Principal Highways Drainage Engineer

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Job Description

Start here. Grow here . 

Our Highways team, within our Transportation business line, have a vacancy for an  Principal highways Drainage Engineer  with experience in drainage delivery of transportation engineering schemes across our regional based offices of Manchester, Newcastle, Chesterfield and St Albans.

You will be joining our Highways team, of over 100 staff, who are recognised as market leaders in the areas of significant and major highways and continue to deliver high profile and impactful projects across the UK and globally.  You will be part of established teams with a positive team structure with strong engineering staff across the grades from apprentice to principal engineer, and supported by a locally based senior management team. 

The successful candidate will be joining a growing team that works with a range of both local and national clients. You will be someone interested in leading the delivery teams of our diverse range of projects. 

You will have a proven experience in civil engineering, infrastructure, or transportation projects, and be a self-motivated individual looking to advance their career in a dynamic team.  In addition to delivering work within the local office the role will involve working with other AECOM teams in the UK and Ireland.  We are therefore seeking candidates who are able to work flexibly across other AECOM offices as projects dictate to support the wider business. 

Further, the role offers opportunities to work in AECOMs wider UK European, Middle East, and India regions. 

Current & Upcoming Projects: 

• A229 Blue Bell Hill 
• M54-M6 Link Road 
• M62 Link Roads 
• A19 North of Newcastle 
• AlUla- Middle East
• National Grid – The Great Grid Upgrade, Wanless Beck 
• Supporting work for Heathrow, Gatwick Airports, East West Rail and Northern Powerhouse 
• Site opportunities- Lune Gorge, M60 J18 

Here’s what you’ll do: 

• Anticipate:  You will understand our drainage delivery requirements and anticipate and solve routine and usual problems for both our teams and our clients

• Deliver:  The Highways team are responsible for the full lifecycle delivery of projects aimed at improving our transport network for clients.  We provide feasibility, concept, preliminary and detailed design, community engagement, project delivery and construction management services on a wide range of multi-discipline transportation and urban realm projects. In addition, we support other AECOM business lines where their projects have a specialised transportation interface. 

• Oversee:  You will be responsible for the appointment of competent drainage engineers for technical delivery. Plan and develop engineering tasks concerned with unique problems. This involves exploration of subject area, definition of scope and selection of problems for investigation and development of novel concepts and approaches. 

• Provide Expertise:  Offer technical drainage knowledge and expertise to the design team on all aspects of multi-disciplinary projects, from conceptual phases to implementation. 

• Ensure Quality:  Working through the complexities of our Transportation projects, you will hold our clients’ hands and overcome problems in unison when they inevitably arise. Provide Health, Safety and Wellness leadership to the district team consistent with AECOM’s safety policies and procedures to deliver a safe and healthy working environment for the project team members. Oversee the preparation of feasibility, preliminary and detailed drainage designs for all types of transportation projects. Oversee the preparation of detailed drainage technical reports providing specialist technical contributions as required. 

• Collaborate:  Leading a team of multi-disciplinary engineers to deliver integrated designs and building effective relationships with our technical teams and Clients. 

•  

Key Responsibilities: 

• Deliver engineering designs to the required quality standards, budgets and project timescales

• Undertake Health & Safety duties, fulfilling all responsibilities for health and safety in design including safety in design and CDM

• Undertake technical design of highway drainage systems in accordance with UK standards and best practice including DMRB and MCHW

• Proficiency with drainage modelling software including, and able to use manual techniques for design where appropriate

• Construct 3D models of projects in a BIM environment 

• Undertake design checks of drainage designs completed by others

• Work collaboratively with colleagues and clients, using tools for information sharing such as Business Collaborator and ProjectWise

• Identify data and information required for project and advise team leader 

• Supervise and mentor junior team members agree 

• Preparation of technical reports

• Work within financial and programme constraints, monitoring hours expended against the project budget 

• Contribute and actively encourage knowledge sharing, innovation and creativity 

• Complete all required health and safety training, including CSCS qualification where required

• Establishing strong working relationships with other internal teams across AECOM’s business lines including Planning, Streets, Structures, Infrastructure, Water, Power, Landscape. 

• Working with colleagues to deliver marketing and business development objectives in both the local region and nationally. 

Come grow with us. 

We develop projects from concept through operation providing engineering and construction services for multiyear, multimillion-dollar projects for major rail and transit agencies. Our specialists provide analytical and strategic expertise for every stage of a project 

And let's not forget about the perks at AECOM. You'll enjoy a range of core and personalised benefits designed to support your future and well-being, customized to fit your lifestyle. Take advantage of career development opportunities, our flexible hybrid working model to ensure a work-life balance that suits your lifestyle, technical practice networks, AECOM University, and volunteering days 

Qualifications

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible? 

Here’s what we’re looking for: 

• Degree in Civil Engineering; 
• Chartered or incorporated engineer – (rqd to sign off drainage designs for NH CG502) 
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience (post-graduation) in highway drainage design in UK;
• Competent in use of highway drainage design software;
• A demonstrable understanding of Health and Safety including CDM; 
• A comprehensive knowledge of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges drainage standards. 

We celebrate diversity, including neurodiversity, and believe it enriches our team. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and abilities. If you are an applicant with a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us at  View email address on jobs.smartrecruiters.com

At AECOM, we value everyone's unique contributions and perspectives. If you meet some of the requirements above or have transferable skills you believe would benefit us, we would be delighted to hear from you!

Additional Information

Interested in the role or curious about life at AECOM? Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to explore our AECOM voices, employee stories, latest projects, and much more! #STAP

For further information about the role, reach out to the recruiter on LinkedIn Siobhan Osborne

At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address  View email address on jobs.smartrecruiters.com if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.