Portfolio Engineering Lead

MWH Treatment; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

MWH Treatment in the United Kingdom is seeking a Programme / Portfolio Engineering Lead to provide strategic engineering leadership across the Anglian Water Major Projects portfolio. You will set the engineering direction, drive innovation, and lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver landmark water infrastructure projects from concept through handover.

Reporting to the Divisional Engineering Lead, you will collaborate with clients, JV partners and senior stakeholders to translate complex

Qualifications

• Extensive leadership and client delivery experience.
• Experience leading geographically dispersed water/wastewater design-build teams.
• Delivery-focused leader who can set targets, budgets and motivate design teams.
• Strong planning, coordination, stakeholder-management and project control.
• Background as Engineering Manager, Design Manager or Operational Manager on design-and-build projects.
• Calm direction and support for teams under delivery pressure.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering strategy across a portfolio of major projects.
• Drive technical excellence, governance and continuous improvement.
• Build and lead high-performing engineering teams with clear accountability.
• Ensure robust resource planning and programme resilience to support delivery.
• Oversee engineering performance across cost, quality, programme, risk and compliance.
• Represent engineering at client and leadership forums with stakeholders.
• Champion innovative, commercially effective solutions delivering client value.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Multidisciplinary teams

Water/wastewater design-build

Strategic planning

Education

Chartered Engineer (CEng) or equivalent

Job description

Are you ready to shape the future of major infrastructure delivery?

We're seeking an experienced Programme / Portfolio Engineering Lead to provide strategic engineering leadership across our Anglian Water Major Projects portfolio. This is a highly influential role where you'll set the engineering direction, drive innovation, and lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver some of the region's most significant water infrastructure projects.

Reporting to the Divisional Engineering Lead, you'll act as the engineering focal point for the programme, ensuring projects are delivered safely, efficiently, and to the highest technical standards from concept through to handover. You'll work closely with clients, JV partners, project teams, and senior stakeholders to turn complex challenges into practical, sustainable solutions.

What you’ll be doing

• Leading the engineering strategy across a portfolio of major projects.
• Driving technical excellence, innovation, governance, and continuous improvement.
• Building and leading high-performing engineering teams with clear accountability and delivery focus.
• Ensuring robust resource planning and programme resilience to support successful delivery.
• Overseeing engineering performance across cost, quality, programme, risk, and compliance.
• Representing engineering at senior client and leadership forums, building trusted relationships with key stakeholders.
• Championing innovative, commercially effective solutions that deliver value for both our clients and the wider business.

Essential

• Widely recognised engineering professional with substantial leadership, client, commercial and multi-team delivery experience.
• Experience managing geographically dispersed engineering teams across multidisciplinary water and wastewater design-and-build schemes.
• Delivery-driven leader able to set targets, manage budgets and motivate design teams to achieve time, cost and quality objectives.
• Strong planning, coordination, stakeholder-management and project-control capability.
• Expert knowledge gained as an Engineering Manager, Design Manager or technically focused Operational Manager on design-and-build projects.
• Able to provide calm direction, improve consistency and support teams through delivery pressure.

Desirable

• Chartered status, or equivalent professional standing.

About you

You’ll be a confident and credible engineering leader, comfortable operating at a senior level with clients, stakeholders, and multidisciplinary teams. You'll bring the ability to influence, challenge constructively, and make informed decisions that drive successful project outcomes.

This is an exciting opportunity to take a leading role in a major framework, helping to shape engineering delivery, foster innovation, and leave a lasting impact on the future of water infrastructure in the UK.

Interested in finding out more? Contact me for a confidential discussion about this exciting opportunity and the chance to join our growing team delivering industry-leading projects