Principal Geotechnical Engineer

Sweco UK Ltd; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible/hybrid work

Pension contribution

Life Assurance

Private medical insurance

Company car/allowance

Discretionary annual bonus

Professional subscriptions

25 days leave + bank holidays

Cycle2Work

Employee discounts

EV Salary Sacrifice

Tree planting initiative

Job summary

Sweco UK Ltd is seeking a Principal Geotechnical Engineer to join the Ground Engineering team in Leeds. The role supports a diverse UK portfolio with flexible/hybrid working and a minimum of three days in the office.

You will lead design, tender, and project delivery activities across highways, water, energy and development sectors. You will work with a skilled team delivering feasibility studies, ground investigations, design, and construction supervision, with emphasis on quality, safety and

Qualifications

• MEng in Civil Engineering or MSc in Engineering Geology/Geotechnical Engineering.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) or Geologist (CGeol) status.

Responsibilities

• Input to the Project Management Plan and deliverables.
• Support tender documentation and post-tender negotiations.

Skills

Project management

Interpersonal skills

UK geotechnical consultancy

Design, contract & tender

MS Project / Word / Excel

AutoCAD

prioritisation

problem solving

mentoring/learning others

Education

MEng Civil Engineering

MSc Engineering Geology/Geotechnical Eng

Chartered Engineer (CEng) or Geologist (CGeol)

Tools

MS Project

Word

Excel

AutoCAD

Geotechnical design software

Job description

Society is in your hands, what are you waiting for?

We are currently looking for talented and motivated Principal Geotechnical Engineer to join our Ground Engineering team. This role can be based at our Leeds office and can be worked flexibly with a minimum of 3 days per week in the office/on site and the option of adjusted start and finish times.

What does the role involve?

In this role, you’ll be an active member of the Ground Engineering team helping to deliver a diverse portfolio of projects across the UK for a range of market sectors including highways, water, energy and development. The Ground Engineering team provide a wide range of geotechnical design services across all project stages including feasibility studies, ground investigations, geotechnical interpretation, preliminary and detailed design, and construction supervision for geotechnical works.

Sweco offer diverse experience for their engineers including projects spanning various industry sectors, as well varied geotechnical activities included ground investigation specification and management, earthworks and structures designs, and construction stage support.

You will be joining a very experienced and enthusiastic team that have recently supported the British Antarctic Survey’s £100M Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation Programme and delivered the detailed geotechnical design for prominent projects such as the £790m Queensferry Crossing, Stockholm Metro Extension, A47 improvement programme and Beauly HDVC Convertor Station.

This is an exciting time to join Sweco and if you want to be part of a company who is small in all the best ways but large enough to provide a diverse and exciting workload, this job is for you.

Responsibilities include:

Business Opportunity

• Input to technical elements of Project Management Plan.

Tender

• Support the preparation of the Scope of Services (Proposal) documents including any post-tender negotiations.
• Support the creation of the tender.

Project Start-up

• Assist the Project Manager in clarifying the project brief, agree deliverables, key milestones, project methodology, quality assurance, and control strategy.
• Input to technical elements of the Project Management Plan.
• Finalise project checking and approval arrangements.
• Attend internal project start-up meeting.

Project Delivery

• Review and validate design inputs; submit RFI requests via the Project Manager.
• Produce design deliverables (including calculations, drawings, sketches, reports, etc.) to achieve the optimum engineering solution for the project.
• Implement and manage project checking and approval arrangements.
• Assess, document, and communicate design changes to the Project Manager.
• Participate in technical reviews (this may involve chairing the review meeting).
• Check design outputs before submission to the PM/TA for approval.
• Attend internal project review meetings.

Project Close-out

• Attend ‘close out meeting’ with the client.
• Recommend/implement improvements to technical policy, processes, and design solutions and share via the knowledge management channels as appropriate.

