Engineer

About the Borough

Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two.

Kingston and Sutton councils have a number of shared services serving both authorities, with some teams and roles more focussed on one council than the other, but the majority are shared across both, meaning you get multiple opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies.

We work flexibly in both Kingston and Sutton offices, and support working at home or flexible working patterns that enable you to tailor your working and personal life. We provide the equipment and tools to enable you to work flexibly, and in return ask you to use that flexibility to be creative and ambitious in the services we deliver.

There are some really exciting things happening in both boroughs. In Sutton, we are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. Over in Kingston, we are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in the borough, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact.

You should choose Kingston and Sutton if you are looking for an opportunity that will challenge you to deliver more, support you to achieve personal ambitions, and expect you to put borough residents at the heart of what you do.

Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as Richmond Park and Bushy Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor Kings and Queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a council plan “Greener, Fairer, Safer, Together”, that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London.

Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan “Ambitious for Sutton”, that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government.

About the Service and Team

The Sustainable Transport and Commissioning team leads the delivery of new schemes that improve Sutton's road network and support the Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy. This includes our ambitions to help people choose walking and cycling to make our roads safer, and making public transport more accessible. There will be close liaison with Ward Councillors and residents, and the opportunity to manage projects from feasibility to implementation and lead effective resident engagement strategies.

This role sits within the ​S​utton-focussed team ​based at the Civic Centre and we have exciting projects in the pipeline for you to contribute to. These include ​a major road safety scheme in Woodcote, strategic cycling corridors in Sutton and Hackbridge and a range of School Streets, pedestrian crossings, and area-wide schemes. The borough is also developing a major Public Realm scheme for Sutton Town Centre and there will be an opportunity to contribute to its development. A recent planning approval for a new scientific centre at the London Cancer Hub in Belmont is a massive boost for the borough, and we will be central to the delivery of highway schemes to support the development.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

About the role:

Your role in the team will focus on developing proposals at feasibility stage, carrying out engagement and then ensuring the design and delivery process runs smoothly. Key activities are as follow:

Prepare scheme documentation, identifying project objectives and outcomes using the project management process.

Working closely with colleagues in Design and Delivery to progress scheme designs

Prepare engagement material and supporting data to support our consultation processes

Monitor the financial position, from budget estimates through to project spend to ensure schemes are delivered to budget

Liaise with Design and Delivery throughout the design process to ensure scheme progress in a timely manner, using the project management tool kit.

About you:

It would desirable if you have a background in highways and transport, project management or transport planning, and also an interest in delivering schemes that supporting people to walk and cycle more.

We are looking for someone who is literate with IT and Digital processes​, and have the analytical skills to help you see the bigger picture​?

We are looking for a candidate who will support a learning environment where innovation, best practice, and creativity are celebrated, and risks are managed with a ‘Can do’ attitude.

You will be accountable and responsible for the resources required to undertake your role, championing change and improvements while supporting others on their journey.

We need ​someone who communicates well and is a confident and highly effective project manager to join our ​team​. It is essential that you can ​manage your own priorities, working across a range of projects to be delivered on time and to budget.

We also need someone who has the right people and collaborative skills to manage engagement with key internal and external stakeholders, alongside the analytical skills you need to use, interpret, and present data related to your projects. You must be a team player. Your focus will be on​ developing new project​s, where you will work very closely with colleagues in the Highways team, including Design and Delivery Engineers.

​Our close liaison with ward councillors requires the right political awareness to work with elected members and to write and present reports at committee meetings.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Hybrid working (dependent on the role)
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.
Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.