Principal Engineer (Mechanical & Electrical Assets)

Canal & River Trust; Birmingham; Remote; GBP 56,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Car Cash Allowance (£425 per month)

Competitive pension scheme

Increasing holiday entitlement

Employee benefits

Job summary

Canal & River Trust in the United Kingdom is seeking a Principal M&E Engineer to provide strategic leadership across mechanical and electrical disciplines, ensuring risk-based maintenance and compliance with national standards. You will guide asset data, governance, and major renewals, while collaborating with senior stakeholders to shape MEICA delivery across the network.

Based at home with national travel to hubs and sites, you will lead a growing team and champion safety, sustainability,

Qualifications

• Qualified Chartered Electrical or Mechanical Engineer with strong technical background.
• Experience delivering complex MEICA engineering activities.
• Experience inspecting and delivering MEICA engineering works.
• Experience assessing MEICA infrastructure risk.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing MEICA team (headcount 35, growing).
• Act as Authorising Engineer / Senior Authorized Person ensuring safety procedures.
• Provide technical governance and assurance across MEICA activities and investment programmes.
• Translate inspection outputs and asset data into risk-based prioritisation for renewals and upgrades.
• Oversee asset data integrity across CMMS and systems for informed decisions.
• Develop technical standards, specifications, and engineering policies.
• Review engineering designs and contractor outputs for compliance and value.
• Engage senior stakeholders with clear, evidence-based recommendations.
• Champion safety, inclusion, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Lead and develop MEICA engineering and maintenance teams.

Skills

Chartered Eng

Electrical/Mechanical Eng

Inspection experience

Risk assessment

Governance & compliance

Health & safety

CPD

Technical communication

Leadership

Education

Degree or HND in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering

Membership of a relevant professional body (IET/IMechE)

Tools

CMMS

Job description

Join Our Team: Principal Mechanical & Electrical Engineer, national role.

Navigate your future and lock in your career as we keep our canals open and alive.

Our Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control & Automation (MEICA) function is critical to keeping the canal network safe, compliant, and operational. From locks and bridges to water control systems, our assets underpin the resilience and reliability of the waterways. Through intelligent asset management, data-led decision making, and engineering excellence, we ensure our infrastructure continues to serve communities now and into the future.

We are seeking a Principal M&E Engineer to take a leading role in managing infrastructure risk and helping to shape the strategic direction of MEICA asset management across the Trust.

This is a highly influential role, working in close partnership with senior stakeholders to ensure our assets are resilient, compliant, and fit for the future. As a Principal Engineer, you will:

• Provide strategic technical leadership across mechanical and electrical disciplines, acting as the Trust’s subject matter expert
• Lead the assessment and management of infrastructure risk, ensuring robust, data-driven investment and maintenance decisions.
• Oversee inspection and maintenance strategies, ensuring delivery aligns with national standards, regulatory frameworks, and asset management plans.
• Drive the technical assurance of designs, ensuring safe, efficient, and sustainable engineering outcomes.
• Influence and contribute to long-term asset strategy, capital programmes, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Partner with our Principal Engineers (ICA/SCADA and Projects) and senior leadership to shape and deliver the Trust’s MEICA engineering vision.

Working Hours & Travel

Although this is a home-based role, it is a national position requiring travel across our waterway network to manage both our M&E assets and teams.

Currently this is forecasted to be 1 - 2 days per week for site visits/meetings, with occasional overnight stays.

Our hub spaces for collaborative meetings are located at Birmingham, Burnley, Ellesmere Port, Gloucester, Hatton (Warwick), Leeds, Leighton Buzzard, London (Little Venice) and Newark.

This role is great for someone who enjoys variety, splitting time between home, our Trust Hubs and regular site visits, and who’s happy to work flexibly when needed, including the occasional early start, late finish or weekend.

Core hours: 37 hours, 5 days a week, work pattern.

You should be able to reasonably commute to one of the following hubs: Birmingham, Burnley, Ellesmere Port, Gloucester, Hatton (Warwick) Leeds, Leighton Buzzard, London (Little Venice) and Newark.

Role Overview

Join us as our Principal M&E Engineer and help shape our strategies, providing definitive expert advice on M&E Engineering risk, maintaining the Trusts M&E standards and regulations, and driving our maintenance and inspections program. You will assess outputs from inspections and make informed recommendations on the prioritisation of work required, taking account of risks, costs, time, resources, heritage, environment, and safety issues. The post holder will set the standards of how we assess, prioritise, and identify engineering solutions to support delivery through our internal M&E delivery teams and national framework contracts. Not only will you be managing work on our diverse portfolio of M&E assets, from our mechanised locks and bridges, pumping stations and water control structures, you would join us at a very exciting time for the team when we are planning future national M&E maintenance delivery contracts and looking to deliver more work internally.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing M&E team, including line management of Senior M&E Engineers. Team headcount of 35 but anticipated to grow over the coming years.
• Act as the Authorising Engineer / Senior Authorised Person, ensuring compliance with electrical and mechanical safety and operational procedures
• Provide expert technical governance and assurance across complex MEICA activities and investment programmes
• Translate inspection and asset data from our CMMS intorisk-based prioritisation, informing major renewals, upgrades, and strategic interventions
• Oversee the quality and integrity of asset data across CMMSand associated systems, supporting informed decision-making
• Develop technical standards, specifications, and engineering policies, driving consistency and best practice across the organisation
• Review and approve engineering designs, scope, and contractor outputs to ensure compliance and value for money
• Engage and influence senior stakeholders, providing clear, evidence-based recommendations
• Champion a culture of safety, inclusion, innovation, and continuous improvement
• Lead, motivate and develop our professional M&E Engineering and maintenance teams

About You

A qualified Chartered Electrical or Mechanical Engineer, (or working towards), with a strong technical background and substantial experience delivering complex M&E engineering activities. Brings proven expertise in inspection, maintenance, and infrastructure risk assessment, alongside a solid understanding of health and safety, governance, and compliance frameworks.

Confident communicating technical information to a range of audiences, combining analytical thinking with practical delivery. Also an effective leader with experience managing and developing teams, working collaboratively across functions, and balancing wider business priorities to achieve safe, high-quality outcomes.

Skills & Qualifications

Technical Skills

• Chartered Electrical or Mechanical Engineer (or equivalent), with membership of a relevant professional body (e.g. IET, IMechE)
• Degree or HND in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering (or similar technical discipline).
• Substantial post-incorporation experience delivering complex M&E engineering activities.
• Proven experience inspecting and delivering M&E engineering works.
• Experience assessing M&E infrastructure risk.
• Good understanding of health and safety requirements.
• Awareness of governance, financial controls, and compliance systems.
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development.
• Ability to communicate technical information clearly, including presenting data to non-technical audiences.

General Skills

• Experience line managing a range of M&E staff, including Senior M&E Engineers.
• Ability to support wider business priorities, negotiating resources as needed.
• Strong collaboration skills, working across teams effectively.
• Encourages and demonstrates organisational values and behaviours in day-to-day work.

What We Offer

• Annual base salary of £56,000 - £64,000 (depending on experience)
• Car Cash Allowance (£425 per month)
• Competitive pension scheme
• Increasing holiday entitlement
• Range of employee benefits

For a full breakdown of our benefits, check out our brochure here: EVP - 1.

Learn more: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/work-for-us/our-benefits

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