To be successful in this role, you’ll have:

• Have knowledge and/or experience of the management of projects, both financially and technically.
• Excellent interpersonal / team working skills, with a good working relationship with all levels of the organisation, clients and contractors.
• A proven track record of working in geotechnical consultancy in the UK.
• Have appropriate experience in design, contract and tender preparation, tender assessment, construction supervision and administration.
• Familiarity with relevant software packages such as MS Project, Word, Excel, AutoCAD and geotechnical design software etc.
• The ability to organise and prioritise workload to ensure that timescales are met.
• Good problem solving/contingency planning skills with ability to find quick, innovative and practical engineering solutions.
• Responsibility for your own personal development and be able to support the learning of others.

In terms of qualifications, you’ll have:

• A MEng in Civil Engineering or MSc in Engineering Geology or Geotechnical Engineering.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) / Geologist (CGeol) status.

You’ll experience a diverse, inclusive, friendly and flexible working environment where colleagues are encouraged to grow and develop. A meaningful job where you’ll help to transform society by being a trusted consultant to our clients.

If you believe you have the skill set required, are keen to join a business with genuine opportunities for career progression, then we’d love to hear from you.

Let’s transform society together at Sweco.

Employee Benefits

• Flexible and hybrid working (Flexworks Policy)
• Competitive pension contribution
• Life Assurance
• Private Medical Insurance
• Company car or car allowance
• Discretionary Annual Bonus Scheme
• Payment of two relevant professional subscriptions
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (with the option to purchase up to 5 additional days per year)
• Cycle2Work SchemeEmployee Assistance Programme (wellbeing, mental health, financial and work advice)
• Employee discounts via Sweco Benefit Select (Faircare)
• Salary Sacrifice Electric Vehicle Scheme
• We plant a tree for all new starters!

About Us

Transforming society together, we're planning and designing sustainable communities and cities of the future.

Solving the great societal challenges of our time is more relevant, demanding and inspiring than ever before. At Sweco, we bring together experts with different perspectives and skills to develop solutions that address the challenges of urbanisation, harness the positive power of digitalisation and make societies more sustainable.

We offer our clients a combination of global expertise and local presence, adapted to their business and reality. Our ambition is to be our clients’ most relevant partner, working together to help them solve their challenges, today and into the future.

Sweco is committed to enabling all its colleagues to achieve a great balance between work and their other priorities, such as caring responsibilities, leisure activities, further learning or other interests. We offer flexible start and finish times, part time and hybrid working options so that you can flex your hours around your day to day needs.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

It’s important to us that that all our colleagues thrive at work - we strive to have a friendly and inclusive culture which respects the contribution individuals can bring to Sweco. We aim to promote equality, inclusivity and diversity for everyone.

Here at Sweco we positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy or maternity/paternity.

We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant to ensure those who serve or have served, and their families, are treated fairly. To find out more The Armed Forces Covenant - Our Commitments | Sweco UK.

We are an accredited Real Living Wage Employer which reflects our commitment to fair pay and support for all colleagues.

We are also proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer, and will interview applicants covered by the Equality Act 2010 that opt into the guaranteed interview scheme on the application form and meet the minimum criteria for the role.

If I have a disability, can I get help (e.g. "reasonable adjustments") with the application process?

If you’re an applicant with a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability or unable to use the online application system and need an alternative method for applying, please contact [e-mail] for assistance.

In order to address your request the following information is needed:

• Name
• The best method for contacting you (Phone or email)
• The position title
• Requisition/vacancy number

Upon receipt of this information, we’ll respond to you promptly to obtain more information about your request.

Please note: we reserve the right to close vacancies before the advertised closing date.

Sweco UK&I have an internal resourcing team who are responsible for all recruiting activity. We have a Preferred Supplier List of trusted agencies who we work with on those “hard to fill” roles.

We have defined processes for recruitment applications and it is company policy not to accept speculative CVs. Any speculative CVs received into the business (whether to a manager or member of the resourcing team) will become the property of Sweco and the agency will not be eligible for an introductory fee.

Our Preferred Supplier List was reviewed in November 2025 and we are not looking to add any additional agencies. We’ll be reviewing the PSL again at the end of 2026 and non-compliance with the above statements could be detrimental to you having the opportunity to be included.

Our Talent Community for experienced professionals is a great way to keep up to date with our latest news, insights, future vacancies, as well as gaining access to exclusive events hosted by our experts.

To learn more Join Our Talent Community - Sweco United Kingdom