Technical Director in Plymouth

AECOM is currently recruiting for a Technical Director to join our UK & Ireland Building Engineering team. This technical practice comprises over 1000 engineering professionals across 28 office locations drawn from a variety of disciplines in the built environment. Within the structural engineering practice, there are over 170 engineers across the UK. This opportunity has arisen in our South West & Wales (SW&W) business unit which has teams in our Basingstoke, Bristol and Plymouth offices and a focus on Defence, Aviation and Education projects. The team undertakes a range of structural engineering projects including those which feature seismic, blast and other dynamic loads.

The right candidate will need to demonstrate a desire to be challenged, support the leadership of the SW&W team and undertake technical delivery of projects. In return, we offer a challenging and rewarding role, career development, a positive working environment and a competitive reward package. This opportunity would suit an individual who has broad experience, but who has specialisms in advanced analysis techniques possibly including Finite Element, Soil Structure Interaction, or non-linear dynamics and has demonstrable experience of team and project management within complex and demanding project delivery.

As a Technical Director, you will be a key member of the technical leadership team and the role will require representing AECOM in a client-facing environment. You will therefore need to be adept at engaging with clients and other professionals throughout the project lifecycle and use your engineering expertise to make a significant contribution to design delivery. We expect you to have experience in the delivery of projects from inception through to completion and an ability to run projects, manage resources and commercial aspects of projects.

Some of our recent projects include:

• HMNB Devonport: Supporting the development of infrastructure at HMNB Devonport, the team have designed seismically qualified upgrade works to existing dry docks to support deep maintenance of nuclear powered submarines.
• NPSCY: Supporting the new build of Australia's first nuclear powered submarine construction yard in Adelaide, Australia to facilitate the construction of the new SSNA submarines as part of the AUKUS venture. All infrastructure shall be designed for all design basis challenges, including seismic hazards.

We are increasingly supporting new and exciting projects across these markets, in the UK and globally, in particular relating to delivery of nuclear infrastructure in support of the AUKUS programme.

This opportunity is to join the SW&W structural engineering team which is located across Basingstoke, Bristol and Plymouth. The SW&W team consists of 43 structural engineers and BIM specialists. AECOM has an established flexible working policy, ‘Freedom to Grow’. This supports flexible and remote working which works for the business, client and individual. The successful candidate could be located in any part of the UK, but a willingness to travel to South-west of the UK (or other UK offices) to support the team and project meetings is expected. We are looking to enhance and grow the team with individuals with a sound technical background and who share our enthusiasm and determination to support our expanding workload. This is a great opportunity to play a significant part in some exciting future construction projects.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Take on responsibility for coordinating and leading technical delivery and managing commercial and resourcing aspects of demanding projects whilst working without supervision.
• Demonstrate leadership and contribute to the management of the structural engineering team through business development, client relationship management, technical leadership or team development.
• Lead on the preparation of technical reports which clearly convey complex structural engineering concepts to clients and other stakeholders.
• Lead technical client relationships and play a major role in business development work.
• Lead independent technical reviews of work prepared by others.
• Be a leader in one or more areas of technology.
• Approve and sign off work.
• Mentor and coach others in their professional development.
• Have a desire to learn new skills and give due consideration to the wider engineering issues related to the projects being delivered.

There are opportunities for continuing professional development and career progression.

Minimum Requirements:

• Excellent knowledge of standard engineering practices, techniques and procedures.
• Lead in the analysis and design of seismically qualified structures.
• Ability to engage and support safety case interface within the nuclear sector.
• Proven track record of successful project delivery within the defence sector.
• Proven ability to undertake structural design using current British Standards and Eurocodes and associated standards applicable to seismic design.
• Excellent knowledge of advanced analysis techniques such as finite element analysis. Experience of soil structure interaction assessments is desirable, but not essential.
• An understanding of project management principles and practices to support coordination of technical delivery of projects with internal and external clients.
• Excellent communication skills with a demonstrable ability to write compelling proposals and technical reports which adequately convey complex technical concepts to clients.
• Prepare and deliver engaging presentations to existing and prospective clients.
• Sound knowledge of construction contracts, professional agreements and experience in client engagement during the preparation of fee proposals and agreeing scopes of service.
• Experienced in the use of commercially available design software packages.
• Ability to communicate in the English language, both written and verbal, with an ability to explain engineering principles in a manner which can be understood by a non-specialist.
• Able to decide on the level of reliance and accuracy to attach to a variety of results obtained from design software and finite element analysis and to interpret results into practical engineering solutions.

Qualifications:

• Master’s / Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate Civil or Structural Engineering discipline.
• Must be a Chartered Engineer with ICE or IStructE.
• The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain suitable security clearance for this role.

AECOM is committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and takes any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.