clearly.