Senior Contracts Engineer

Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering; Leiston; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car or car allowance

25 days annual leave + bank holidays

Pension savings schemes

Enhanced maternity/paternity andfamily

Refer and Earn scheme

Discretionary annual salary reviews

Job summary

Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering in Leiston, Suffolk, seeks a Senior Contracts Engineer to lead multiple ground engineering work fronts, ensuring safety, quality, contract performance and programme outcomes. You will drive NEC4 compliance, mentor engineers and manage stakeholders across the project.

The role requires proven senior leadership, Civil/Geotechnical expertise, and strong contract management with a focus on delivery, value, and risk reduction in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Degree in Civil/Geotechnical Engineering or related discipline.
• IEng/CEng accreditation would be desirable.
• CSCS card and related training advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical and site operations for ground engineering works.
• Coordinate resources and drive timely close-out of non-conformities.
• Provide safety leadership and lead incident investigations.
• Develop procurement plans and manage subcontractor performance.
• Own QA planning for D-Wall and soil mixing scopes; ensure ITP coverage.

Skills

Senior leadership

Contract management

Stakeholder management

Commercial awareness

Issue resolution

Education

Civil/Geotechnical Engineering degree

IEng/CEng desirable

Tools

P6

MS Project

AutoCAD

Excel

Job description

About The Role

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Senior Contracts Engineer to join our Ground Engineering team based in Leiston, Suffolk.

Role purpose: Lead multiple work fronts of ground engineering works, achieving safety, quality, contract performance and programme outcomes; drive commercial value and NEC4 compliance; mentor engineers and manage stakeholders.

What you'll be doing

• Lead technical and site operations for ground engineering works, ensuring compliance with specifications, drawings, ITPs, RAMS, permits, and project requirements;
• Coordinate resources across work fronts, resolve technical issues, and drive timely close‑out of non‑conformities;
• Provide visible safety leadership, lead incident investigations and root‑cause analysis, and identify recurring safety trends;
• Set, approve, and audit site briefing content and records, including briefings for clients, stakeholders, and site teams;
• Develop workface procurement plans, support hire versus buy decisions, and manage subcontractor performance, variations, and delivery expectations;
• Own quality assurance planning for D‑Wall and soil mixing scopes, ensuring ITP coverage, hold points, NCR close‑out, and data‑driven reporting;
• Monitor productivity across wall panels and soil mixing activities, benchmark performance, remove constraints, and lead weekly productivity reviews;
• Own detailed programme sequencing, manage float, run critical path checks, lead delay analysis, and agree recovery plans with the Project Manager;
• Support commercial management through preparation of early warnings, NCEs, compensation events, cost/value tracking, forecasting, and earned value reporting;
• Ensure compliance with NEC4 Option 4 Alliance contract requirements, including change documentation, responses, obligations, and programme acceptance updates;
• Coach, mentor, and manage engineers, including performance management, difficult conversations, and strong stakeholder engagement across support teams;
• Maintain a proactive, flexible, and solution‑focused approach, supporting multidisciplinary project needs and working rotational weekend or night shifts where required.

Who we're looking for

• Experience in senior leadership of construction work fronts, ideally within ground engineering or major infrastructure environments;
• A degree in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, or a related discipline;
• Professional accreditation such as IEng or CEng would be desirable;
• A valid CSCS card, with SMSTS, AP, incident investigation, or NEC4 training considered advantageous;
• Strong technical understanding of D‑Wall, soil mixing, grouting, de‑risking, and rapid issue resolution;
• Proven ability to manage programmes, critical paths, delay analysis, float, and recovery planning;
• Commercial and contractual awareness, including experience supporting compensation events, forecasting, and NEC4 processes;
• Confident user of project tools and systems, including P6, MS Project, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, AutoCAD, and Cemar;
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to challenge constructively and communicate effectively;
• A calm, decisive, fair, and proactive approach, with the ability to lead teams and resolve issues in a fast‑paced project environment.

Benefits

• An attractive/negotiated salary;
• Company car or car allowance;
• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays;
• Pension savings schemes;
• Enhanced maternity/paternity and family friendly policies;
• Access to our Refer and Earn scheme;
• Discretionary annual salary reviews.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long‑term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role.