Project Engineer

Highways Development Management has a huge impact on people's lives and is at the forefront of regeneration, redevelopment and plays a major part in everyday life for residents of Staffordshire and beyond.

It is an exciting time to start a career at Staffordshire and this job will provide you with great opportunities for career progression and to be involved in medium/large scale projects across Staffordshire. The Highways Development Management team currently comprises of two team leaders who line manage a team of 14 staff who deal with approximately 3,000 planning applications a year plus pre-application advice.

If you are keen on working within a Highway Development Management role and protecting the County's highway network and also helping to improve the transport facilities available for the people of Staffordshire as part of the planning process then this rewarding career may be the career for you.

We offer a great employment package with a flexible environment of office and/or home working to allow for that work/life balance.

As a Project Engineer, you will be part of the team providing detailed responses on planning applications as a statutory consultee. This will require you to have contact with a variety of Local Planning Authorities (LPA) ensuring the relationship is a positive one and the responses to them are detailed and encompass all elements of transport and highway safety.

You will also:

• Prepare and issue comments, advice and recommendations relating to highway and transportation elements of planning applications; having regard to current design/transport guidelines.
• Audit Transport Assessments and Travel Plans, within the experience, training and knowledge of the post applying GIS analysis techniques and other accessibility planning software.
• Proactively instigate, encourage, and participate in pre-application discussions with developers to aid the development of sustainable estate street layouts/designs in accordance with relevant Design Guides.
• Have the opportunity to attend an LPA planning committee to defend your reply as a statutory consultee to a planning application.
• Prepare and give evidence in connection with appeals and Court proceedings under the Town and Country Planning Acts.
• Assist in the implementation of Development Plan Policies and the Staffordshire Local Transport Plan.

You will need:

• To be a Chartered Civil Engineer or Incorporated Civil Engineer or a Graduate Civil Engineer with a minimum of 5 years post graduate experience or a HNC and a minimum of 7 years post qualification experience.
• Experience relevant to planning applications and of S278 and S38 Agreements.
• Experience of working in partnership with internal and external bodies.
• Experience of the operation of agreements for the adoption of new streets and construction of off-site improvement works.
• Experience of participating in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Ability to work to time and budgetary constraints.
• A full driving licence.

You will also be required to support other members of the team who may have less experience than yourself. On the job learning, coaching and mentoring is not unusual and is encouraged to create a positive can-do atmosphere within the team.

Any interested candidates who don't meet the minimum criteria on the person specification will be considered if they can demonstrate they are working towards the targets identified.

We are hoping to conduct the interviews on Friday 29th November 2024.

For further discussion about the role, please contact: Simon Hawe by email at simon.hawe@staffordshire.gov.uk.

We're happy to talk flexible working.

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you'll bring to the role.

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire.

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities.

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer, and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.