It jobs in United Kingdom

Fire – Principal or Associate Engineer

Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester or London

Competitive salary + benefits

We have an exciting opening for a Principal or Associate Fire Engineer to join our firm in our Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester or London offices.

About us

Hoare Lea is a human-centric and planet-conscious engineering consultancy. We offer intelligent and sustainable solutions to complex design challenges for the built environment throughout the UK and further afield.

We provide a wide range of engineering and consultancy services, including acoustics, air quality, building services (MEP), fire, lighting, security and sustainability to name but a few. Together, our highly skilled teams use technical expertise and problem-solving skills to bring buildings to life. We ensure that whatever the building, its design is outstanding, and its operations meet the needs of the communities it serves.

We are as committed to providing an environment where everyone can realise their unique potential. So, in joining Hoare Lea, you will experience a business that enriches your knowledge, supports your wellbeing, and welcomes your individuality. You’ll have the opportunity to participate in our 9‑day fortnight scheme, thriving community groups, varied social and networking events, and extensive professional and technical development schemes. We also offer an extensive benefits package, including private medical cover, electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme, stock options, and up to 30 days of annual leave.

Whatever your ambitions or circumstances, our aim is to enable everyone to develop their knowledge, give their best, and enjoy what they do.

Hoare Lea’s Fire Engineering group is a leading team of experienced fire safety experts, many of whom are Chartered Engineers through the Institution of Fire Engineers.

Being part of one of the UKs largest building engineering consultancies, we benefit from collaborating with some of the best engineers in the business, with access to state‑of‑the‑art technical support, and have the opportunity to work on some of the UKs largest and most high‑profile projects as part of a multi-disciplinary team. However, the fire team also works independently on fantastic projects, with many in our team having developed long‑term relationships with many great clients.

Heathrow’s Terminal 2, Doha’s new metro, the vast £1billion Elephant and Castle redevelopment in London, the extension to the ExCeL centre and the Royal Hospital for Children and Young Persons in Edinburgh are examples of some of the amazing projects where we have led the Fire Engineering design with other Hoare Lea disciplines. As part of long standing Fire Engineering relationships with external clients, we have led the fire safety design on seven of Manchester’s ten tallest buildings (including the UKs tallest residential tower), developed the current fire strategies for most of the UKs largest airport terminals, and designed two world cup stadia.

A particular area where we have invested heavily is training and research. We have numerous research groups within the team to ensure that we remain at the cutting edge of our discipline; this includes computational and numerical modelling, emerging fire risks, new techniques and even fire testing – we recently led the design and implementation of two of the world’s largest ever cross laminated timber (CLT) compartment fire tests in France, to successfully validate our detailed calculations for a highly sustainable timber office building project.

In addition to Hoare Lea’s best-in-class training, the fire group have developed extensive additional training and development opportunities – weekly training sessions for everyone, regular training away-days, innovation days and access to external training and conferences. We place a particular emphasis on enabling our team to achieve Chartered Engineer status – we have developed a programme for this and numerous fire engineers have obtained their CEng with us over the years. This is all enabled by our very experienced and highly qualified team.

We are active in a number of key organisations such as the Society for Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), Smoke Control Association, BSI Group and Institution of Fire Engineers.

Why Work For Us?

The Fire Engineering group’s strategy is simple, we want to do world‑class fire engineering on the best projects with great clients. We want the team to enjoy the projects they do and who they work with, so our portfolio is of high quality, varied and really interesting.

As part of Hoare Lea’s larger team of built‑environment specialists, we have access to some of the UKs largest and highest profile projects. However, we also work independently and have developed long‑term relationships with some great clients – there is no greater personal satisfaction from winning repeat projects from clients who think you’ve done a great job and like working with you.

We are strong because we recognise that everyone has different skills to offer – our team includes ex fire service, building services and building control professionals, and engineers with degrees in physics, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, materials science, forensics – oh, and fire engineering.

The opportunities we provide for training and development are second‑to‑none. We invest significantly in this, and our aim is to ensure our team can achieve Chartered Engineer status. We have a highly experienced and qualified team to ensure that this can happen.

We really want everyone to have the right work‑life balance and to enjoy their work. We enable this by having a great benefits and flexible working package – including the ability to work a 9‑day fortnight, and by choosing only the best projects for great clients, supported by extensive training and experienced colleagues. We are a really friendly, supportive and inclusive team, and enjoy numerous socials with our office colleagues and with the fire engineering team.

• Hoare Lea’s Fire Engineering team focuses on the fire safety design of buildings.
• We work with colleagues within Hoare Lea as part of a multi‑disciplinary team, and also have a significant portfolio of long‑term external clients.
• Our projects are principally based in the UK, and a detailed understanding of UK regulations and design guidance is desirable.
• Able to work with, and have an appreciation of the integration of, other construction professionals’ requirements for the project.
• Ensuring open communication among all project team members so that feedback is provided and acted upon efficiently in a timely manner.
• Attending design team meetings, design workshops, client meetings and site meetings.
• Travel to clients or projects in the UK, and occasionally internationally, according to project demands.
• Working knowledge of software analysis tools – evacuation, smoke and fire modelling, heat radiation models and structural fire modelling.

• Experience working within a fire engineering consultancy role.
• A relevant degree or equivalent qualification in Engineering, Building Services, Maths, Architecture, or Physics, with a keen interest in Fire Engineering. You will have a good technical knowledge in the primary discipline of fire safety design.
• You will be IT literate with a working understanding of fire modelling software analysis tools.
• You should have excellent communication skills and an interest in working in a team environment.
• You will have the ability and commitment to effectively deliver to demanding timescales, and have good organisational and planning skills.

To apply simply complete a CV profile and submit your application, or for further information please contact louiescottodiperta@hoarelea.com.

If shortlisted, one of our recruitment team will be in touch to arrange an introductory call (about 30 minutes) to discuss the role and your experience in more detail. From there, successful candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview, either via Microsoft Teams or in person at one of our offices.

If there are adjustments or accommodations that we can put in place to help you participate and give your best at any stage of the recruitment process (whether relating to disability, neurodivergence or anything else) please let us know.

We have updated our terms and conditions for candidates, click here to find out more.

We have a Preferred Supplier List of trusted partners who assist us when required. We do not acknowledge speculative CVs or unsolicited candidate introductions from agencies not on the list.