Senior Design Engineer

Network Rail operates and maintains the railway infrastructure 24/7 365 days a year.

Our passengers and freight users are at the heart of everything we do. We help connect people to their friends and families and get goods to their destination safely and efficiently. We're an organisation where people matter. When you're part of our team, you matter to us and you matter to millions.

We're continuing to build a more diverse and inclusive organisation which is representative of the passengers we serve. To do this, it's essential we become a more open, diverse and inclusive organisation, harnessing the skills and expertise of all our people and attracting the best talent to help us have a safe, accessible railway for everyone. We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone.

Our Route

Central route is at the heart of Britain's railway. The route covers a major part of the national rail network and is a key commuter line in and out of Birmingham, with hundreds of thousands of passengers, and thousands of tonnes of freight carried within our route each week. Within our route is the Chiltern Main Line between London Marylebone and the West Midlands, the Snow Hill line from Stratford-upon-Avon to Worcester, the Cross City line in Birmingham, and lines to other cities including Wolverhampton, Coventry, Walsall, and Oxford.

We are home to Birmingham New Street station, the busiest station outside of London with more than 170,000 passengers using it every day.

Brief Description

As a Senior Design Engineer you will be responsible for the engineering development of allocated proposals from clarification of remit to project completion developing the engineering solutions to proposals to best satisfy the business case.

The Works Delivery Internal Design Team (IDT) provide in-house design services to the Work Delivery Civils Contractor. IDT are involved with projects from inception to completion.

IDT are looking for a Senior Design Engineer (Civils / Structures) to help with the growing workbank.

Although based in the Central Route we operate over the Northwest and Central Region which extends from London Euston up to Gretna Green on the Scottish border.

IDT and Works Delivery are currently working on prestigious rail structures including Sankey, Stockport and Whalley Viaducts, the Mersey Rail Tunnels, Roade Cutting and on the scenic Settle to Carlisle and Cumbrian Coastal Lines.

Our base is in Heaton Mersey in South Manchester. The team currently has 15 members of staff.

We undertake a wide variety of Projects including:

1. Bridge Design, Maintenance and Strengthening
2. Retaining structures Design, Maintenance and Strengthening
3. Platform Extensions
4. Geotechnics. Soil and Rock Cutting stabilisation
5. Culvert lining and replacement
6. Tunnel maintenance and strengthening
7. Embankment and cutting stabilisation
8. Design of Lineside structures

There is a healthy workbank extending over CP7 and we would like to take on more of the work offered to us.

35 Hours per week, Work from Heaton Mersey office 3 days per week

IDT have won a number of design awards including Winner of “Infrastructure Project of the Year” at the 2023 National Rail Awards

About the role (External)

As a Senior Design Engineer (Civils / Structures), your responsibilities are as follow:

1. Manage the development remit for a proposal so that it properly describes the engineering requirements, scope, possibilities and operational performance targets and maintain a robust challenge to sponsoring engineers and managers, in order to monitor and value manage the business and technical remit and thereby optimise the business case.
2. Manage all engineering and development activities so that they result in schemes that are affordable, and that meet programme requirements in a safe & environmentally responsible manner for time, cost and quality.
3. Manage (or undertake where applicable) the development of suitable engineering options for a proposal giving full consideration to safety, reliability, operational capacity modelling, maintainability, ease of construction, and environmental/whole life issues. Engineering excellence is to be supported by:
1. Secure all relevant base data.
2. Review compliance with appropriate standards.
3. Use risk ID and evaluation methods (e.g. HAZOP, QRA, LRM, and the GK/RT/14200 suite), as suitable, to evaluate and compare options.
4. Using feedback from all relevant past projects across the UK rail network, lessons learned etc.
5. Monitor that designers are up to date via training, briefings etc.
4. Confirm whether strict change control is maintained on scope development; evaluate cost, time and performance impacts in conjunction with development management.
5. Participate in the selection of a single option for further development, preparing or monitoring preparation of reports, papers etc as necessary.
6. Manage (or undertake where applicable) the development of the selected single option.
7. Manage (or undertake where applicable) the preparation of the full engineering data package required for commencement of the detailed design, and participate in answering clarifications/queries as needed.
8. Support the construction design management (CDM) planning supervisor in all associated duties and carry out or monitor cross-discipline engineering checks of all relevant aspects of the proposal.
9. Carry out independent checking of safety critical signalling design documentation.
10. Manage adequate resourcing of the feasibility stages of project development, in both the quality and quantity of Network Rail and supplier staff, and in the use of the most appropriate support equipment.
11. Manage the engineering interfaces of allocated proposals with concurrent work in other disciplines, or within other programmes.
12. Act as or liaise with the appropriate Project Engineer during stages 2-4 to so that method statements for site works and surveys in particular are produced and approved to the required standards.
13. Monitor, assess, evaluate and audit Consultants and Contractors during project stages 2-4.

In order to be successful in this role, we would like you to have/to be:

• An engineering degree or equivalent industry-recognised training qualification.
• IRSE Principles Designer licence or equivalent relevant to the discipline.
• Strong evaluation and decision-making skills.
• A working knowledge of rail engineering; relevant successful experience working in the principal discipline and an adequate understanding of all other related disciplines.
• An ability to work and communicate effectively in a team context.
• An appreciation of all the life cycle stages of rail infrastructure.
• CDM, Auditing and risk assessment competencies.

It's not mandatory to have the below, but it would be desirable to have:

• CEng or IEng in a relevant engineering professional institution.
• Minimum 5 years' relevant post-graduate experience of producing Civil Engineering designs
• Experience as CRE on Rail Civil / Structural Schemes
• The ability to produce pragmatic designs to programme.
• The ability to work independently
• Excellent Report writing skills.
• Live locally to South Manchester
• Full UK Driving Licence and own car

How to apply (External)

Salary: starting from £55,596 raising to £63,797 per annum. Network Rail adheres to a structured pay framework, any salary offered will be within the pay range advertised.

Closing date : 3rd of April 2025 Late applications will not be accepted.

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We're a Disability Confident Leader employer and we'll try our best to adapt the process and offer a reasonable alternative to help support people with disabilities access, apply and interview for roles.

Safe behaviour is a requirement of working for Network Rail. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our safety vision here.

We're continuing to build a more diverse and inclusive organisation representative of the passengers we serve. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their understanding of our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion vision here.

Our Drugs and Alcohol Standard is changing as of 16.01.2023. All prospective candidates who have not been offered a conditional role by 16.01.2023 will be required to undergo and pass a drugs and alcohol test. Your application will be rescinded if you record a positive test. All positive drugs and alcohol test results for prospective candidates will be securely held on Sentinel database and a 5 year suspension from applying for a safety critical role, a role which requires PTS certification or a Key Safety role on Network Rail Managed Infrastructure will be enforced.