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There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us.

Start here. Grow here.

Our Highways team, within our Transportation business line, have a vacancy for an Principal Highways Engineer with experience in drainage delivery of transportation engineering schemes across our regional based offices of Manchester, Newcastle, Chesterfield and St Albans.

You will be joining our Highways team, of over 100 staff, who are recognised as market leaders in the areas of significant and major highways and continue to deliver high profile and impactful projects across the UK and globally. You will be part of established teams with a positive team structure with strong engineering staff across the grades from apprentice to principal engineer, and supported by a locally based senior management team.

The successful candidate will be joining a growing team that works with a range of both local and national clients. You will be someone interested in leading the delivery teams of our diverse range of projects.

You will have a proven experience in civil engineering, infrastructure, or transportation projects, and be a self-motivated individual looking to advance their career in a dynamic team. In addition to delivering work within the local office the role will involve working with other AECOM teams in the UK and Ireland. We are therefore seeking candidates who are able to work flexibly across other AECOM offices as projects dictate to support the wider business.

Further, the role offers opportunities to work in AECOMs wider UK European, Middle East, and India regions.

Current & Upcoming Projects:

• A229 Blue Bell Hill
• M54-M6 Link Road
• M62 Link Roads
• A19 North of Newcastle
• AlUla- Middle East
• National Grid – The Great Grid Upgrade, Wanless Beck
• Supporting work for Heathrow, Gatwick Airports, East West Rail and Northern Powerhouse
• Site opportunities- Lune Gorge, M60 J18

Here’s what you’ll do:

Anticipate: You will understand our highways delivery requirements and anticipate and solve routine and usual problems for both our teams and our clients

Deliver: The Highways team are responsible for the full lifecycle delivery of projects aimed at improving our transport network for clients. We provide feasibility, concept, preliminary and detailed design, community engagement, project delivery and construction management services on a wide range of multi-discipline transportation and urban realm projects. In addition, we support other AECOM business lines where their projects have a specialised transportation interface.

Oversee: You will be responsible for the appointment of competent highways engineers for technical delivery. Plan and develop engineering tasks concerned with unique problems. This involves exploration of subject areas, definition of scope and selection of problems for investigation and development of novel concepts and approaches.

Provide Expertise: Offer technical highways knowledge and expertise to the design team on all aspects of multi-disciplinary projects, from conceptual phases to implementation.

Ensure Quality: Working through the complexities of our Transportation projects, you will hold our clients’ hands and overcome problems in unison when they inevitably arise. Provide Health, Safety and Wellness leadership to the district team consistent with AECOM’s safety policies and procedures to deliver a safe and healthy working environment for the project team members. Oversee the preparation of feasibility, preliminary and detailed designs for all types of transportation projects. Oversee the preparation of detailed technical reports providing specialist technical contributions as required.

Collaborate: Leading a team of multi-disciplinary engineers to deliver integrated designs and building effective relationships with our technical teams and Clients.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide technical input, technical leadership and project management across a range of specialisms in the field of highway engineering.
• Reporting to Associate Directors and Directors you will undertake a variety of tasks providing as an individual or through team effort, a range of design and written deliverables.
• Deliver specified project outcomes on time, within budget and to the quality required
• Take a lead role on projects within your skill area including manage the workload, technical management and oversight of a design team
• Prepare resource plans and delivery programmes
• Undertake Health and Safety duties including ensuring a safe and healthy working environment for the design team and fulfilling responsibilities for safety in design
• Build and maintain excellent client relationships
• Undertake project activities in line with Company procedures, including technical and quality aspects.
• Proactively identify and manage project risks
• Communicate with the immediate design team, the wider organisation and external parties.

Why Join AECOM?

And let's not forget about the perks at AECOM. You'll enjoy a range of core and personalised benefits designed to support your future and well-being, customized to fit your lifestyle. Take advantage of career development opportunities, our flexible hybrid working model to ensure a work-life balance that suits your lifestyle, technical practice networks, AECOM University, and volunteering days

Come grow with us.

We develop projects from concept through operation providing engineering and construction services for multiyear, multimillion-dollar projects for major rail and transit agencies. Our specialists provide analytical and strategic expertise for every stage of a project

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible?

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Significant experience of highway technical design on major projects including a good understanding of design principles and the ability to practically apply them, knowledge of standard engineering practices and a demonstrable understanding of Health and Safety including CDM
• Experience of team management including line management; technical development and mentoring of staff; efficient resourcing of projects, monitoring financial and programme performance.
• Good communication skills including preparing and reviewing technical reports
• Ability to work collaboratively with a range of project stakeholders
• Site experience during construction would be an advantage.
• Knowledge & experience of 3d design modelling as well as working within common data environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• We would expect a candidate at this level to be an Incorporated (IEng) or Chartered (CEng) Engineer.

We celebrate diversity, including neurodiversity, and believe it enriches our team. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and abilities. If you are an applicant with a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us at [email protected]

At AECOM, we value everyone's unique contributions and perspectives. If you meet some of the requirements above or have transferable skills you believe would benefit us, we would be delighted to hear from you!

Interested in the role or curious about life at AECOM? Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to explore our AECOM voices, employee stories, latest projects, and much more! #STAP

For further information about the role, reach out to the recruiter on LinkedIn Siobhan Osborne

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address [email protected]  if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.