ITS Design lead

Jacobs; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Jacobs is seeking an ITS engineering lead to deliver projects across the UK’s motorway and Strategic Road Network. You will coordinate design, resolve technical challenges, and work with multidisciplinary teams to develop practical solutions that improve safety, reliability and operation.

You will lead hands‑on technical work, engage with clients, and help grow Jacobs’ ITS capability while aligning with safety, programme and commercial commitments.

Qualifications

• Practical engineering experience within Motorway ITS, trunk roads or the Strategic Road Network.
• Experience of designing, delivering or technically overseeing one or more relevant systems, such as VMS, MIDAS, CCTV, ramp metering, smart motorway technology or traffic control centres.
• The ability to lead technical work and make well‑reasoned engineering decisions.
• Experience working with clients and collaborating across multidisciplinary project teams.
• The ability to attend the Basingstoke client office at least one day each week.

Responsibilities

• Join our Aviation, Rail and Technology team to deliver Intelligent Transport Systems projects across the UK’s motorway and Strategic Road Network.
• You will work on complex engineering challenges involving technologies such as VMS, MIDAS, CCTV, ramp metering, smart motorway systems and control centres.
• You will lead and coordinate ITS design, resolve technical and interface challenges, and work closely with clients and multidisciplinary teams to develop practical solutions.
• Alongside project delivery, you will provide technical guidance, support the development of colleagues and help strengthen Jacobs’ wider ITS capability.
• This role offers the opportunity to combine hands‑on technical leadership with client engagement and project influence.

Job description

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

Your impact

Your expertise will help make some of the UK’s busiest and most strategically important roads safer, more reliable and easier to operate.

You will solve complex engineering challenges involving the technology that monitors traffic, manages disruption and keeps road users informed. By combining your experience of Motorway Intelligent Transport Systems with strong technical judgement, you will influence designs that must perform reliably in demanding, safety-critical environments.

This is an opportunity to bring practical knowledge of systems such as variable message signs, MIDAS, CCTV, ramp metering, smart motorway technology and control centres to projects where effective design decisions have a visible, long-term impact.

You will also strengthen the wider ITS capability at Jacobs, supporting colleagues, clients and projects while helping develop the next generation of engineers in this specialist field.

About The Opportunity

Join our Aviation, Rail and Technology team to deliver Intelligent Transport Systems projects across the UK’s motorway and Strategic Road Network. You will work on complex engineering challenges involving technologies such as VMS, MIDAS, CCTV, ramp metering, smart motorway systems and control centres, helping to improve the safety, reliability and operation of critical road infrastructure.

You will lead and coordinate ITS design, resolve technical and interface challenges, and work closely with clients and multidisciplinary teams to develop practical solutions. Alongside project delivery, you will provide technical guidance, support the development of colleagues and help strengthen Jacobs’ wider ITS capability.

This role offers the opportunity to combine hands‑on technical leadership with client engagement and project influence. Success will mean delivering robust designs, building trusted client relationships and keeping projects aligned with their safety, programme and commercial commitments.

Here’s what you’ll need

• Practical engineering experience within Motorway ITS, trunk roads or the Strategic Road Network.
• Experience of designing, delivering or technically overseeing one or more relevant systems, such as VMS, MIDAS, CCTV, ramp metering, smart motorway technology or traffic control centres.
• The ability to lead technical work and make well‑reasoned engineering decisions.
• Experience working with clients and collaborating across multidisciplinary project teams.
• The ability to attend the Basingstoke client office at least one day each week.

Joining Jacobs not only connects you locally but globally. Our values stand on a foundation of safety, integrity, inclusion and belonging. We put people at the heart of our business, and we truly believe that by supporting one another through our culture of caring, we all succeed. We value positive mental health and a sense of belonging for all employees.

With safety and flexibility always top of mind, we’ve gone beyond traditional ways of working so you have the support, means and space to maximize your potential. You’ll uncover flexible working arrangements, benefits, and opportunities, from well‑being benefits to our global giving and volunteering program, to exploring new and inventive ways to help our clients make the world a better place. No matter what drives you, you’ll discover how you can cultivate, nurture, and achieve your goals – all at a single global company. Find out more about life at Jacobs.

We aim to embed inclusion and belonging in everything we do. We know that if we are inclusive, we’re more connected and creative. We accept people for who they are, and we champion the richness of different perspectives, lived experiences and backgrounds in the workplace, as a source of learning and innovation. We are committed to building vibrant communities within Jacobs, including through our Jacobs Employee Networks, Communities of Practice and our Find Your Community initiatives, allowing every employee to find connection, purpose, and belonging.Find out more about ourJacobs Employee Networks here.

Jacobs partners with VERCIDA to help us attract and retain talent from a wide range of backgrounds. For greater online accessibility please visit https//www.vercida.com/uk/employers/jacobs to view and access our roles.

As a disability confident employer, we will interview disabled candidates who best meet the criteria. We welcome applications from candidates who are seeking flexible working and from those who may not meet all the listed requirements for a role.

We value collaboration and believe that in‑person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.

Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support.