Design Engineer

Cambridgeshire County Council; Great Stukeley; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellbeing package

Additional annual leave

Flexible bank holidays

Pension contributions

Development opportunities

Paid volunteering hours

IDEAL peer support groups

Employee Recognition Awards

Cambs Rewards discounts

Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes

Job summary

Cambridgeshire County Council is recruiting two Design Engineers to shape local infrastructure across highways, bridges and rights of way. You’ll take ideas through to construction-ready design, balancing technical excellence with community engagement.

You’ll work on medium-complexity projects, lead design work, manage budgets and programmes, and mentor less experienced colleagues while contributing to a culture of practical, value-driven solutions.

Qualifications

• A degree in Civil Engineering or a related subject, or equivalent experience.
• Professional membership, or to be working towards membership.
• Experience in the development, planning and design of transport infrastructure or related projects.
• Knowledge of highway design requirements and CDM 2015, including the responsibilities of Designers and Principal Designers.
• Experience producing detailed construction drawings for tender.
• The ability to manage programmes, budgets and project risks.
• Confidence using AutoCAD.
• Strong communication, problem-solving and organisational skills.
• The ability to explain technical information clearly to people who may not have an engineering background.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design of infrastructure projects, taking responsibility for planning, design, programme, budget and risk.
• Work across a range of highway design disciplines, building your experience and broadening your technical capability.
• Turn engineering challenges into practical, deliverable solutions.
• Influence projects from optioneering through to construction-ready design.
• Champion best value and lower-carbon solutions, considering social, environmental and financial benefits.
• Work with communities, elected members, businesses, landowners and partner organisations.
• Help develop less experienced colleagues and contribute to a culture where good ideas and constructive challenge are welcomed.
• As a Design Engineer, you’ll be a technical lead on medium-complexity infrastructure projects and an important part of our wider Infrastructure and Project Delivery service.

Skills

AutoCAD

Problem-solving

Communication

Organisational skills

Project management

Education

Civil Engineering degree

Tools

AutoCAD

Job description

Help design infrastructure that makes a real difference to communities Are you a civil or highways engineer looking for a role where you can see the impact of your work in the places people live, travel and work? We’re looking for two Design Engineers to join our team and help develop and deliver local infrastructure projects across Cambridgeshire. This is an opportunity to take designs from ideas through to construction-ready solutions, working on projects across highways, bridges, rights of way and other local infrastructure. You’ll combine technical engineering with problem-solving, collaboration and engagement with the communities our projects serve. No two projects will be quite the same. You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Lead the design of infrastructure projects, taking responsibility for planning, design, programme, budget and risk.
• Work across a range of highway design disciplines, building your experience and broadening your technical capability.
• Turn engineering challenges into practical, deliverable solutions.
• Influence projects from optioneering through to construction-ready design.
• Champion best value and lower-carbon solutions, considering social, environmental and financial benefits.
• Work with communities, elected members, businesses, landowners and partner organisations.
• Help develop less experienced colleagues and contribute to a culture where good ideas and constructive challenge are welcomed., As a Design Engineer, you’ll be a technical lead on medium-complexity infrastructure projects and an important part of our wider Infrastructure and Project Delivery service.

You’ll develop designs within agreed scopes, budgets and programmes while ensuring that CDM 2015 and health and safety requirements are embedded throughout the design process. You’ll consider how your design choices affect construction as well as the people who will ultimately use the infrastructure. You’ll also work closely with colleagues, consultants, contractors and external partners. Depending on the project, that could include District Councils, the Department for Transport, National Highways, Network Rail, the Environment Agency, community groups and others.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self‑organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

You’ll bring a strong grounding in civil engineering or transport infrastructure design and the confidence to take ownership of your work. You’ll need:

• A degree in Civil Engineering or a related subject, or equivalent experience.
• Professional membership, or to be working towards membership.
• Experience in the development, planning and design of transport infrastructure or related projects.
• Knowledge of highway design requirements and CDM 2015, including the responsibilities of Designers and Principal Designers.
• Experience producing detailed construction drawings for tender.
• The ability to manage programmes, budgets and project risks.
• Confidence using AutoCAD.
• Strong communication, problem-solving and organisational skills.
• The ability to explain technical information clearly to people who may not have an engineering background.

Experience of managing consultants and contractors, working with elected members and the public, and mentoring less experienced colleagues also forms part of the role.

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro‑rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
• An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes