Strategic Development Lead in London

Costain is excited to announce a strong pipeline of opportunities that align with our strategic growth ambitions of becoming an engineering-led business. We are pleased to share an emerging opportunity for the position of Strategic Development Lead for CEL (Costain Engineering Limited). Costain Engineering Limited (CEL) provides engineering and design services across the entire project lifecycle for all 6 Costain Sectors (Energy, Defence & Nuclear, Water, Roads, Rail and Aviation & Ports).

This role will be responsible for owning and managing CEL’s business development and work winning capability across all sectors, working in parallel with sector driven opportunity pursuits to secure the future engineering pipeline, with future scope to independently lead targeted engineering tender pursuits with sector buy-in. Working with CEL management, clients and Costain sectors, the role will be required to understand emerging business opportunities, shape value propositions and produce winning tender submissions, playing a vital role in unlocking CEL’s growth potential.

As CEL looks to grow at scale, this role will be pivotal to developing and improving the engineering function’s processes and systems for work winning, which will allow more efficient integration with sector work winning activities, provide enhanced pipeline visibility, streamlined governance and quality bid delivery. This role will report directly to the Group Director of Engineering Services and offers a hybrid working arrangement predominantly based in London, Manchester or Aberdeen with an occasional requirement to travel to project locations throughout the UK depending on contract needs.

Essential

• Masters Degree in relevant Engineering Discipline
• Hold Membership of Professional Industry Bodies (e.g. IChemE, Energy Institute, ICE)

Responsibilities

• Own and lead on all Costain’s Costain Engineering Limited’s Business Development and Work Winning activities, liaising with Costain’s sectors, group functions and clients.
• Collaborate strategically with Costain’s Sectors and CEL Management teams in the pursuit of relevant engineering opportunities, developing best in class value propositions and winning bids to secure a strong future pipeline of work aligned with Costain’s growth ambitions.
• As a member of the CEL SLT, provide cross-business leadership to deliver CEL’s business plan and growth ambitions, with effective communication to all key stakeholders on challenges and progress.
• Improve visibility and management of the engineering pipeline across all six sectors, assisting CEL Management teams to better identify future workload and map resource demand against our pipeline.
• Conduct regular relevant market research and analysis to identify any new opportunities for CEL and sectors.
• Identify and implement process and system improvements for CEL work winning efforts to enable more streamlined integration with Costain sector work winning efforts, whilst also enabling CEL to manage bids independently as required.
• Drive improvements in tender submission quality and implement automation into CEL work winning processes to find efficiencies, including but not limited to engineering estimating processes.
• Develop benchmarking data for engineering services tenders to track development and drive change as required against industry standards, in addition to KPIs and performance metrics for business winning activities across CEL.
• Develop and maintain external client partnerships and alliances to complement in-house capabilities and position Costain for growth and success in target markets.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Significant and proven Business Development / Work Winning experience within the construction, engineering, or infrastructure sectors.
• Values-led and committed to making a difference.
• Drives change through a flexible personal style, particularly through influencing, forging relationships and building consensus.
• Innovative, curious and empathetic - seeking connections and new solutions.
• Ability to manage a high degree of complexity and ambiguity.
• Pragmatic, solution-oriented approach and a can-do attitude.
• Strong business/commercial acumen.
• Expert client management and client relationships skills.
• A proven record of leading a team in selling complex services and solutions with a preference in a managed, engineering or professional services environment.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate, present and influence credibly and effectively at all levels of the organization.
• Proven sound judgment and flexibility in balancing multiple project requirements, tight deadlines, and keeping people and projects moving on schedule, with high attention to detail.
• Experience of proactively engaging customers to improve relationships for the long-term and continue to drive value.
• Exceptional leadership qualities with evidence of building and maintaining strong relationships with internal and external customers and key business stakeholders.

Full time

Posting Date: 2026-07-22