Senior Bridge & Civil Structures Lead

Surbana Jurong; Auckland; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

SMEC, part of SJ Group, is seeking a Lead Structural Engineer in New Zealand to spearhead bridge and civil structures projects. You will guide multidisciplinary teams, manage client relationships, and help expand our structural capabilities within the NZ transport sector.

The role emphasizes technical leadership, mentoring, business development, and delivering high-quality client outcomes across concept to detailed design phases. NZ Chartered Engineer status is preferred.

Qualifications

• 15+ years’ experience in structural engineering, focusing on bridge and civil structures.
• Proven ability to lead technical delivery and multidisciplinary design teams.
• Strong client-facing and consulting skills, with proposal development experience.
• Experience with public sector bridge/civil projects and alternative delivery models.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of bridge and civil structures projects across design phases.
• Provide technical leadership for multidisciplinary teams.
• Manage quality and design integration across disciplines.
• Build and maintain client and partner relationships to support delivery and growth.
• Contribute to proposals, commercial inputs, and opportunity development.
• Mentor junior engineers and support capability growth.
• Apply rigorous engineering judgment to improve project outcomes.
• Support growth of SMEC's structural capability in New Zealand.

Skills

Bridge design

Leadership

Client engagement

Mentoring

Proposal writing

Education

Degree in structural engineering

Chartered Engineer NZ

Job description

SMEC, part of SJ Group, is seeking a Lead Structural Engineer in New Zealand to spearhead bridge and civil structures projects. You will guide multidisciplinary teams, manage client relationships, and help expand our structural capabilities within the NZ transport sector.

The role emphasizes technical leadership, mentoring, business development, and delivering high-quality client outcomes across concept to detailed design phases. NZ Chartered Engineer status is preferred.