Principal Control and Instrumentation Engineer

Babcock International; Hessle; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Pension with life assurance

Digital GP and health checks

Employee share scheme

Employee shopping portal

Professional Fees paid

Job summary

Cavendish Nuclear is seeking a Principal Control and Instrumentation Engineer to provide technical leadership across safety‑critical projects. The role is based in Grimsby or Hessle, offering hybrid working patterns and some travel to other sites.

You will lead design, development, integration and assurance of C&I systems across complex programmes. You will coordinate multidisciplinary teams and act as the technical authority, ensuring compliance with IEC 61508/61511 and nuclear safety standards

Qualifications

• Experience leading control and instrumentation design in highly regulated industries.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams and managing complex interfaces.
• Strong understanding of functional safety and IEC 61508/IEC 61511.
• Experience across full lifecycle from concept to decommissioning.
• Expert knowledge of PLC, SCADA, DCS and field instrumentation technologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, integration and assurance of control and instrumentation systems on complex projects.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure seamless integration with mechanical, electrical, process, civil and safety requirements.
• Act as technical authority ensuring compliance with regulatory, quality and nuclear safety standards.
• Direct testing, commissioning and system acceptance to achieve safe, reliable operation.
• Engage with clients, regulators, suppliers and senior stakeholders to provide technical leadership.

Skills

PLC

SCADA

DCS

Instrumentation

Education

Degree in Electrical/Control/Instrumentation Engineering

Chartered Engineer status

SC security clearance

Job description

As a Principal Control and Instrumentation Engineer, you will provide technical leadership across complex, safety-critical engineering projects that support national defence, clean energy generation and vital infrastructure. This role is full time working 37 hours per week and can be based at our Grimsby office in North East Lincolnshire or our Hessle office in Hull. Hybrid working patterns are available, and occasional travel to other business and customer sites may be required. Day-to-day, you'll be required to:

• Leading the design, development, integration and assurance of control and instrumentation systems across complex engineering projects.
• Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to ensure seamless integration with mechanical, electrical, process, civil and safety requirements.
• Acting as the technical authority for engineering deliverables, ensuring compliance with regulatory, quality and nuclear safety standards.
• Directing testing, commissioning and system acceptance activities to achieve safe, reliable and compliant operational performance.
• Engaging with clients, regulators, suppliers and senior stakeholders to provide technical leadership and support successful project delivery.

Essential experience of the Principal Control and Instrumentation Engineer

• Experience leading the design and delivery of control and instrumentation systems within nuclear, defence, energy, process or other highly regulated industries.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary engineering teams and managing complex technical interfaces.
• Strong understanding of functional safety, safety cases and relevant industry standards including IEC 61508 and IEC 61511.
• Experience managing the full engineering lifecycle from concept and design through to commissioning, operation and decommissioning.
• Expert knowledge of programmable logic controllers, supervisory control and data acquisition systems, distributed control systems and field instrumentation technologies.

Qualifications for the Principal Control and Instrumentation Engineer

At Cavendish Nuclear we're working to create a safe and secure world, together. If you join us, you can play your part as a Principal Control and Instrumentation Engineer at our Grimsby office or Hessle office, near Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Control Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering or a related discipline.
• Chartered Engineer status with a recognised professional institution, or the ability to achieve Chartered status.
• The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.

What we offer

• Generous holiday allowance
• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee share scheme
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
• Holiday Trading is a benefit that allows UK Cavendish employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement. This Window opens February through to March annually.
• 'Be Kind Day' enables employees to take one working day's paid leave a year (or equivalent hours) to undertake volunteering work with their chosen organisation or registered charity
• Excellent development opportunities and benefits package including an employee assistance programme supporting physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

Cavendish We're Cavendish Nuclear - a team of c5,000 specialists and a core part of Babcock International Group. Here, you'll be part of something bigger. Across clean energy, defence, and civil decommissioning, your work will contribute to projects that are critical to energy security and national protection. Together, we're shaping a future that lasts - not only through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.