Senior Project Engineer, Old Oak Common

Our client is recruiting a Senior Project Engineer to work on one of the most complex and consequential pieces of infrastructure under construction in the UK, joining the client-side team at Old Oak Common at a critical stage of delivery.

The work centres on the offsite construction programme surrounding the station, including the replacement of two bridges spanning more than eight lanes of railway, a major road lowering scheme and a four-year road closure that brings its own sustained engineering and coordination challenges. The programme is building towards a significant blockade in the Paddington area, a critical milestone that the team is actively gearing up for. With a contractor and design already in place, the immediate priority is keeping construction moving, resolving queries as they arise and working closely with the subcontractor to drive delivery on site. The work runs through to 2032, so this is a long-term commitment on a programme of genuine scale and consequence.

This is a client-side role. Your day-to-day purpose is to help the contractor deliver, to provide technical coordination across the contracts and interfaces affecting the station, and to put in place the assurance that will allow assets to be accepted into operational use in the future. You will work across design, construction and commissioning activity, keeping a clear view of what needs to happen, what is at risk and what needs to be resolved.

What the role involves

You will coordinate technical assurance across the station scope, reviewing deliverables, supporting stage gate submissions and checking that design and construction activity meets the applicable requirements and standards. Where there are gaps or non-conformances, you will identify them, communicate them clearly and work with the right people to close them out.

You will manage interfaces across the contracts and systems that affect the station, keeping connections between the main works, railway systems and neighbouring contracts well maintained and clearly tracked. You will also support the management of technical risks and assumptions, and make sure that engineering issues and change are communicated to the people who need to act on them.

You will discharge NEC3 Supervisor duties and act as Principal Designer Representative under CDM Regulations 2015 within your delegated authority. You will engage directly with the contractor and supply chain organisations, providing guidance on design solutions and promoting best practice and efficient engineering approaches where the opportunity exists.

What you need to bring Your background is in station engineering or major infrastructure, with experience that covers design, installation and testing and commissioning at a scale where multi-disciplinary complexity and competing programme demands were part of daily working life.

You will have worked in a technically accountable capacity, assuring contractor outputs and protecting the client's engineering position. You will know how to read what a contractor is producing and assess whether it genuinely meets the requirement. Experience supporting CDM duties associated with Principal Designer or Designer is required.

You will have a working knowledge of national and international standards applicable to stations, UK construction regulations including CDM, and NEC3 contract structures. Familiarity with the Common Safety Method for risk assessment is expected. Commercial awareness, including an understanding of cost and schedule pressures and the need to reach integrated solutions, is also important. Chartered Engineer status or active membership of a relevant professional institution is expected, though equivalent experience will be considered.

Useful to have Experience on HS2 or a comparable major rail or infrastructure programme. A background that spans more than one phase of a programme lifecycle, from design through to construction assurance and handover. Experience coordinating assurance activity across multiple supply chain organisations. Familiarity with configuration management and interface management tools used on major programmes. The role is based at Old Oak Common