Senior Drainage Advisor - SES

National Highways have an excellent opportunity for a Senior Drainage Engineer to join our Engineering Division within the Safety, Engineering and Standards (SES) Directorate. As a Senior Drainage Engineer in SES, you will have a great opportunity to the work in our team of drainage and water specialists, providing technical direction and assurance for all highways drainage infrastructure on the Strategic Road Network. You will be responsible for maintaining and developing drainage policy, standards and best practice, as well as providing technical advice to those parts of the organisation responsible for delivery.

The Senior Drainage Engineer will also develop collaborative relationships with internal colleagues and external stakeholders and although you will not have any direct reports, there will be an opportunity to mentor colleagues and manage supplier resources and contracts, including tasks on our Innovation Programme.

Please note this is an up to 16 month Fixed Term position to cover for maternity leave, occasional travel on a national basis will be required. The role follows the hybrid working policy.

• Maintain and update the relevant drainage sections of the Design Manual for Roads & Bridges (DMRB) and the Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works (MCHW). Review of departure applications so we can ensure innovative, non-compliant, drainage solutions are appropriately assessed.
• Act as a source of specialist expertise in drainage and water management; providing advice and guidance to National Highways delivery colleagues and suppliers. Actively engage with these stakeholders to understand their business needs and identify key areas for improvement and share best practice.
• Fully engage in value engineering across the entire network. This involves working in partnership with regional Drainage Liaison Engineers and Engineering Team Managers to review and advise on aspects of new and replacement highway drainage solutions.
• Represent National Highways on external technical committees, steering groups and at seminars and workshops, to contribute to the development of external standards, ensuring that National Highways views are appropriately represented.
• Develop business cases, project plans and supporting project documentation, inclusive of effective risk and issue management. Commission and manage consultancy support as appropriate, to ensure delivery of project objectives to time and cost.