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Principal Civil Engineer

Arcadis
May 12, 2026
Full-time
On-site
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Engineering & Design
Description

As an Arcadian, you already help us deliver world leading sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. You are part of our global business comprising 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life.

Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can continue to solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

The electricity transmission and distribution networks in the UK are currently undergoing major upgrading to meet future demand. As part of the Resilience team, Arcadis is seeking a Principal Civil Engineer with a minimum of 10 years proven combined experience in civil and structural engineering generally, 4 years of which should have been in transmission and distribution projects up to 400kV.

This position involves management of workload of teams based in Glasgow and at various GEC locations in India.

Reporting to the Associate Technical Director/Technical Director, you will be responsible for technical delivery of project-related tasks to meet budget, timeframe and quality targets, meeting, or exceeding, client expectations, promoting and marketing all facets of Arcadis' services during interfaces with clients and other sectors and disciplines, contributing towards the achievement of the divisional business plan and building networks within the industry.

Role accountabilities:

  • Lead engineering activities aligned with electricity substation development
  • Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure cohesive, high-quality design solutions
  • Define and implement project collaboration strategies with global design teams
  • Manage design deliverables: drawings, BIM models, reports, and specification
  • Review/approve team outputs and attend project meetings as appropriate
  • Oversee engineering management aligned with Arcadis Integrated Management System
  • Own Designer Hazard Logs and communicate residual risks to client
  • Coordinate project planning, resource allocation, and team management
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior team members, offering encouragement towards professional status

Qualifications & Experience:

  • Preferably ICE Chartered status
  • Proven track record in civil engineering/substation design and delivery, including earthworks, drainage, roads, structures, utilities etc.
  • Proficient in use of following software packages: InfoDrainage, AutoCAD, Revit/Robot, TEDDS, Civil3D, BIM integration, etc.
  • Strong working knowledge of design standards: SuDS, DMRB, Building Regulations, Operator standards etc
  • Experienced in project management: planning, programming, commercial, and client relations
  • Experienced at leading teams and supporting professional development, with excellent people-management skills
  • Ability to apply evidence-based engineering solutions with sound theoretical knowledge
  • Good working knowledge of H+S regulations
  • Competence in manual calculation methods alongside software tools would be considered beneficial

Continue your career journey as an Arcadian.

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You do meaningful work, and no matter where your next role in Arcadis takes you, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark; on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you. 

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people. We believe that by working together diverse people with different experiences develop the most innovative ideas. Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of how we improve quality of life and we work closely with our people across six ED&I Workstreams: Age, Disability, Faith, Gender, LGBT+ and Race. A diverse and skilled workforce is essential to our success.