Lead Structural Engineer

Skilled Careers; Hemel Hempstead; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Autonomy to develop your own area

Flexible location

Opportunity to build own team

Clear path to ownership

Job summary

Skilled Careers is seeking an experienced Associate Director / Technical Director to join a leading structural engineering consultancy. You will join the leadership team, shaping technical direction, client development and the creation of a new business unit within an established platform.

The role offers flexibility around location, autonomy to build your own team and a clear progression towards ownership for the right candidate, supported by a strong client base and seasoned leadership.

Qualifications

• Significant experience within structural engineering consultancy.
• Strong technical credibility and leadership capability.
• Experience at Associate Director/Technical Director or Director level.
• Established network of industry contacts and clients.
• Commercial mindset with ability to grow a business and client base.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior technical leadership across structural engineering projects.
• Lead delivery of complex, high-profile projects.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with existing and prospective clients.
• Represent the consultancy in the market as a senior ambassador.
• Identify new business opportunities and develop long-term client relationships.
• Mentor engineers and develop the next generation of leaders.
• Contribute to strategic and commercial development of the business.
• Support growth into new markets and geographies.

Skills

Leadership

Client relationships

Commercial mindset

Entrepreneurial

Job description

Associate Director / Technical Director – Future Business Unit Leader

The Opportunity

We are working with an established and highly respected structural engineering consultancy that is entering an exciting new chapter in its growth and succession journey.

The business has built an excellent reputation for technical quality, trusted client relationships and the delivery of high-profile structural engineering projects. As part of its longer-term succession strategy, it is now looking to appoint an experienced Associate Director / Technical Director who has the ambition and commercial mindset to play a significant role in the future direction of the business.

Initially, you will join the existing leadership team, working alongside the current directors to understand the business, its clients, people and culture. This will provide you with the opportunity to establish yourself within the consultancy and build a strong understanding of what has made the business successful.

For the right individual, the opportunity can then develop significantly.

The Longer-Term Opportunity

There is a genuine opportunity to progress from Associate Director / Technical Director into a Business Unit Leader, with the autonomy to build and lead a new area of the business around your own strengths, network and ambitions.

The business is open-minded about how this develops. There is flexibility around:

• Location
• Market sectors
• Project types and areas of technical specialism
• Team structure and growth
• The clients and markets you develop
• The strategic direction of your business unit

You will have the backing, reputation, infrastructure and resources of an established consultancy, while having the autonomy and entrepreneurial freedom to build something of your own.

This is therefore more than a conventional senior engineering appointment. It is an opportunity for someone who wants to combine technical leadership, client development, commercial responsibility and business ownership.

Key Responsibilities

As Associate Director / Technical Director, you will initially work closely with the existing leadership team and take responsibility for a combination of technical, project, client and commercial activities.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing senior technical leadership across structural engineering projects.
• Leading and overseeing the delivery of complex and technically challenging projects.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with existing and prospective clients.
• Acting as a senior representative of the consultancy within the market.
• Identifying new business opportunities and developing them into long-term client relationships.
• Supporting and mentoring engineers and developing the next generation of technical leaders.
• Contributing to the strategic and commercial development of the wider business.
• Helping to identify opportunities for growth in existing and new markets.
• Working collaboratively with the existing directors and wider leadership team.
• Maintaining the high technical and professional standards for which the consultancy is known.

As the opportunity develops, you will have the scope to take increasing responsibility for your own business unit, including its strategy, client base, project pipeline, recruitment and team development.

Building Your Own Business Unit

For an individual with the ambition to take the opportunity further, the longer‑term objective is to establish and lead a new business unit within the consultancy.

You will have the freedom to develop a proposition that reflects your own experience, relationships and understanding of the market.

This could involve:

• Building a team around an established client network.
• Developing a new sector or geographical market.
• Expanding an existing area of technical expertise.
• Developing new client relationships and revenue streams.
• Recruiting and mentoring your own team.
• Establishing the strategy and identity of your business unit.
• Taking responsibility for its commercial performance and growth.
• Working with the wider leadership team to shape the future of the consultancy.

The expectation is not simply that you will manage an existing team. You will have the opportunity to build something, backed by an established platform.

Succession & Ownership

A particularly important aspect of this opportunity is the consultancy's longer‑term succession plan.

The founding partners are looking to gradually transition ownership and leadership of the business to the next generation.

For the right person, this creates a potential pathway:

The precise structure and timing will depend on the individual and the development of the business, but there is a genuine intention to create a pathway towards ownership for people who demonstrate the leadership, commercial performance and entrepreneurial drive to take the business forward.

This makes the role particularly suited to someone who may have reached a point in their career where becoming a future business owner is a genuine ambition, but who does not want to start from scratch.

About You

We are looking for an experienced structural engineer and business leader who combines strong technical credibility with a genuine appetite for growth and entrepreneurship.

You are likely to have:

• Significant experience within structural engineering consultancy.
• A strong technical background and professional credibility.
• Experience operating at Associate Director, Technical Director, Director or equivalent level.
• An established network of industry contacts and clients.
• A demonstrable ability to develop and maintain client relationships.
• A commercial mindset and understanding of how engineering businesses grow.
• Experience winning work and developing a sustainable project pipeline.
• Leadership and mentoring experience.
• The ability to build, motivate and develop high‑performing teams.
• Strong communication and relationship‑building skills.
• The confidence to operate at senior level with clients and stakeholders.
• An entrepreneurial outlook and desire to build something of your own.

Most importantly, you will be someone who wants to build.

You may already have a strong client network, a particular sector specialism, a geographic market you want to develop or simply the ambition to create and lead a business within an established consultancy.

What’s on Offer

This opportunity offers a combination that is rarely available within the structural engineering market:

• A senior position within an established and highly respected consultancy.
• The support and resources of an existing business.
• Significant autonomy to develop your own area of the business.
• Flexibility around location, sectors and market focus.
• The opportunity to build your own team and client base.
• Direct involvement in the strategic development of the wider consultancy.
• A genuine route into business unit leadership.
• A longer‑term pathway towards ownership and succession.
• The opportunity to build significant personal and commercial value within an established platform.

The Ideal Candidate

This role will suit someone who has reached a point in their career where technical delivery alone is no longer enough.

You may be an experienced Associate Director or Technical Director who has developed a strong client following and is looking for the opportunity to take greater ownership.

Alternatively, you may already be operating at Director level and be looking for a route towards equity and eventual ownership without the risks and infrastructure challenges associated with starting a consultancy from scratch.

What matters most is your ambition, relationships, commercial mindset and desire to build.

If you have the network and capability to generate work, the leadership skills to build a team and the ambition to ultimately own and lead a business, this represents an opportunity to shape the next chapter of an already successful consultancy.