Technical Director (Numerical Modelling)

COWI; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days holiday plus UK bank holidays

Private health care

Flexible working conditions

Annual promotion opportunities

Job summary

COWI is seeking a Technical Director (Geotechnical/Numerical Modelling) to join our team in the UK. You will lead on complex geotechnical engineering projects, utilizing advanced numerical modelling techniques to ensure successful project delivery.

The role involves collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and providing specialist technical oversight, while also nurturing junior engineers' growth within a supportive and innovative work culture. A hybrid working model is available, offering flexibility in your working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in geotechnical engineering projects.
• Ability to lead project teams effectively.
• Experience with advanced numerical modeling techniques.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate development of numerical models for soil-structure interaction.
• Provide technical oversight for major infrastructure projects.
• Ensure project delivery meets technical quality standards.

Skills

Leadership

Numerical Modelling

Geotechnical Design

Team Development

Communication

Education

Chartered Civil Engineer status (MICE or equivalent)

Tools

PLAXIS 2D/3D

Job description

Technical Director (Geotechnical/Numerical Modelling)

Locations: London, Glasgow, Derby, York, Bristol

Permanent – Office/Home Hybrid Working

Do you want to be a part of our senior Ground Engineering discipline? Can you lead on projects across a diverse team? Are you experienced in numerical modelling in geotechnical design? Then, this could be the next adventure in your career.

Create Solutions that will enable a better tomorrow

To further strengthen the discipline, we are looking for a Technical Director to join our Ground Engineering team. Working in the Geotechnical space on various infrastructure projects, you’ll be responsible for leading numerical modelling within our ground engineering projects.

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Coordinate the development, execution, and review of advanced numerical models for complex soil/rock–structure interaction problems using industry standard tools (primarily but not limited to PLAXIS 2D/3D).
• Design, validate, and optimise geotechnical FE models, ensuring that modelling assumptions, boundary conditions, constitutive soil models, and FE predictions are aligned with industry best practice guidance.
• Provide specialist technical oversight for soil/rock structure interaction assessment on major infrastructure projects (tunnels, deep excavations, foundations, retaining systems, offshore structures, etc).
• Integrate numerical modelling outputs into wider design processes, collaborating closely with civil and ground engineering teams.
• Prepare high‑quality technical reports that clearly communicate modelling approaches, assumptions, sensitivity analyses, and engineering implications to clients and stakeholders.
• Coordinate the delivery of your projects to time and budget, ensuring a high standard of technical quality and compliance with our internal management systems.
• Maintain and enhance client relationships through your project work, including identifying and realising any potential business opportunities.
• Assist with the preparation of bids and tenders and support the Directors in pursuing business development opportunities if required.
• Produce engineering design, assessment or checking work including preparation or checking of calculations, written reports, drawings, models and other contract deliverables.
• Support and guide junior engineers in numerical modelling techniques, good modelling practice, verification/validation processes, interpretation of complex outputs supporting the growth of technical excellence within the team.
• Contribute to innovation within the Ground Engineering discipline, including development of automation workflows, parametric modelling, scripting, and advanced visualisation of soil structure interaction behaviour.
• Act as the technical point of contact for numerical modelling in client and internal meetings, providing advice on modelling‑led design decisions.

Your skills. Our team. Together we design the future.

Like us, you believe that leadership success comes from setting a clear and meaningful direction for your team and supporting them in taking ownership of their work. You always delegate responsibility and ensure an open and safe dialogue, and you coach your people to achieve their aspirations through constructive, fact-based feedback. Attracting and nurturing a diverse group of high‑potential team members is at the top of your agenda, as is creating an inclusive, caring and trusting culture in your team.

On top of that, you’ll have:

• Hold Chartered Civil engineer status (MICE or equivalent)
• Experience working in the Geotechnical space of projects
• The ability to lead project teams and oversee the delivery of projects, either as client's or contractor's designer
• Accomplished team leader skills with the ability to support, mentor and develop less experienced engineers
• The interpersonal skills and aptitude to work collaboratively in a diverse multi-disciplinary team
• A technical background, able to demonstrate a deep understanding and enthusiasm for geotechnical engineering
• Solid grasp of geotechnical engineering design principles and their integration with numerical modelling outputs, demonstrating the ability to translate complex analyses into clear engineering recommendations.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, enabling effective collaboration in a diverse, multidisciplinary environment.
• A collaborative approach to problem‑solving, with a commitment to quality, rigour, and best‑practice modelling governance.

Benefits

We offer:

• 28 days’ holiday plus all UK bank and public holidays
• Formalised development plans and yearly promotion opportunities
• Private health care, for you and a contribution from you for your immediate dependents
• Flexible and hybrid working conditions
• Annual subscription fees paid for your membership of two Professional Institutions
• Group personal pension scheme – salary exchangeLife assurance
• Maternity Leave: 1–20 weeks full pay, 21–26 weeks half pay, 27–39 statutory (SMP) 40–52 weeks unpaid (eligibility criteria will apply)
• Paternity Leave: 12 weeks full pay (eligibility criteria will apply)

Optional benefits include:

• Electric vehicle lease
• Annual Rail card (available for under 30s)

Equal opportunity employer

COWI provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to ethnicity, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.