Drainage Engineer; Highways & Energy

About Fairhurst LLP –Fairhurst LLP is one of the UK’s largest private multidisciplinary partnerships of consulting engineers, delivering civil, structural, geotechnical, environmental, transportation, planning, water, and landscape architecture services across 16 principal offices in the UK. Fairhurst specialises in providing cost‑effective, sustainable engineering solutions and prides itself on high-quality service delivery, technical excellence, and long-standing client relationships.

Our team is passionate about supporting and managing how engineering projects interface with, protect, and ensure the sustainability of our water environment. We deliver successful engineering outcomes that serve the water environment including large master-planning strategies, transport infrastructure, road and highway infrastructure, renewable energy and sustainable drainage schemes for the present and the future.

Role Overview – The Drainage Engineer is responsible for delivering on a broad and diverse range of drainage projects, including major infrastructure, masterplan development, and renewables/energy schemes.
The role requires strong technical capability, a commitment to high quality design, and an ambition to develop experience in both project and client management.

Design & Technical Delivery

• Design highway drainage systems for new-build, improvement, maintenance, and major infrastructure schemes.
• Develop drainage strategies from feasibility through detailed design and construction.
• Design surface water drainage systems including:
  • Highway gullies and carrier drains
  • Pipe networks and culverts
  • Filter drains and linear drainage systems
  • Headwalls and outfalls
  • Attenuation and storage systems
  • Swales, ponds, wetlands, and other SuDS features
  • Pumped drainage systems where required
• Undertake rainfall/runoff calculations and assess design storm events and climate-change allowances.
• Undertake hydraulic calculations and network modelling using Causeway Flow and/or Info Drainage to assess capacity, surcharge, flooding, and exceedance.
• Oversee and produce accurate models, drawings, and technical reports.
• Coordinate drainage design with highways geometry, earthworks, structures, utilities, landscaping, environmental, and geotechnical requirements.
• Assess existing drainage infrastructure and identify capacity constraints, defects, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop flood mitigation and exceedance-flow solutions.
• Assist in technical reviews, ensuring designs align with best practice and project specifications.

Project Management

• Support the planning, coordination, and delivery of engineering tasks and project packages.
• Monitor progress, manage priorities, and contribute to forecasting, resources, and project reporting.
• Develop experience in commercial awareness, risk management, and programme control.
• Take ownership of assigned tasks and deliverables, ensuring compliance with deadlines and quality standards.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement

• Attend meetings, workshops, and site visits (driving licence required).
• Communicate proactively with clients, consultants, contractors, and regulators.
• Represent Fairhurst professionally, clearly conveying technical information to varied audiences.
• Build strong, long‑term working relationships with partners and stakeholders.

Quality & Compliance

• Apply relevant highway, drainage, water, flood-risk, and environmental standards and guidance.
• Demonstrate an understanding of requirements from organisations such as National Highways, local highway authorities, Lead Local Flood Authorities, water companies, and the Environment Agency.
• Prepare drainage design reports, calculations, specifications, schedules, drawings, and technical submissions.
• Ensure designs satisfy relevant health,…