Mechanical Designated Individual in Manchester

Due to a forthcoming retirement, we are seeking to recruit a Mechanical DI (Designated Individual) to join our technical excellence team who are responsible for driving technical understanding, compliance and best practice across all Costain construction and commissioning projects. The Mechanical DI role is a key role in Costain, reporting to the Group Chief Engineer.

Role Location: Home and Costain Office in London or Manchester. Regular travel to project sites/client offices – approximately 3 or 4 days per week.

The technical excellence team are responsible for driving technical understanding, compliance and best practice across all Costain construction and commissioning projects. A hands‑on and supportive approach is essential to improve standards, share learning, audit and be recognised as the subject matter expert. Safety and quality in delivery is essential, as is an ability to provide leadership in complex/challenging project situations and ensure the team can successfully resolve any issues.

Understanding and supporting the full project lifecycle – tendering, design, construction, supply chain, commissioning, handover is essential. You will focus on mechanical delivery, including leadership of technical/product/operational controls and processes, the Costain Way, commissioning and documentation. The role will provide support to other teams and development activities across Costain. This role is both internal and external facing and includes responsibility for reporting, people management, brand protection and industry engagement.

Drive a right‑first‑time culture across all our projects from tendering to handover, enhance project outcomes such as improving safety, compliance, predictability, margin and resilience while reducing time, cost, waste, carbon and resources needed to deliver. Success will be measured in multiple ways, including rework reduction, achieving predictable delivery, sharing excellence and embedding progressive assurance.

At Costain, we believe diverse perspectives drive innovation. If you’re passionate about making a positive impact and think you can bring value to our team, we’d love to hear from you—even if you don’t tick every box. Your unique skills and experiences could be exactly what we need.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Be a focal point for industry best practice, be recognised as a technical leader and have an awareness of regulations and client standards.
• Support assurance activities such as audit, investigation and review; engage with the TRMP process and review findings with Verifying Engineers.
• Build the mechanical discipline and expertise in the company through a team of leaders providing coverage across the operational business.
• Undertake and manage audits and engagements to assure that the processes and procedures are sufficient and relevant.
• Ensure bids and projects at planning stage receive the support they need.
• Provide expert knowledge in the review and selection of new plant, tools or equipment as appropriate.
• Be the focal point for lessons learned across the business and communicate to Contract Leaders, Engineering Managers and duty holders.
• Review and update policy, procedure, competence and training as necessary.
• Draft and maintain the Must Do’s, How To’s & tools as required for the mechanical discipline, consulting with experts as required; be the focal point for queries, feedback & changes.
• Review and sign off bespoke processes and procedures for specific projects or frameworks to assure they meet Costain requirements.
• Verify and maintain appointments of the Mechanical Authorising Engineers on projects and frameworks, and assure their competence to appoint authorised persons to form the project teams.
• Support IME(ICH)/IET related professional development, work with L&D to deliver it, and support candidates to professional registration.
• Assist in recruitment, with key hires, develop emerging talent; develop careers and retain talent.
• Drive the culture of right‑first‑time and predictable best‑in‑class delivery across Costain and our supply chain through leadership and technical ability.
• Support teams to make the right mechanical engineering decisions.
• Ensure best practice & excellence across Costain by providing compliant, robust and constructable solutions.
• Maintain technical standards / ISO’s / certification requirements in partnership with others.
• Coordinate with industry bodies, partners and institutions to capture best practice.
• Drive future needs, including sustainability, renewable energy and emerging trends.
• Be able to react to critical events through direct engagement and hands‑on support.
• Develop and deliver mechanical‑focused training sessions, governance and processes.

ESSENTIAL

• Leading technical expert in their field.
• Visible leader with clear communication, presenting and influencing skills.
• Proven experience in product/technical quality in an infrastructure environment.
• Understanding of risk/opportunity.
• Strong people focus, able to manage, mentor and engage.
• Commercially aware and able to manage budgets and people.
• Practical experience of construction operations.
• Knowledge of more than one sector (breadth of knowledge).
• Ability to take an overview of company operations and identify key risk areas.
• Experienced in major infrastructure programmes/projects in the UK.

DESIRABLE

• Inspection and certification of works.
• Off‑site modern methods of construction.
• Mobility to work on various projects throughout the UK.
• Ability to achieve UK security clearance.
• Environmental / carbon / sustainability / digital awareness.
• Experienced in leading and growing teams.
• Knowledge of the design process.
• Experienced in leading dispute resolution.
• Understanding of strategic infrastructure trends / new approaches / innovations.
• Knowledge of UK regulatory framework.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Technically qualified relevant to their discipline, ideally degree qualified.
• Professionally qualified UK recognised – such as IEng and CEng.
• Experienced in engineering/technical/construction background.
• UK driving licence.
• Ability to hold UK security clearance.
• CSCS card.

DESIRABLE (QUALIFICATIONS)

• Risk management training/qualification.
• Health and safety related training.
• Bid management training.
• Incident investigation training.