Head of Service - Highways Delivery

Lancashire County Council; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 88,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

26 days annual leave

Flexible working opportunities

Health and wellbeing support

Family-friendly policies

Training and development opportunities

Job summary

Lancashire County Council is inviting applications for Head of Service – Highways Delivery in Preston. The role leads a large team and oversees capital works, maintenance and operational delivery across the highways network, ensuring safety, quality and value for money.

You will manage major programmes, collaborate with senior stakeholders, and drive transformation and continuous improvement to meet today’s and future needs while maintaining high professional standards.

Qualifications

• Degree-level qualification in civil/highways engineering or equivalent.
• Membership of ICE or CIHT preferred.
• Experience delivering highways maintenance or large-scale operational services.
• Proven leadership of large operational teams and budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead highways delivery across Lancashire, turning plans into high-quality outcomes.
• Oversee capital works, maintenance, winter service, emergency response and resilience.
• Provide strategic leadership while remaining connected to operational delivery.
• Manage major capital and revenue programmes with strong financial control and governance.
• Collaborate with senior leaders, elected members and partners to ensure delivery of standards.

Skills

Leadership

Budget ownership

Contract management

CDM knowledge

Health and safety

Communication

Stakeholder management

Change leadership

Programme delivery

Multi-disciplinary teams

Education

Civil/Highways engineering degree or equivalent

Membership of ICE or CIHT

Job description

Job Description

Salary £80,401 - £87,928 Per annum | Permanent, Full Time, 37 hours per week | Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Head of Service – Highways Delivery

We're looking for a Head of Service with drive and passion to deliver an effective and very specialist service to our stakeholders at an incredibly exciting time for both the present and future of Lancashire County Council and the community we serve.

About The Role

This is an opportunity to take a leading role in the delivery of highways services across Lancashire, with responsibility for turning plans, investment and priorities into safe, high-quality outcomes on the network.

Leading a diverse workforce of more than 300 colleagues, alongside contractors and supply chain partners, you’ll oversee a significant portfolio spanning capital works, maintenance and operational delivery, including winter service, emergency response and network resilience.

You’ll provide strategic leadership while remaining closely connected to operational delivery. From managing major capital and revenue programmes and acting as Senior Responsible Officer for designated schemes, to ensuring strong financial control, safety, quality, sustainability and value for money, you’ll have the scope to make a tangible difference to the services our communities rely on every day.

Collaboration will be central to your success. Working alongside other Heads of Service as well as senior leaders, elected members and partners, you’ll help ensure engineering standards, asset priorities and commercial governance translate into effective delivery.

You’ll also lead transformation and continuous improvement, creating resilient, customer-focused services that are equipped to respond to both today’s challenges and future needs.

About You

You’ll be an accomplished senior leader with experience of delivering highways, infrastructure, maintenance or similarly complex operational services.

Comfortable leading at scale, you’ll bring the judgement to balance strategic priorities with operational demands, alongside the ability to manage significant programmes, budgets, assets, people and supply chains. You’ll understand what excellent delivery looks like and know how to create the conditions in which people and services can perform at their best.

Ideally, you’ll bring;

• A relevant degree-level qualification, or equivalent experience, in civil engineering, highways engineering or a related discipline, together with membership of a relevant professional body such as ICE or CIHT.
• Significant experience delivering highways maintenance, infrastructure or comparable large-scale operational services, including complex projects or programmes and multiple concurrent schemes.
• Proven leadership of large operational teams, with the ability to develop people, strengthen performance and create a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Strong experience of budget ownership, financial decision-making and programme delivery, including significant capital and revenue programmes.
• Experience working across multi-disciplinary teams, contractors and supply chain partners, with the ability to build productive relationships and achieve shared outcomes.
• A strong understanding of highways operations, maintenance and construction, relevant statutory duties and the importance of safe and compliant delivery, including CDM requirements.
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder-management skills, with the confidence to operate effectively with senior leaders, elected members, partners and communities.
• Experience of health, safety and environmental leadership, alongside an understanding of quality management and continuous improvement within a large operational environment.
• Knowledge of contract management and mixed-economy delivery models, including in-house and contracted service delivery.
• A resilient, collaborative leadership style and the ability to lead through change, tackle challenging issues constructively and maintain high professional standards.

About Us

At Lancashire County Council, we're committed to delivering services that make a real difference to the people and communities we serve. Our Highways Team is at the heart of that mission, helping ensure that customers are put first by delivering safe, reliable and accessible highways services that local communities can depend upon.

When you join us, you'll become part of a supportive and knowledgeable team where your expertise is valued, your development is encouraged and your contribution has a direct impact across the organisation.

In return, we offer:

• Competitive salary
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Flexible working opportunities
• Health and wellbeing support
• Family-friendly policies
• Financial and travel benefits
• Training and development opportunities

Local Government Reorganisation

The Government has confirmed that local government across Lancashire will be reorganised, with the current 15 councils being replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire from April 2028.

If you are successful in your application, you will initially join Lancashire County Council. However, as part of the planned transition, your employment will transfer to one of the new unitary councils from April 2028, subject to the implementation of the reorganisation and relevant employment legislation.

Throughout this period, our focus remains on delivering excellent services to our communities. By joining us now, you'll play an important role in shaping the future of local government and helping to build a strong new organisation that will serve residents for years to come.