Principal Civils Engineer

Kier Group; Clifton Hampden; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Kier is seeking a Principal Civils Engineer to join the STEP Design Authority team. The role is based at West Burton / Culham with programme travel, and involves embedding within the STEP Prototype Plant design authority to shape civil and structural design for a first‑of‑its‑kind energy facility.

You will lead civil and structural design activities, govern design outputs, and ensure integration across buildings, groundworks and site infrastructure while supporting safety and regulatory

Qualifications

• Degree-level qualification in civil/structural engineering and Chartered Engineer.
• Experience in safety-critical or highly regulated environments.
• Experience as technical authority/ Design Authority or independent assessor.
• Strong systems integration across buildings, structures, groundworks, infrastructure and interfaces.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the civil plant design vision, engineering principles and design basis.
• Act as the technical authority for review and acceptance of civil and structural outputs.
• Ensure design integrity and integration between buildings, civil structures and infrastructure.
• Establish governance, standards, review arrangements and design controls.
• Support safety case development, regulatory scrutiny and construction readiness.

Skills

Technical authority

Design Authority

Systems integration

Regulatory awareness

Engineering judgement

Education

Degree in civil/structural engineering

Job description

We're looking for a Principal Civils Engineer to join our STEP Design Authority team based in West Burton / Culham, with programme travel.

Location: West Burton / Culham, with programme travel
Hours: Full time - some flexibility on hours available if desired, just let us know when you speak to us.

We are unable to offer certificates of sponsorship to any candidates in this role.

Join ILIOS, the Construction Partner for the UK's world-leading STEP fusion programme. As Principal Civils Engineer, you'll be fully embedded within the STEP Design Authority, bringing authoritative civil and structural engineering judgement to design and build a prototype fusion energy power plant. This is an exceptional opportunity to shape the future of clean energy infrastructure, working at the forefront of a first-of-a-kind engineering programme that will define and integrate civil and structural design for buildings, infrastructure and facilities across the STEP site.

What will you be responsible for?

As a Principal Civils Engineer, you'll be working within the STEP Design Authority team, supporting them in defining, integrating and assuring the design of buildings, civil structures, groundworks and site-wide infrastructure for the STEP Prototype Plant. Your day to day will include:

• Defining and maintaining the civil plant design vision, engineering principles and controlled civil design basis
• Acting as the technical authority for review and acceptance of civil and structural design outputs, exercising independent engineering judgement
• Ensuring design integrity and integration between buildings, civil structures, fusion plant systems and external interfaces
• Establishing proportionate civil and structural engineering governance, standards, review arrangements and design controls
• Supporting safety case development, regulatory scrutiny and construction readiness through authoritative advice on civil and structural safety and compliance

What are we looking for?

This role of Principal Civils Engineer is great for you if:

• You hold a degree-level qualification in civil engineering, structural engineering or a closely related discipline, and are a Chartered Engineer with an appropriate professional institution
• You have significant civil and structural engineering leadership experience in complex, safety-critical or highly regulated environments
• You have proven experience operating as a technical authority, Design Authority specialist, intelligent-client engineer or independent assessor
• You possess strong systems-integration capability across buildings, structures, groundworks, infrastructure and multidisciplinary interfaces
• You have demonstrable knowledge of civil and structural design governance, verification, validation and technical review, with the ability to work effectively with immature design baselines and uncertainty while making robust engineering decisions

Rewards and benefits

We're proud to be able to offer our brilliant people a wide variety of benefits that you can tailor to your needs. You can see more information of benefits here.

Diversity and inclusion

Making Kier a diverse and inclusive place to work is a huge priority for us. We're proud of the steps we've taken so far, but we know we must always do more. Our employees are key in shaping Kier's diversity and inclusion initiatives and our people have made a huge impact on how we work, by using their experiences to shape our policies. You can see our D&I action plan here.

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this role will be offered an interview.

Due to the nature of this role, you will also be required to complete a BPSS Disclosure and Barring Service Check (applicantswith convictions will be treated on a case‑by‑case basis. We do not discriminate based on an applicant's conviction history or the details of any convictions disclosed to us). Some roles may also be subject to further pre‑employment checks.

We look forward to seeing your application to #joinkier.