Principal Engineer - Cockermouth

Tetra Tech; Cockermouth; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Tetra Tech UK is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead technical delivery on national nuclear projects while progressing toward Chartered Engineer status. This role blends hands-on design with growing leadership responsibility within a regulated environment.

You will own technical work packages, produce calculations and designs, mentor junior engineers, and collaborate with project teams to ensure safety, quality and regulatory compliance across multidisciplinary streams.

Qualifications

• Degree in Civil or Structural engineering; Chartered status in progress preferred.
• Experience delivering engineering design in nuclear industry or similarly regulated sector.
• Active pursuit of Chartered Engineer status with ongoing professional development; eligible for UK security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Deliver engineering design and analysis across complex nuclear projects.
• Lead defined technical packages from concept to completion.
• Collaborate with project managers and multidisciplinary teams to manage technical risks.
• Contribute to safety cases, substantiation and design justification as required.
• Ensure compliance with nuclear regulatory expectations and quality standards.
• Provide guidance and technical oversight to junior engineers and technicians.

Skills

Technical leadership

Nuclear engineering

Mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Degree in Civil/Structural engineering

Job description

Are you an experienced engineer ready to take the next step into technical leadership? Tetra Tech is seeking a Principal Engineer to join our growing nuclear engineering team. This role combines hands‑on technical delivery with increasing leadership responsibility, offering the opportunity to work on nationally significant nuclear projects while developing your career towards Chartered Engineer status and beyond.

Purpose & Scope of the Role

As a Principal Engineer, you will deliver high-quality engineering design and analysis across nuclear projects, supporting work from early concept through to detailed design and implementation. You will take ownership of defined technical work packages, ensuring quality, coordination and delivery within programme expectations. The role combines technical design expertise with increasing responsibility for oversight, mentoring and collaboration within multidisciplinary project teams. Working in a highly regulated environment, you will ensure that designs meet nuclear, industry and statutory requirements while maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality and compliance.

Your Impact in this Position

In this role you will play a key part in delivering technically robust engineering solutions that support the safe operation and development of nuclear infrastructure. Your work will influence project outcomes through high-quality design, technical assurance and effective collaboration with project managers, engineers and clients. You will also contribute to strengthening team capability by supporting the development of junior engineers and promoting continuous improvement across technical processes and standards.

Technical Engineering Expertise

Deliver engineering design and analysis across complex nuclear projects

Produce and review calculations, drawings, reports and specifications to recognised standards

Apply sound engineering judgement within a highly regulated environment

Project Delivery & Coordination

Lead defined technical packages of work from concept to completion

Work closely with project managers to support programme delivery and manage technical risks

Collaborate effectively across disciplines and project teams

Nuclear Safety & Compliance

Contribute to safety cases, substantiation and design justification where required

Ensure compliance with nuclear regulatory expectations and quality standards

Maintain high standards of health, safety and security across all work activities

Technical Leadership & Mentoring

Provide guidance and technical oversight to junior engineers and technicians

Support the development of engineering capability within the team

Encourage knowledge sharing and best practice

Contribute to technical excellence through lessons learned and process improvement

Promote efficient and robust engineering approaches across projects

Support the ongoing development of nuclear engineering capability within the organisation

Qualifications, Experience & Skills

You will hold a degree in Civil, Structural or a related engineering discipline and have strong experience delivering engineering design within the nuclear industry or similarly regulated sectors. You will demonstrate the ability to take ownership of technical outputs and contribute to project delivery within complex engineering environments. Experience supporting safety cases or technical assurance is advantageous. You should also be actively working towards Chartered Engineer status with a recognised professional institution and committed to ongoing professional development.

This role supports hybrid working, with a combination of office collaboration, remote working and travel for client or site visits where required. Tetra Tech operates a flexible working environment designed to support work-life balance while maintaining close collaboration within project teams. The position will require eligibility to obtain and maintain UK security clearance, and a full UK driving licence may be required for certain site-based activities.

About Tetra Tech

Tetra Tech is a leading provider of consulting and engineering services working across the full project lifecycle worldwide.We have a wide rangeofexpertiseacross our teams, providing a global support network with a personalised approach to client relationships to better understand where we can add value.We provide a collaborative environment that supports individual performance, innovation, and creativity.

We support public and private sector clients on local, national, and international projects to deliver sustainable and resilient solutions. Our operations in the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands include more than 6,000 employees who areLeading with Science®to solve our clients’most complex problems.

In alignment with the Equality Act 2010, we will make reasonable adjustments to support candidates and employeesrequiringadditionalarrangements. This could include adaptations to work schedules, training approaches, or the physical workspace. Please inform us if you need any accommodations during the recruitment process or in your day-to-day role