Graduate Engineer (Highways & Drainage) Bristol- Summer Intake 2026 1 1

COWI; Glasgow; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday allowance

Development plans

Private health care

Hybrid working

Professional membership fees

Group pension

Life assurance

Maternity leave

Paternity leave

EV lease

Rail card

Job summary

COWI in Glasgow is seeking a Graduate Engineer (Highways and Drainage) for its Summer Intake 2027. This permanent, office/home hybrid role offers mentoring and a personalised development plan aimed at Chartership.

You will contribute to highway and drainage projects on major UK programmes, learning to communicate complex ideas with clients and stakeholders. You will collaborate with teams, develop designs, and grow skills across data collection, analysis, and modelling in a supportive

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline.
• Aiming for professional recognition (I Eng or C Eng).
• Understanding of Digital Automation and BIM.
• Experience in an engineering environment (e.g., year in industry or summer placements).
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.

Responsibilities

• Produce designs for new infrastructure and assess existing assets.
• Translate complex concepts into presentations, reports, drawings and infographics for clients and stakeholders.
• Conduct data collection, analysis and develop calculation methods.
• Support in-house tools and carbon calculation initiatives.
• Plan workload with project manager and track progress against budget and programme.
• Ensure accuracy through careful self-checking.

Skills

Teamwork

Communication

BIM

Digital Automation

Industry Experience

IEng/CEng Aspiration

Education

Civil Engineering degree

Job description

Graduate Engineer (Highways and Drainage) - Summer Intake 2027

Glasgow

Permanent

Office/Home Hybrid Working

Are you a civil engineering graduate ready to design tomorrow’s roads and drainage systems? Join our expanding Infrastructure Design team and turn classroom theory into impactful projects. Collaborate with experienced engineers, contributing to highway, drainage and infrastructure projects, growing your skills on real-world assignments. Bring your curiosity and technical know-how — help us build safer, smarter infrastructure.

Create Solutions that will enable a better tomorrow

We're growing our Highways and Drainage team in the UK and looking for a Graduate Engineer to be part of it. You'll work across some of the UK's most prestigious infrastructure programmes, contributing meaningfully from day one. In addition to project responsibilities, you will receive one-on-one mentoring and a personalised development plan to help you work toward Chartership and your long-term career objectives.

Furthermore, you will:

• Produce designs for new infrastructure and undertake assessments of existing infrastructure
• Translate complex engineering concepts and solutions into presentations, reports, sketches, drawings and infographics that communicate their essence and demonstrate their value to our clients and key stakeholders
• Carry out a broad range of engineering activities — including data collection and analysis, developing calculation methods, and collaborating with colleagues to deliver consistently high-quality work
• Contribute to the promotion of engineering best practice and support the implementation of in-house tools, including our carbon calculation tool
• Plan and prioritise your workload with support from your project manager, tracking and reporting progress against budget and programme
• Be responsible for your own work, ensuring accuracy through careful self-checking

Your skills. Our team. Together we design the future.

The first step to success in this role is that you are eager to collaborate with the people around you, whether they are colleagues, partners, or customers. Developing ties with others is something you do by acting respectfully and delivering on your promises. And you never get set in your ways but keep exploring new insights and ways to improve.

On top of that, you’ll have:

• A bachelor's or master's degree either in Civil Engineering, or other relevant discipline (BEng, BSc, Meng, MSc)
• Aspiration to gain professional recognition (I Eng or C Eng)
• An understanding of Digital Automation and BIM
• Some experience of working in an engineering environment (such as a year in industry or summer placements)
• Ability to demonstrate a deep understanding and interest in engineering and a personal commitment to technical excellence
• Ability and willingness to work in a diverse and multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to demonstrate good communication skills and teamwork

A place to work and so much more

At COWI, we work together with our customers to shape a sustainable and liveable world. We do it by applying our knowledge and curiosity – and sometimes even our courage – to create the solutions the world needs today to enable a better tomorrow. We support our customers’ transition towards increased sustainability. We strive to lead by example by embedding environmental management, social responsibility and good governance into our business practices and the options we provide to our customers.We value differences and development and cultivate an environment of belonging and having fun. Because that is what brings out the best in you, at work and at home. With offices primarily located in the Nordic region, the UK and Ireland, North America and India, we are currently more than 7,500 people who bring their expertise in engineering, architecture, energy and environment into play.

What we also offer:

To us, a fair reward is more than a competitive salary. We want to take care of our people professionally and personally as well.

• 28days' holidayplus all UKbank and public holidays
• Formalised development plans and yearly promotion opportunities
• Private health care, for you anda contribution from you foryour immediate dependents
• Flexible and hybrid working conditions
• Annual subscription fees paid for your membership of two Professional Institutions
• Group personal pension scheme – salary exchange
• Life assurance
• Maternity Leave: 1-20weeks full pay, 21-26 weeks half pay, 27-39Statutory (SMP) 40-52 weeks unpaid (eligibility criteria will apply)
• Paternity Leave: 12 weeks full pay (eligibility criteria will apply)

Optional benefits include:

• Electric vehicle lease
• Annual Rail card (available for under 30s)

Equal opportunity employer.

COWI provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to ethnicity, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.