Canal & River Trust
Head of Engineering and Design
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Join Our Team: Head of Engineering & Design Opportunity
Navigate your future and lock in your career as we keep our canals open and alive.
We're excited to have created a new Head of Engineering & Design in our new Operations division. This is a unique opportunity to lead a diverse multidisciplinary function responsible for engineering, design, asset inspection, lock gate production and health & safety expertise across one of the UK's largest historic infrastructure networks.
Working Hours & Location
This is a home-based role which follows a 37 hour working week and will be assigned to one of the Trust's key operational hubs. Regular travel across England and Wales as required to competently perform the role. A valid UK driving licence and access to a vehicle are essential.
Role Overview
Reporting to the Chief Operations Officer, you will provide strategic leadership across multi-disciplinary engineering and other key technical disciplines, ensuring our waterways and infrastructure remain safe, resilient, and operationally effective. You'll lead a team of technical experts across England and Wales to manage asset performance, address emerging risks and deliver practical solutions that protect the network, its heritage and environmental value.
For a deeper insight into the role, our strategic priorities and what success looks like in this position, please review the candidate briefing pack here.
Key responsibilities
- Provide strategic leadership for the Trust's engineering and design function, bringing together civil, mechanical, electrical and other key technical expertise to support the safe, resilient and effective operation of the waterways network.
- Lead a large multidisciplinary function spanning engineering, environment, inspection, condition monitoring, health & safety, lock gate production, restoration and heritage engineering, creating a high-performing and integrated team aligned to operational priorities.
- Ensure engineering, environmental and operational considerations are effectively balanced, delivering pragmatic solutions that manage risk, optimise asset performance and support long-term network resilience.
- Assessing, providing advice and prioritising solutions to customer and third party related issues arising from canal infrastructure.
- Provide visible professional leadership across the Trust, setting engineering standards, driving technical assurance, and fostering a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and operational excellence.
- Develop organisational capability across engineering and specialist disciplines, ensuring the Trust has the skills, expertise and capacity required to meet current and future challenges.
- Lead strategic relationships with operational teams, regulators, local authorities, developers, utilities and other partners, ensuring effective management of risk and opportunities across the network.
- Drive improvements in engineering delivery, asset intelligence, manufacturing capability and environmental performance, leveraging technology, innovation and modern ways of working to enhance outcomes.
- Provide Gold Command cover as part of the Trust's incident management framework, delivering strategic leadership during major incidents and ensuring effective organisational response and continuity.
- Display the Trust values and behaviours at all times, ensuring that diversity and inclusion are integrated into all aspects of Trust life.
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About You
You will be a commercially astute and influential engineering leader with the breadth and credibility to lead multiple technical disciplines and bring them together around common goals. You will bring a proven track record of leading multidisciplinary technical functions within complex, asset-intensive organisations.
You will be a collaborative and visible leader who thrives on bringing together different professional disciplines to tackle complex challenges. Comfortable balancing strategic priorities with operational realities, you will be known for making sound decisions, driving continuous improvement and leading through influence, expertise and partnership.
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Skills & Qualifications
Technical:
- Degree-qualified in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Water Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline, holding Chartered status with a relevant professional institution.
- Significant experience leading multidisciplinary engineering functions within a complex, asset-intensive environment.
- Proven experience managing and integrating engineering disciplines such as civil, mechanical, electrical, and/or water engineering to deliver operational and asset performance outcomes.
- Experience operating within a regulated, publicly funded, charitable, or similarly governed organisation.
- Strong understanding of engineering governance, technical assurance, design standards, CDM regulations, temporary works, and infrastructure risk management.
- Ability to balance engineering excellence with practical operational delivery, making sound decisions in complex and often time-critical situations.
General:
- Demonstrable experience leading large, geographically dispersed professional teams through periods of operational challenge, change, and continuous improvement.
- Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience influencing senior leaders, regulators, partners, and technical specialists.
Contact & Application
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at CRT.recruitment@canalrivertrust.org.uk. We encourage early applications as we may close the vacancy once we receive enough suitable candidates.
What We Offer
We offer a salary of £90,000 - £100,000 plus £6,240 car cash allowance per annum. Enjoy private medical insurance, a competitive pension scheme, increasing holiday entitlement, and a range of employee benefits. For a full breakdown of our benefits, check out our brochure here: EVP - 1.
Learn more: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/work-for-us/our-benefits
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