Principal Highway Design Engineer

Cardiff
Hybrid Working
Competitive Salary + Excellent Benefits The Opportunity

An established and growing multidisciplinary engineering consultancy is looking to appoint an experienced Principal Highway Design Engineer to join its Cardiff-based infrastructure team.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced highways professional to take a leading role in the design and delivery of a diverse range of infrastructure and development projects across Wales and the wider UK.

The successful candidate will provide technical leadership across highway design projects, manage project delivery, support and mentor junior engineers, and work closely with clients, local authorities and multidisciplinary design teams.

This position would suit an experienced Senior Highway Engineer looking to progress to Principal level or an established Principal Engineer seeking a new opportunity with greater responsibility, project variety and career progression.

As Principal Highway Design Engineer, your responsibilities will include:

• Leading the design and delivery of highway and transportation infrastructure projects from feasibility and planning through to detailed design and construction
• Preparing and reviewing highway designs, technical drawings, specifications, calculations and engineering reports
• Delivering highway improvement schemes, access strategies, junction designs and infrastructure associated with residential, commercial and mixed-use developments
• Producing and reviewing designs for new roads, junction improvements, highway alignments, active-travel routes and public-realm schemes
• Delivering designs in accordance with relevant UK highway standards, guidance and local authority requirements
• Providing technical leadership and ensuring that designs are practical, compliant, commercially viable and delivered to a high standard
• Managing project programmes, budgets, resources and technical deliverables
• Coordinating highway designs with drainage, infrastructure, transport-planning, structural and environmental teams
• Liaising directly with clients, local authorities, statutory bodies and other project stakeholders
• Supporting projects through the planning, technical approval and construction stages
• Assisting with Section 38 and Section 278 highway agreements where required
• Undertaking technical reviews and providing quality assurance across project deliverables
• Supporting, mentoring and developing graduate engineers, technicians and less-experienced members of the team
• Assisting with fee proposals, bids, project planning and the continued development of the highways team

The successful candidate will ideally have:

• Significant experience in highway design within an engineering consultancy, local authority or similar environment
• A strong technical background in highway infrastructure design
• Experience delivering projects from feasibility and concept design through to detailed design and construction
• Good knowledge of UK highway design standards, including the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) and Manual for Streets
• Experience producing highway layouts, alignments, junction designs, levels, earthworks and construction details
• Knowledge of Section 38 and Section 278 technical approval processes
• Experience coordinating highway designs with drainage, utilities, transport planning and other engineering disciplines
• Strong project-management and technical‑leadership skills
• Experience managing project budgets, programmes and technical deliverables
• The ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Confidence liaising directly with clients, local authorities and multidisciplinary project teams
• Previous experience mentoring and supporting junior engineers and technicians

Experience with some of the following would be beneficial:

• Civil 3D
• AutoCAD
• Autodesk Vehicle Tracking
• Auto Track
• KeyLINES
• KeySIGN
• Site3D
• Project Wise or similar document-management systems

• Degree or equivalent qualification in Civil Engineering, Highway Engineering or a related discipline
• Chartered Engineer status through the Institution of Civil Engineers or…