Senior Civils Engineer

Nuclear Restoration Services; West Kilbride; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Nuclear Restoration Services invites applications for a Senior Civil Engineer within Systems Engineering to own and manage civil assets at a decommissioning site, ensuring safety, reliability, and regulatory compliance.

You will lead engineering strategies, assess asset condition, liaise with maintenance and projects, and drive improvements across multi‑disciplinary teams while supporting investment planning and infrastructure upgrades.

Qualifications

• A minimum HNC (or equivalent) in engineering, ideally supported by a degree in a relevant discipline
• Proven experience in a civil engineering role within highly regulated environments or major projects
• Understanding of plant operations, maintenance, and system performance management, ideally within nuclear or similar regulated industries
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence, mentor, and contribute across multi‑disciplinary teams

Responsibilities

• Owning and developing engineering strategies for assigned systems and infrastructure to ensure long‑term performance and safety
• Monitoring, analysing, and improving system performance through data, inspections, and walkdowns
• Leading or supporting maintenance planning, modifications, and technical documentation
• Investigating events and applying operational learning to continuously improve plant reliability
• Ensuring compliance with nuclear site licence conditions, regulatory expectations, engineering standards, and company procedures

Skills

Asset management

Stakeholder collaboration

Technical leadership

Plant operations knowledge

Education

HNC in engineering

Relevant degree

Job description

Are you ready to take ownership of critical plant systems on a site that’s driving forward one of the UK’s most important decommissioning programmes? Do you want to apply your civil engineering expertise in an environment where legacy infrastructure meets modern, purpose‑built facilities giving you a uniquely varied and rewarding technical challenge?

At Hunterston A, you’ll be joining a highly skilled Systems Engineering team at the heart of ensuring plant safety, performance, and longevity. From ageing facilities repurposed for decommissioning to new waste processing facilities, you’ll play a vital role in maintaining and improving systems and infrastructure that are essential to safe operations. This is an opportunity to influence real outcomes while working alongside experienced, multi‑disciplinary engineers in a collaborative and supportive environment.

What Will You Be Doing

As a Senior Civil Engineer within Systems Engineering, you’ll act as the technical authority for a portfolio of civil assets and infrastructure across the site, ensuring they are maintained, inspected, and managed in accordance with regulatory requirements, engineering standards, and long‑term asset management strategies.

You will be responsible for assessing asset condition, identifying risks and deterioration mechanisms, developing inspection and maintenance programmes, and specifying engineering solutions that maintain asset integrity and support operational objectives.

Working closely with maintenance, projects, and contractors, you’ll provide technical guidance on civil engineering matters while supporting investment planning, modifications, and infrastructure improvements.

• Owning and developing engineering strategies for assigned systems and infrastructure to ensure long‑term performance and safety
• Monitoring, analysing, and improving system performance through data, inspections, and walkdowns
• Leading or supporting maintenance planning, modifications, and technical documentation
• Investigating events and applying operational learning to continuously improve plant reliability
• Ensuring compliance with nuclear site licence conditions, regulatory expectations, engineering standards, and company procedures

Who Are We Looking For

You’re a capable and motivated Civil Engineer with a strong background in infrastructure and structural asset management within industrial, energy, utilities, petrochemical, nuclear, or other highly regulated environments or major project delivery.

You are comfortable taking ownership of engineering issues, providing technical leadership, and making informed decisions that balance safety, operational requirements, and asset lifecycle considerations. You have experience managing ageing infrastructure and understand the importance of robust inspection, maintenance, and asset management practices.

You are a strong communicator who can work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders, including operational teams, project managers, maintenance personnel, contractors, and regulators.

Whether it’s interpreting safety cases, supporting maintenance strategies, or guiding less experienced engineers, you bring both technical credibility and a supportive, team‑focused approach. For those still developing, there is genuine opportunity to grow into this role with structured support and progression.

• A minimum HNC (or equivalent) in engineering, ideally supported by a degree in a relevant discipline
• Proven experience in a civil engineering role within highly regulated environments or major projects.
• Understanding of plant operations, maintenance, and system performance management, ideally within nuclear or similar regulated industries
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence, mentor, and contribute across multi‑disciplinary teams

We offer a wide range of benefits - discover them all on our Careers website.

To learn more about NRS and the work we do, we invite you to explore our organisation by visiting Nuclear Restoration Services - GOV.UK. It’s a great way to discover our mission, our people, and the impact we deliver.

Please note: All successful candidates will need to provide proof of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment/education history (typically covering the last 3–5 years) in line with NRS Baseline Security requirements. Some roles may also require full Security Clearance, which involves additional checks. For details, please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) guidance.

At NRS, we value diversity and inclusion and encourage applications from underrepresented groups. We want to ensure you feel supported throughout the application process and provide reasonable adjustments where necessary and requested. If you require any reasonable adjustments as part of your application or interview process, please do not hesitate to let us know.

We offer flexibility on base location for multi‑site roles and are happy to discuss flexible working options.

Please note that this vacancy may close earlier than the stated deadline should we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.