Contractor’s Engineering Manager (CEM) – Cambridgeshire

Provide engineering leadership, governance and assurance across projects from tender through design, construction and handback, acting as the Contractor’s Engineering Manager in line with Network Rail requirements. As a member of the project-specific Lead Design Organisation, work alongside commercial and project management leads to define project strategy and direct engineering delivery across the project lifecycle. Bring the skills of an informed buyer of design services to the team. Support business objectives by embedding pragmatic, value-driven engineering, with a strong focus on early engagement and buildability.

Responsibilities

• Act as the Contractor’s Engineering Manager (CEM) in accordance with Network Rail assurance requirements, to support and promote the achievement of business goals.
• Oversee engineering across the project life cycle; from tender / feasibility, through outline and detailed design to construction and handback.
• Support the business by embedding pragmatic, value-driven engineering, alongside early engagement and buildability focus.
• Lead the engineering team, ensuring internal assurance is completed to enable confidence in the quality of any design that gets submitted to the client, ensuring compliance with the contract scope, relevant standards and tender construction allowances; design intent should be well thought through and defensible.
• Establish and maintain Engineering Management Plan(s) (EMP), incorporating clear engineering roles & responsibilities and competence management for the project team.
• Use Spencer TRAM (Task Role Assignment Matrix) to drive clarity of roles, accountability and engineering control.
• Ensure clear, concise and accurate Survey & Design Briefs are produced and issued, enabling effective engagement of internal and external services and alignment to the intended end solution.
• Contribute to the development and review of design delivery plans (e.g. CMPs) to ensure scope, cost and programme alignment.
• Promote right-first-time delivery, removal of non-value-adding process, clear and auditable decision making.
• Constructively challenge unnecessary requirements, preventing over-engineering and ensuring appropriate agreement for change where required.
• Coordinate engineering across all relevant disciplines (Geotechnical, Civils/Structure, P-Way, Signalling, OLE, Telecoms, E&P, MEP, Human Factors), ensuring effective integration, safety, delivery and timely resolution of interface issues.
• Provide engineering oversight during construction to ensure works align with approved design, methods are safe/compliant and engineering decisions support delivery.
• Oversee construction phasing, methodology, temporary works integration and engineering support to site teams.
• Review and approval of WPPs (unless an appropriate delegate has been identified).
• Lead engineering input into TQs/RFIs; CEM is required to review and approve TQs/RFIs prior to issue, ensuring impacts on cost, programme and risk are understood.
• Act as the primary engineering contact with the Client and Network Rail assurance teams.
• Maintain a clear approach to scope boundaries, change control and instruction to protect the business against un-instructed scope creep.
• Work with the Handback Manager, lead engineering assurance for testing and commissioning.
• Support tender activities through buildability input, engineering strategy development, risk identification and scope development.
• Apply principles of “Design to budget, build to cost”; challenge over-engineered or unaffordable proposals.
• Support development of CREs and junior engineers as well as future CEM capability, aligned to business pipeline requirements and future capability needs.

Requirements and Qualifications

• Proven experience as CEM or CRE with progression to CEM.
• Experience in Rail infrastructure projects (NR environment essential), multi-disciplinary delivery design and construction phases.
• Strong understanding of Network Rail standards and assurance processes, including engineering management (NR/L2/INI/02009 principles).
• Ability to apply standards pragmatically, balancing compliance with delivery efficiency.
• Must be collaborative and approachable, a strong communicator across disciplines.
• Comfortable constructively challenging clients, designers and internal teams to ensure solutions remain aligned with scope, standards and project objectives.
• Confident in defending technical decisions and design intent, using clear rationale and evidence.
• Strong commercial awareness: understanding of where contractual obligations end and over-engineering begin.
• Promote lean, efficient engineering processes and solutions – lead team to right-first-time design through self-assurance rather than reliance on external validation.
• Committed to developing others and improving engineering capability within the team.