Senior Mechanical Design Engineer - Water Industry in Edinburgh

Join to apply for the Senior Mechanical Design Engineer role at RPS. We are currently in the market to recruit a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer to join our dynamic and growing Water Consultancy team operating across the UK. You’ll work on exciting AMP8 and AMP9 projects, ensuring exceptional water services in a collaborative environment. RPS, Tetra Tech are actively engaged in several long‑term wastewater programmes across the UK water industry, helping our clients address major pollution and flooding challenges.

As part of these programmes, our wastewater consulting team undertakes a broad range of projects including urban drainage and water quality modelling studies; WINEP, SOAF, DWMPs and catchment investment planning; and the development of engineering solutions from feasibility through to outline and detailed design.

About The Team

As part of Tetra Tech, RPS Water Consulting is a team of engineers, designers, modellers, and data analysts providing asset management and operational strategy development to our water industry clients. This is an evolving industry, providing challenges and opportunities that require innovation, dedication and teamwork to help us meet our clients’ needs.

About You

You will be experienced in liaising with the client to understand fully their needs, interpret their data, and develop a project plan. You will be able to coordinate multidisciplinary teams to ensure that the project as a whole meets its goals. You will be experienced in producing technical outputs such as technical specifications, schedules, and reports, sizing and designing pumping systems and aeration systems, and be familiar with collaborative planning reviews and designs of solutions. You will be able to provide engineering inputs and design outputs in collaboration with other disciplines, producing general arrangement drawings, 3D models, 2D plans and sections, and piping & instrumentation diagrams.

To be successful in this role, you will have strong communication skills and be able to deliver technical presentations to clients and other design engineers as well as inputting into collaborative design discussions including technical workshops and safety reviews, including HAZOPs and ALMs. You will understand how water and wastewater treatment processes operate and be experienced in assessing existing site infrastructure to develop and deliver the mechanical design.

By joining us, you're not just taking on exciting projects and collaborating with leading minds. You’re making a meaningful impact on millions of lives in the UK, leaving a legacy for generations to come.

Your Responsibilities

• Balance your workload across a wide variety of projects from a range of major long‑term frameworks with water companies and contractors across the UK.
• Seek to achieve positive outcomes for projects and the community.
• Work closely with other senior and principal engineers and other stakeholders supporting project delivery.
• Help to develop the wider team by acting as a mentor and guide to less experienced members, checking their work and providing technical governance and oversight.
• Interpret and understand technical drawings and supervise their production, ideally through AutoCAD and/or Inventor experience.
• Undertake asset condition surveys and prepare reports and recommendations.
• Contribute to the production of process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs).
• Prepare mechanical design deliverables including calculations, reports, specifications, datasheets, drawings, schedules, and procurement documentation.
• Provide support to allow the project team to comply with the duties of Designer under CDM, including through the production of design risk assessments.
• Ensure quality assurance systems and procedures are followed, and that high standards are maintained.
• Act as a project manager, package manager or design team leader as required.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• A good technical understanding of mechanical engineering principles.
• Significant water industry experience.
• Proficient in pump selection and the design of pumping systems.
• Using P&IDs to create equipment, valve, and pipe schedules.
• Producing specifications, reports and technical documentation.
• Complying with the Construction, Design & Management (CDM) Regulations and designing for safety.
• Experience with various methods of contract procurement and engagement, ideally including the NEC forms of contract.
• Managing work to time, cost, and quality criteria.
• Supporting junior staff in their technical and personal development.
• Ability to travel and visit operational and construction sites as required, to act in a safe manner, and to survey, inspect, and witness test mechanical equipment and installations.
• Knowledge of design tools and software such as AutoCAD or similar design packages would be an advantage but is not essential.

Qualifications

• A degree‑level qualification in mechanical engineering or a closely‑allied subject, ideally IMechE‑accredited.
• Postgraduate qualifications are an advantage.
• Chartered engineer or working towards and nearing chartership.

What’s in it for you?

A personal development plan and a transparent career pathway puts you in the driving seat of your career and you’ll be supported as far as you want to go. We encourage and value different ideas, perspectives, and styles of thinking. We need a mix of experiences and skills to develop the most innovative ideas. We respect one another and recognise the potential and contribution of everyone. You’ll be joining a diverse community and a company that puts its people first and prioritises their wellbeing. A career here is far from ordinary. Here you’re not a number, you are part of the solution.

Why RPS?

We’re a connected community, working together to achieve exceptional outcomes. We understand the need to work flexibly, empowering our people to create a work‑life balance that’s right for them. We also understand the importance of collaboration and social connection in the office environment. With agile offices and hybrid working offered as standard, we work with you to find the right balance to meet client needs – this is a workplace that works for you.

RPS, A Tetra Tech Company represents an exciting new chapter in our business. With 27,000 employees in more than 550 offices in more than 120 countries on seven continents, Tetra Tech is a leading, global provider of consulting and engineering services. As a Tetra Tech company, RPS is proud to offer our people market‑leading development and project opportunities, helping to solve some of the world’s most complex problems. Come and join our team and truly make a difference in the future of water!

Mutual Dignity And Respect

Mindful that a truly welcoming organisation must make appropriate use of talent on a global basis and without unnecessary barriers, we are committed to embedding principles of mutual dignity and respect in all People processes. This approach ensures that we reflect the communities and clients we serve, thereby securing, developing, and retaining the best available talent for the company’s future.

To help us monitor our performance and continue to improve in relation to mutual dignity and respect we would appreciate your compliance in completing the questions in this section. The information provided will form no part of the selection process and will be treated in strict confidence.

Recruitment Agencies

We have a Preferred Supplier List of trusted partners to assist us when required and do not acknowledge any speculative CVs or unsolicited candidate introductions from agencies not on this list. Please refer to the careers page on our website if you require any further information.

Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom