Senior Principal Civil Engineer Drainage

About The Job

Do you want to develop your career in a dynamic team delivering projects for our future? We have an exciting opportunity to work within the growing Highways, Transport & Planning service.

Salary: £35,411 to £42,503 per annum.

Contract: Permanent.

Hours: Full time, 37 hours per week.

Location: Chichester, hybrid working available.

The Drainage team is responsible for delivering minor capital drainage schemes across West Sussex. They support sustainable communities through coordination, implementation, and promotion of key objectives within the County.

We are passionate about our staff and have a strong team ethic. We encourage and support training including a range of apprenticeships, technical training, project management development and supporting staff to get their Engineering Technician/Incorporated Engineer/Chartered professional qualifications.

As a Senior Engineer you will support the team in delivering a customer focused service, including design implementation and monitoring engineering solutions which are sustainable and appropriate to risk, budget and technical need.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) maintain 4,046km Carriageways, 3,950km of Footways and 662 Bridges of which the public use daily.

In this role you will be responsible for undertaking investigative works to understand how drainage networks operate, including site visits to determine connectivity and undertaking or managing level surveys where appropriate. You will be analysing and interpreting a range of varied and complex data to prepare detailed reports and make recommendations on a range of activities within the service.

Rewards and Benefits

We care hugely about wellbeing, allowing time for fun, and developing our team to be the best they can be. Alongside this, we also offer the below benefits:

• A competitive salary
• 26 days annual leave + bank holidays (increasing to 27 days from the 1st April 2023)
• A generous pension scheme
• Supported and encouraged to achieve professional membership of institutions such as the Institution of Civil Engineers and/or the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, to IEng or CEng status as appropriate
• Subscription fees of one appropriate professional body paid for by WSCC
• A strong supportive management team
• A range of discounts including Argos, Samsung, Asos, B&Q and many more
• Free access to employee assistant programmes
• Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres
• A range of commuting and business travel discount and initiatives.

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

Experience and Skills

Key Skills:

• Ability to identify problems and resolve issues independently, particularly when attending site inspections or investigations, planning solutions, and making sound pragmatic decisions which will have an impact on the service
• Excellent customer service skills and the ability to seek and introduce continuous improvement and innovation, for self and team
• Excellent literacy and numeracy skills to prepare reports/briefs, programmes of work, undertake research and maintain budgets/accounts
• Sound analytical and judgemental skills to analyse and interpret varied and complex technical data/information, situations and surveys and develop solutions
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to provide complex, technical specialist advice and guidance to a range of audiences including non-specialist
• Create and maintain effective working relationships and influence the behaviour and conduct of colleagues to ensure the highest level of respect and service
• Ability to direct and coordinate the work of external consultants, contractors, and suppliers.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• BTEC HNC or degree qualification, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer or post-graduate qualification within the specialist area, or equivalent qualification or experience demonstrating that level of advanced applied knowledge
• Relevant membership of a professional body, e.g., Chartered or Incorporate Engineer
• Experience working in a highways or water-related industry
• Knowledge or experience in level surveying
• Detailed and thorough knowledge of relevant highways and transportation standards and procedures, including a broad understanding of civil engineering design and construction procedures, techniques, and statutory procedures
• Demonstrable evidence of applying specialist knowledge and providing advice in relation to specific specialist area

Further Information

The reference number for this role is EIE01094

To apply, please follow the links below upload your CV and cover letter explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role.

There is a requirement to be able to travel independently to various locations around the county, often to remote locations. There will be an occasional need to undertake walked site inspections and safety audits, to wear appropriate personal protective equipment, and to carry surveying or computer equipment. Such visits could take place in adverse weather conditions or on busy highways.

There will be some interaction with members of the public, for example, dealing with customer complaints and queries. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.

Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!