Highways Design Leader

SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business is one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies. We build long-term trusted partnerships to create a world where lives are enriched through the implementation of new and exciting ideas. We have a vision to shape the future of transportation, to lead where others follow and to deliver the future of mobility today. Atkins’ Transportation Division covers all aspects of multidisciplinary design and management from inception to options appraisal through to detailed scheme design and delivery support.

Our current workload includes crucial highways projects in the Midlands and across the UK for Highways England, Local Highway Authorities and contractors. Our Midlands staff are also delivering significant highways packages for major rail improvements such as HS2 and East-West Rail. To continue our growth as we shape the future of transportation, we are looking for a Highways Design Leader to join our Highways Practice in Birmingham or Nottingham and to shape our highways packages.

As Highways Design Leader in our growing team you will be a competent designer with proven ability to take ownership of design solutions, delivering to the highest technical standards and quality targets. The role provides opportunities for leading the design development and assessment for highways schemes from vital local improvements to strategic infrastructure projects with values of over £1bn.
You will be responsible for delivering on our safety values, leading our teams to design-in safety, providing leadership on project documentation and ensuring risks are identified, assessed and managed in accordance with GG 104 on strategic highways projects, and meeting or exceeding industry best practice for other clients.
You’ll use your excellent communications skills to articulate design challenges and propose solutions, for example by preparing or reviewing clear and robust Departures from Standard applications. This will require you to engage with the client, stakeholders and the contractor to deliver safety objectives for the affected parties. To succeed you will need to be motivated, passionate and work collaboratively with others. Your expertise will influence the decision making on complex infrastructure such as Smart Motorways and help ensure that a systematic and proportionate approach to decisions and risk is at the core of the next generation of highway design.
We will value you for going beyond to exceed expectations and deliver innovative solutions nobody else can. After all, we can’t achieve great things without you. So, you can look forward to fantastic rewards and development opportunities.

Responsibilities

• You will be responsible for leading highway design development, challenging and enhancing our team’s offering to exceed client expectations, typically as discipline, package or design lead. You’ll lead as part of a team on design reviews and safety control review groups.
• You’ll lead on strategy and governance of our designs, developing or supervising technical notes and products such as the Design Strategy Record, Designer’s Risk Assessment, specific safety risk assessments and maintenance strategies. Your work will assure stakeholders and demonstrate that the highway can be built, operated and maintained safely.
• You’ll deliver results in partnership with our Transportation Consultancy colleagues, using your excellent analytical skills to solve engineering problems and applying your engineering judgement to appraise and recommend options and to check and review deliverables.
• You’ll stay abreast of industry developments and changes in standards; maintaining and developing excellent professional relationships with clients, preparing fee offers and presenting to internal and external stakeholders.
• You’ll work collaboratively across the Atkins business and with our partner organisations and contribute to pastoral care and development of more junior staff by technical training and mentoring.


Requirements

• BEng / MEng or MSc degree in civil engineering or equivalent.
• Chartered status and membership of the ICE or CIHT, or able to demonstrate a pathway to chartership in the near future as part of your plan for this role.
• Experience of working with our key clients, e.g. Local Authorities, Highways England, Developers and/or Contractors.
• Able to demonstrate in-depth understanding of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges and BIM, and their use in design.
• Able to demonstrate experience in justifying and documenting highways design decisions; experienced in working with Departures from Standards or safety risk assessments.
• Able to demonstrate that you are a resourceful problem solver and excellent communicator with commercial awareness.
• Able to demonstrate leadership and influence on highways projects.
Background or experience in road safety engineering, including a Road Safety Audit qualification, would be beneficial for this role but is not an essential requirement.

This role may require security clearance and offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance. If this is necessary, it will be discussed with you at interview.

If applying to this role please do not make reference to (in conversation) or include in your application or CV, details of any current or previously held security clearance.