Project Engineer

Staffordshire County Council; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible office and home working

Job summary

Project Engineer role within the Highway Development Management team focuses on transport planning and providing detailed responses on planning applications as a statutory consultee. You will engage with Local Planning Authorities, ensure responses cover all transport and highway aspects, and apply current design guidelines.

The ideal candidate will work across pre-application discussions, attend committees if required, and contribute to the Development Plan Policies and Staffordshire Local

Qualifications

• Chartered or incorporated civil engineer or graduate with transport planning background.
• Experience with planning applications and S278 and S38 agreements.
• Ability to work with internal and external bodies and partners.
• Driving licence required.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and issue comments, advice and recommendations on highway/transport elements of planning applications.
• Audit Transport Assessments and Travel Plans using GIS and accessibility tools.
• Proactively engage in pre-application discussions with developers to aid sustainable estate layouts/designs.
• Attend an LPA planning committee to defend our reply as a statutory consultee to a planning application.
• Prepare and give evidence in connection with appeals and Court proceedings under the Town and Country Planning Acts.
• Assist in the implementation of Development Plan Policies and the Staffordshire Local Transport Plan.

Skills

GIS analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Chartered Civil Engineer

Incorporated Civil Engineer

Graduate Civil Engineer

HNC

Job description

Project Engineer

This post is within the Highway Development Management team and is heavily focussed on transport planning and is suitable for professionals with a skillset and qualifications within that area.

Highways Development Management has a huge impact on people’s lives and is at the forefront of regeneration, redevelopment and plays a major part in everyday life for residents of Staffordshire and beyond.

It is an exciting time to start a career at Staffordshire and this job will provide you with great opportunities for career progression and to be involved in medium/large scale projects across Staffordshire. The Highways Development Management team currently comprises of two team leaders who line manage a team of 14 staff who deal with approximately 3,000 planning applications a year plus pre-application advice.

If you are keen on working within a Highway Development Management role and protecting the County’s highway network and also helping to improve the transport facilities available for the people of Staffordshire as part of the planning process then this rewarding career may be the career for you.

We offer a great employment package with a flexible environment of office and/or home working to allow for that work/life balance.

Main Responsibilities

As a Project Engineer, you will be part of the team providing detailed responses on planning applications as a statutory consultee. This will require you to have contact with a variety of Local Planning Authorities (LPA) ensuring the relationship is a positive one and the responses to them are detailed and encompass all elements of transport and highway safe

You will also:

• prepare and issue comments, advice and recommendations relating to highway and transportation elements of planning applications; having regard to current design/transport guidelines.
• audit Transport Assessments and Travel Plans, within the experience, training and knowledge of the post applying GIS analysis techniques and other accessibility planning software.
• proactively instigate, encourage, and participate in pre-application discussions with developers to aid the development of sustainable estate street layouts/designs in accordance with relevant Design Guides.
• have the opportunity to attend an LPA planning committee to defend your reply as a statutory consultee to a planning application.
• prepare and give evidence in connection with appeals and Court proceedings under the Town and Country Planning Acts.
• assist in the implementation of Development Plan Policies and the Staffordshire Local Transport Plan.

The Ideal Candidate

The minimum criteria that will be used to shortlist for this role will be:

• to be a Chartered Civil Engineer or Incorporated Civil Engineer or a Graduate Civil Engineer, Transport Planner with post graduate experience or a HNC and post qualification experience.
• experience relevant to planning applications and of S278 and S38 Agreements
• experience of working in partnership with internal and external bodies.
• experience of the operation of agreements for the adoption of new streets and construction of off-site improvement works.
• experience of participating in multi-disciplinary teams.
• ability to work to time and budgetary constraints.
• a full driving licence.

You will also be required to support other members of the team who may have less experience than yourself. On the job learning, coaching and mentoring is not unusual and is encouraged to create a positive can-do atmosphere within the team.

We are hoping to conduct the interviews on 16th November 2026

Our Recruitment Process

We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council

Our Values

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to

Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our benefits

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

Equal opportunities

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities