Technical Director - Fire Life Safety

Calibre Search; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Calibre Search is seeking a Technical Director for Fire Life Safety in the UK, with flexible options for London, Manchester or Edinburgh and hybrid/remote work. You will act as the technical authority across a growing portfolio, guiding complex fire engineering projects and mentoring engineers within a multidisciplinary, international consultancy.

The role emphasizes credible technical leadership over sales targets, with strong governance, standards setting and collaborative interaction with

Qualifications

• Senior level in Fire Engineering / Fire Life Safety with leadership credibility.
• Chartered status is strongly preferred for this technical leadership role.
• Ability to mentor and develop engineers within a growing team.
• Proven track record delivering complex fire engineering in built environments.
• Experience leading technical design reviews and governance.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across a growing Fire Life Safety portfolio.
• Act as the senior technical authority on complex projects.
• Perform peer review, assurance and governance across engagements.
• Mentor engineers and shape regional UK capability.
• Collaborate with commercial leadership while focusing on technical excellence.

Skills

Senior leadership

Fire engineering

Technical authority

Client communication

Mentoring engineers

Governance

Technical standards

Education

Chartered engineer

Tools

CFD software

Surveys

Job description

Technical Director - Fire Life Safety

London, Manchester or Edinburgh considered | Hybrid / Remote flexibility

There are plenty of senior Fire Engineering roles that come with a Director title but ultimately expect you to spend most of your time selling.

This isn't one of them.

I'm working confidentially with a rapidly growing international engineering and specialist consultancy that is looking to appoint a Technical Director within its UK Fire Life Safety business.

This is a key leadership appointment, but the brief is refreshingly straightforward: they want a genuine technical expert. Someone who knows Fire Engineering inside out, who other Engineers naturally turn to when things get complicated, and who can provide the technical leadership behind a growing UK operation.

You’ll work alongside the senior commercial leadership of the business, but your focus will be different. While others concentrate on growth, clients and the commercial direction of the division, you’ll become the technical authority behind it.

The Business

This isn't a small consultancy trying to establish itself or a new venture without the resources to back up its ambitions.

The wider business is an established international consultancy operating across multiple global regions, delivering complex projects across the built environment, infrastructure and major development sectors.

Its work extends considerably beyond Fire Engineering, with specialist teams covering areas including building services, structures, façades, sustainability, environmental consultancy, acoustics, security, digital delivery, commissioning and strategic advisory.

That multidisciplinary capability is important here. The Fire Life Safety team isn't operating in isolation; there is access to specialists across the wider organisation and the opportunity to work as part of genuinely multidisciplinary project teams.

The consultancy has also built a strong reputation internationally for tackling technically challenging projects and combining specialist engineering with sustainability and performance-led design.

The UK is an important growth market for the business, and rather than simply replicating what has been built elsewhere, there is a genuine opportunity for senior people joining now to influence what the UK operation becomes.

That's where this appointment comes in.

What does the role actually involve?

You’ll provide technical leadership and oversight across a growing portfolio of Fire Life Safety projects, supporting both senior colleagues and a developing team of Engineers.

You’ll be the person people come to for technical guidance, complex design challenges, peer review and assurance. Someone capable of looking across projects and making sure the quality of the work remains where it needs to be as the business grows.

The work itself can span complex buildings and developments, with the wider Fire Life Safety capability covering areas including Fire Engineering, Fire Strategies, CFD, surveys, technical assurance and certification-related work.

There will naturally be client interaction at this level, but they're not looking for a salesperson disguised as a Technical Director.

They want someone who enjoys the technical side of the profession and still wants to be close enough to projects to make a difference.

You’ll have the freedom to influence technical standards, processes and ways of working, mentor and develop the Engineers around you, and help shape how the UK Fire Life Safety capability develops over the coming years.

A chance to build something

This is probably the most interesting part of the opportunity.

You’ll have the backing, resources, international project experience and multidisciplinary capability of a much larger consultancy, but the UK Fire Life Safety operation still has plenty of room to develop.

They’re therefore not looking for someone to simply slot into a rigid structure.

They want the Technical Director to have a genuine say in what the technical team looks like, how it operates and where it grows next.

London already has an established presence, while Manchester and Edinburgh are both genuine options for the right individual.

Edinburgh in particular could offer somebody the opportunity to become the senior technical figure around whom a new regional team is built.

If you’re based outside London, there’s also significant flexibility around hybrid and remote working while that regional presence develops.

What are they looking for?

You’ll already be operating at a senior level within Fire Engineering / Fire Life Safety and have the technical credibility to lead and challenge experienced professionals.

Chartered status would be strongly preferred, alongside substantial experience delivering complex Fire Engineering work within the built environment.

More importantly, you’ll need to be someone who can:

• Act as the senior technical authority across complex Fire Engineering projects.
• Provide technical assurance, review and governance.
• Support Engineers with complex design and delivery challenges.
• Develop and mentor a relatively young and growing team.
• Communicate confidently with clients, project teams and other technical disciplines.
• Help establish consistent technical standards as the UK business expands.
• Work collaboratively with the commercial leadership without needing to be the person constantly chasing the next fee.

You may already be a Technical Director, Director, Associate Director or experienced Principal Fire Engineer who feels ready to take on wider technical leadership. The title you're carrying now is less important than the credibility you have within the profession.

Why consider it?

Because it offers something slightly different at this level.

You don't have to arrive with a black book and a multimillion-pound sales target hanging over you.

Instead, you’ll be given the platform to become the go-to technical person within a growing UK Fire Life Safety business, backed by an established international consultancy with multidisciplinary expertise and the resources to genuinely build around you.

There's a team that needs leadership, a business prepared to invest around the right person and genuine scope to shape the role rather than inherit somebody else's version of it.

For somebody who has reached a senior level because they're exceptionally good technically - and would quite like to stay that way - it's a very interesting opportunity.

The search is being handled on a strictly confidential basis, so further details on the business, structure, package and growth plans can be discussed privately.

Calibre Search promote equality in the workplace and we welcome applications from all suitably skilled or qualified candidates regardless of their sex, race, disability, religion/beliefs, sexual orientation or age.