Location
Manchester (Aviator Way) or London (St Mary’s Axe) with hybrid working and flexible home working arrangements. Occasional travel to project locations across the UK may be required depending on contract needs.

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Negotiable

About the Role
We are excited to offer a leadership opportunity as Head of Mechanical & Electrical within CEL - Costain’s in-house Engineering & Design Services team. This role will lead and oversee the Mechanical, Electrical, Piping, and Control & Instrumentation disciplines, supporting secured frameworks and leveraging Costain’s strong pipeline across multiple sectors including Energy, Water, Nuclear, Defence, and Transportation.

As a key leadership position, you will manage a multi-disciplinary engineering team delivering complex engineering and design services throughout the project lifecycle, from tendering and preconstruction through to construction and handover. You will work closely with other engineering disciplines and sector teams to ensure successful delivery aligned with Costain’s strategic growth ambitions to become an engineering-led business.

Reporting directly to the Group Director of Engineering Services, you will be responsible for resource forecasting, managing design progress, ensuring technical compliance, and driving continuous improvement. This role requires a visible leader who fosters a culture of ownership, accountability, and innovation within the design delivery team.

Costain values diverse perspectives and encourages candidates who are passionate about making a positive impact to apply, even if they do not meet every requirement.

Experience
- Proven background managing multi-disciplinary engineering teams on complex infrastructure projects across the programme lifecycle
- Successful track record delivering complex engineering scopes to budget and programme
- Experience in effective change management and leading value engineering exercises
- Skilled in managing workload, resource demand, and team skillsets
- Significant engineering design experience within relevant disciplines
- Experience managing 3rd party designers and sub-contractors including technical approvals and compliance
- Strong technical management skills with ability to review design quality and compliance across mechanical, electrical, piping, instrumentation, and civil disciplines
- Demonstrated commitment to safety in design, lean design principles, sustainable practices, and digital innovation

About you
Leadership qualities with the ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels
Strategic thinker with a proactive approach to resolving complex technical and delivery challenges
Ability to foster a collaborative and accountable team culture
Committed to continuous improvement and embedding lessons learned

Qualifications
Chartered Engineer status (ICE, IMechE, IStructE, IET, CIOB, CIHT or equivalent) is essential

Desirable
Experience in setting up or leading project engineering delivery aspects such as design workflows, information management systems, and quality controls