Location
Manchester (Northern office) with home-based working and flexibility to travel to sites/offices as required across the North West of England.

Hours
Full Time - standard business hours with flexibility as needed to meet project and client demands.

Salary
Negotiable

About the Role
As AMP8 ramps up, Costain is seeking a Chief Process Engineer to join the Asset Optimisation Team supporting multiple clients including United Utilities, Northumbrian Water, and Yorkshire Water. This role is critical in providing wastewater process engineering consultancy across the UK to optimise assets and programmes. You will work within an agile technical team delivering optimisation studies at feasibility, concept, optioneering, and preliminary design stages to mitigate risk, return sites to compliance, or enable low or no build solutions.

This Chief Engineer position is not just a role but a strategic opportunity to strengthen and grow the team, unlocking greater capacity and advancing service delivery. You will provide technical leadership and strategic support across Northern water sector frameworks, leading the execution of asset optimisation projects and directing teams to develop innovative, practical, and digital process solutions.

This is a home-based role with required attendance at sites and offices as per business and client needs, ideally suited to candidates based in the North West of England.

Experience
- Significant and proven UK experience in the design, operation, and optimisation of wastewater treatment plants.
- Knowledge of the UK water utility asset life cycle process.
- Project management experience.
- Background in engineering consultancy or contracting design environment as well as operational utility experience.
- Ability to independently drive teams and projects.
- Proactive, self-motivated, and solutions biased.
- Strong interpersonal skills with ability to collaborate and influence senior colleagues.

Desirable Experience
- Comprehensive knowledge of the UK Regulatory environment.
- Experience across the full project lifecycle: scoping, outline design, detailed design, construction support, commissioning, and handover.
- Proven background in process engineering definition including mass balance, data analysis, design calculations, technology selection, major equipment and package datasheet specification, process flow diagrams, process control philosophies, and P&ID’s.
- Excellent commercial awareness and business development skills.
- Stakeholder and project management awareness.
- Proven leadership and line management experience.

About You
Proactive and strategic thinker with strong leadership capabilities, able to provide technical direction and foster team growth. Collaborative and influential communicator who thrives in a dynamic, client-facing environment.

Qualifications
- Essential: Degree level (or equivalent) in a Process related discipline.
- Chartered Engineer status (CEng MICE / CEng MIStructE).
- Desirable: Membership of a relevant engineering institution such as CIWEM or IChemE.
- Post Graduate Qualification is advantageous.