Engineering Director

Engineering Director Location: East Midlands Salary: Competitive We’re exclusively partnering with a specialist engineering business to appoint an Engineering Director, a senior leadership opportunity for an experienced rail engineering professional ready to take ownership of technical integrity, engineering governance and multi-disciplinary design assurance.

This is a pivotal role within the business, combining strategic leadership with hands-on technical accountability. You’ll lead a team of engineering disciplines, establish and maintain robust assurance processes, and act as the ultimate technical authority for the organisation’s design output.

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, you’ll lead the Engineering Department across electrical, project engineering, structural, industrial design and engineering design functions.

Key responsibilities

• Technical leadership: Act as the organisation’s Technical Authority across all engineering disciplines, operating in line with relevant Rail requirements and the Contractor’s Engineering Manager framework.
• Design assurance: Own the engineering management system, including design production, checking, verification, approval and assurance processes.
• Technical governance: Appoint and oversee competent Design Approvers across each discipline, ensuring robust sign-off and accountability.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration: Chair design reviews and technical assurance meetings, acting as the primary technical contact for clients and external assurance bodies.
• Tender and commercial support: Approve technical solutions for bids, identify engineering risks and provide technical input to pricing decisions.
• Resource management: Oversee weekly engineering resource allocation, balancing workload, utilisation, capability and project priorities.
• Safety and compliance: Discharge designer responsibilities under CDM 2015 and ensure engineering activities meet applicable safety and regulatory requirements.
• People development: Lead, coach and develop Discipline Leads, conduct performance reviews and support engineers working towards EngTech, IEng and CEng registration.
• Continuous improvement: Chair the monthly Technical & Safety Committee, maintain engineering competence frameworks and drive improvements in quality, governance and technical performance.

About you:

We’re looking for a credible engineering leader who combines strong technical judgement with the ability to lead people, influence stakeholders and take accountability for complex engineering decisions.

You’ll ideally bring:

• Proven experience as a Contractor’s Engineering Manager (CEM) or in an equivalent Technical Authority role on UK rail projects.
• A strong understanding of Rail engineering management, design assurance and technical governance requirements.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams and overseeing design approval processes.
• A track record of maintaining technical integrity, managing engineering risk and ensuring compliance across design activities.
• Knowledge of CDM 2015 designer duties and the responsibilities associated with safe design.
• Experience developing engineering capability, managing competence and supporting professional registration.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) status with a relevant professional institution.

Experience spanning electrical, structural and systems integration disciplines would be advantageous, as would familiarity with ISO 9001 management systems and RISQS audits.

Why this opportunity?

This is a rare opportunity to take ownership of engineering strategy and technical integrity within a specialist rail engineering business. You’ll have the autonomy to shape engineering standards, influence key business decisions and drive continuous improvement across a multi-disciplinary team.

Apply today! Or, for more information please email Abdul.Walid@robertwalters.com.

Robert Walters Operations Limited is an employment business and employment agency and welcomes applications from all candidates