Principal Engineer

About The Job

National Highways is offering an exciting opportunity for a Principal Engineering Geologist or Geotechnical Engineer to join our South West Operations Geotechnical team.

You’ll work alongside the Geotechnical Engineering Team Manager to lead, inspire, and support a skilled team of engineers. Together, you’ll tackle the complex challenges of managing geotechnical risks, setting priorities, and developing innovative early solutions for a wide range of geotechnical schemes. From earthworks and rock slopes to their interaction with drainage, structures, and other highway assets, you’ll provide the specialist expertise and technical authority that underpins safe, resilient, and future-proof infrastructure.

You’ll also influence how we advance geotechnical asset management, ensuring schemes meet the highest standards while driving continual improvement across the sector.

This is a hybrid position and can be based out of our Bristol or Exeter offices.

You will be required to drive as part of your role and you will need to have a full driving license with no more than 3 points to be considered for this position and during employment

Known internally as a Principal Geotechnical Engineer, you will:

• Provide specialist technical expertise to identify risks and shape early solutions for renewals and improvement schemes, in line with agreed methodologies considering new techniques, materials, buildability and costs
• Develop asset-specific management plans, that support with making decisions that align with policy and standards while delivering value for money and supporting business goals.
• Identify, prioritise, and manage geotechnical asset needs in line with governance requirements (e.g. DMRB: CS641 and CD622) and to achieve business objectives.
• Commission and oversee survey works to support asset improvements and renewals, reviewing and approving technical briefs, reports, specifications, drawings, and supporting information.
• Champion the use of high-quality asset data by monitoring performance, driving innovation in data management, and guiding regional colleagues to maintain standards and integrity.

About You.

• Degree and or Masters in relevant discipline, Higher National Diploma / Higher National Certificate with relevant experience, or equivalent experience. 
• Extensive, relevant, and demonstrable experience in ground engineering and infrastructure works. You should hold Chartered or Incorporated Membership of the Geological Society, ICE (or an equivalent professional body), or be able to demonstrate extensive equivalent experience to this level.
• Demonstrable knowledge across relevant geotechnical standards, asset policies and strategies and risk management.
• Proven asset management experience and decision-making ability, including asset condition assessment; experience of degradation modelling would be beneficial but not essential.
• Proven ability to work within and develop scheme budgets.

About Us.

Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England’s motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership. 

Operations is at the heart of keeping the strategic road network moving and ensuring our customers get the best possible experience when using our roads. 

We address over 39,000 customer enquiries every month, plan and deliver all maintenance activities on the network, drive efficiencies and improvements across our systems and roads, and respond to incidents across 4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads that we manage. All to make sure National Highways customers have safer, smoother, and more reliable journeys. 

External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy. 

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. 

Why you should join us

At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers. 

So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation.

A connected and sustainable working approach has been adopted across National Highways. For some roles, this means being able to work in a hybrid way spending up to 60% of time working from a remote location such as home.

We offer many different ways to work flexibly and we’re open to discuss part-time working, job shares, and flexible start and finish times. 

Please wait until the interview stage before asking us about flexibility, and we will explore what is possible.

Our Benefits Package

• Our total reward package includes basic salary, the potential for a performance related bonus
• Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10%
• Annual Leave starting at 26 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising by 1 day each year up to 31 days (plus Bank Holidays)
• Flexible hours and an approach driven by connected and sustainable working which includes hybrid working
• Life assurance of 4 times annual salary
• Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines
• A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
• Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience

And We Are

• Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities
• Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme
• Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year

If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:       

• Right to work check
• 3 year employment history references
• DBS criminal record check
• Social media and adverse journalism check
• Driving licence check (if applicable)
• Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable)
• Qualifications and/or professional membership check (if applicable)

And Finally

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