Professional Head

Professional Head - Buildings & Civils

Role Purpose

The Professional Head - Buildings & Civils serves as the senior technical authority for all buildings, civil engineering, and structural works delivered by the organisation. The role provides leadership, governance, and independent technical assurance across tendering, design, construction, commissioning, and handback, ensuring all works are safe, compliant, buildable, and commercially and operationally sound.

Operating within Network Rail and statutory governance, the postholder holds accountability for engineering standards, competence, and acceptance, while enabling right‑first‑time delivery across minor, major, complex, and multi‑disciplinary programmes. The role underpins client confidence and protects the contractor's technical, commercial, and reputational position.

Key Responsibilities

1. Professional Head & Technical Authority

Act as the Professional Head and senior technical authority for Buildings & Civils across all projects and frameworks.

Set and maintain engineering strategy, design philosophy, and assurance requirements for buildings, stations, depots, operational structures, and associated civils.

Provide authoritative decisions on technical compliance, constructability, temporary works, engineering risk, and acceptance.

Approve or oversee approval of key engineering deliverables including design submissions, temporary works, handback packs, and technical deviations.

Maintain and continuously improve engineering standards, specifications, and governance arrangements in line with client and regulatory requirements.

2. Engineering Governance, Assurance & Compliance

Establish and lead the engineering governance framework for Buildings & Civils works.

Ensure compliance with Network Rail standards, statutory legislation, and best practice (e.g. /L2/RSE/02009, CDM Regulations).

Ensure full compliance with temporary works governance, including TWC/TWS roles, categorisation, and independent checking in accordance with BS 5975.

Oversee structured engineering assurance including design reviews, IDC/IDR processes, assurance plans, audits, NCR management, and decision traceability.

Ensure robust configuration and documentation control including TQs, RFIs, technical approvals, and design change management.

Provide senior technical oversight of commissioning, handback, and operational acceptance.

Lead derogation/variation/deviation management.

3. Contractor's Engineering Manager (CEM) Leadership

Act as, or hold overarching accountability for, the CEM function for Buildings & Civils.

Establish and approve Contractor's Engineering Management Plans and discipline‑specific assurance plans.

Lead multi‑disciplinary engineering coordination across internal teams, designers, and supply‑chain partners.

Ensure effective engineering risk identification, mitigation, and formal acceptance throughout delivery.

Interface with client engineering assurance and asset teams to secure and maintain technical approval.

4. Contractor's Responsible Engineer (CRE) Oversight

Act as, or appoint and control, CRE (Buildings/Civils) roles across projects.

Approve scopes of responsibility, delegation, and limits of authority for CREs.

Ensure delivered works are safe, compliant, complete, and fit for handback.

Provide mentoring, technical direction, and challenge to CREs and senior project engineers.

5. Design, Construction & Buildability Leadership

Provide leadership across design development, construction methodology, sequencing, and temporary works strategy.

Ensure solutions are practical, efficient, safe to build, and aligned with programme and commercial constraints.

Drive early contractor involvement (ECI) to reduce risk and improve buildability.

Ensure inspection regimes, access for maintenance, and asset longevity are embedded into design.

6. Programme & Project Technical Oversight

Provide senior technical oversight across major projects and frameworks, including complex interfaces with track, signalling, M&E, telecoms, and operations.

Support bid, tender, and early‑stage project development with technical strategy, risk reviews, and value engineering.

Lead resolution of high‑impact technical…