Principal Fire Engineer

Cahill Design Consultants Ltd; Colchester (VT); Hybride; USD 81 000 - 121 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Cahill Design Consultants Ltd in Colchester is seeking a Senior Fire Engineer to lead fire engineering commissions across sectors, from concept to handover.

You will develop and sign off fire strategies, oversee fire and smoke modelling, review colleagues’ work, and lead client relationships in meetings with approving authorities. The role also includes contributing to bids and shaping internal processes, with hybrid working two days per week in Colchester.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience in fire engineering consultancy
• Degree in Fire Engineering or closely related field
• Strong knowledge of UK fire safety legislation for complex buildings
• Proven experience writing fire strategies across sectors
• Experience liaising with clients, design teams, and approving authorities
• Quality review and technical oversight of others’ work
• CEng status via the Engineering Council or actively pursuing it
• MIFireE or equivalent professional body membership
• Willingness to travel to Colchester two days per week (hybrid working)

Responsabilités

• Lead fire engineering commissions across sectors from concept to handover
• Develop and sign off fire strategies for complex buildings
• Oversee or conduct fire and smoke modelling and evacuation modelling
• Review and quality-assure technical work produced by colleagues
• Lead client relationships and represent CDC in meetings with authorities
• Contribute to bids, proposals, and the commercial success of projects
• Help shape CDC’s internal processes, standards, and knowledge-sharing culture

Connaissances

Fire engineering

Client liaison

Quality review

Technical oversight

CEng status

Formation

Degree in Fire Engineering

Outils

FDS

SmartFire

Pathfinder

Description du poste

ABOUT CDC

Cahill Design Consultants is a privately owned engineering consultancy based in Colchester, delivering fire engineering and acoustic design services for over 12 years. We are not beholden to external investors and we are not chasing growth for its own sake. The focus is on quality work and building a team that can sustain it.

We have held Flexa Careers accreditation for three consecutive years, with an 88% employee-led score. We are ISO 9001:2015 registered and in 2025 donated 1% of turnover to charity, with 118 hours of team volunteering.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Lead fire engineering commissions across residential, commercial, mixed-use, healthcare, education, and other sectors from concept to handover
• Develop and sign off fire strategies for complex buildings, including performance-based approaches using qualitative and quantitative methods
• Oversee or conduct fire and smoke modelling (FDS, SmartFire or similar) and evacuation modelling (Pathfinder or similar), and interpret outputs for design teams and clients
• Review and quality-assure technical work produced by colleagues, providing structured, developmental feedback
• Lead client relationships and represent CDC in meetings, workshops, and discussions with approving authorities
• Contribute to bids, proposals, and the commercial success of your projects
• Help shape CDC’s internal processes, standards, and knowledge-sharing culture

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

ESSENTIAL

• Substantial experience in fire engineering consultancy - we would typically expect around 7 or more years, but we're interested in the quality and depth of your experience, not just the number of years.
• Degree in Fire Engineering or a closely related engineering or science discipline
• Strong, current knowledge of UK fire safety legislation applied to complex buildings
• Proven experience writing fire strategies across at least one sector
• Experience liaising with clients, design teams, and approving authorities
• Quality review and technical oversight of others’ work
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including for non-specialist audiences
• CEng status via the Engineering Council, or actively working towards it
• MIFireE or equivalent professional body membership, or near to it
• - Able to travel to Colchester two days per week (hybrid working)

DESIRABLE

• Direct experience with fire or smoke modelling tools (FDS, SmartFire or similar)
• Direct experience with evacuation modelling (Pathfinder or similar)
• Experience across multiple building types or sectors
• Contribution to commercial activities: bids, proposals, or client development
• Experience formally mentoring or developing early-career engineers

Engineering and construction have a gender problem. That is not a secret. We are aware of it and we have made deliberate choices about how we hire, how we pay, and how we support people at different stages of their careers and lives.

Our enhanced parental leave policy applies equally regardless of gender or family structure, because we think that is the right thing to do, and because it is one practical way to push back against the imbalance that tends to hit hardest at the point of parenthood.

If you need any adjustments at any stage of this process, please just ask. We would rather adapt than lose a good person to an avoidable barrier.

[e-mail] | www.cdc-limited.co.uk