Senior Structural Lead — Bridges & Civil (NZ)

SMEC (an SJ Group company); Auckland; On-site; NZD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

SMEC, a leading global engineering design consultancy with a NZ presence for 13+ years, is seeking a Lead Structural Engineer to lead bridge and civil structures projects across New Zealand. This is a senior, technically accomplished, commercially minded role.

You will guide multidisciplinary teams, manage client relationships, and help grow SMEC’s structural capability in the transport sector, while mentoring junior engineers and driving high-quality outcomes for clients.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of structural engineering experience, focused on bridges and civil structures.
• Chartered Engineer status in New Zealand is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of bridge and civil structures projects across concept, reference, and detailed design phases.
• Provide technical leadership and oversight for multidisciplinary project teams.
• Manage quality, coordination, and design integration across structural and related disciplines.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, contractors, and industry partners to support delivery and growth.
• Contribute to and lead proposals, commercial inputs, and opportunity development.
• Mentor junior engineers and designers, supporting capability development within the team.
• Apply strong engineering judgement and innovation to improve project outcomes.
• Support growth of SMEC’s structural capability and forward workload in New Zealand.

Skills

Structural engineering

Bridge design

Team leadership

Client relations

Proposal development

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor degree in structural engineering

Chartered Engineer NZ

Tools

Autodesk Civil 3D

Tekla

Job description

SMEC, a leading global engineering design consultancy with a NZ presence for 13+ years, is seeking a Lead Structural Engineer to lead bridge and civil structures projects across New Zealand. This is a senior, technically accomplished, commercially minded role.

You will guide multidisciplinary teams, manage client relationships, and help grow SMEC’s structural capability in the transport sector, while mentoring junior engineers and driving high-quality outcomes for clients.