Balfour Beatty plc
Head of Pre Construction - Energy Sector (Scotland)
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About The Role
Job Title: Head of Pre-Construction – Energy, Scotland
Location: Maxim Park, Eurocentral, Scotland
Company: Balfour Beatty - Scotland Energy
Are you a senior pre-construction leader with the technical depth, commercial awareness and work-winning experience to help shape and secure some of the UK’s most complex energy infrastructure projects?
We are looking for a Head of Pre-Construction – Energy to lead pre-construction activity across our Scotland Energy business. Based from Maxim Park, Eurocentral, this is a senior leadership role for someone who can combine technical expertise, customer engagement and strong business development capability to turn major opportunities into successful, deliverable projects.
You’ll operate at the heart of our work-winning strategy, bringing together engineering, design, estimating, planning, commercial, procurement and operational delivery to develop solutions that are technically robust, commercially competitive and aligned to customer requirements. The role will also have accountability for developing the opportunity pipeline alongside Business Development and ensuring bids are supported by strong estimating, programme, risk and delivery strategies.
Shaping the future of energy infrastructure
This role is about much more than managing bids.
We are looking for someone who can bring genuine technical leadership to business development, engaging early with customers, understanding complex engineering requirements and helping shape the right delivery solution before an opportunity reaches formal tender.
You’ll be comfortable operating across technically complex energy environments, including major transmission infrastructure, HVDC converter stations, substations and associated infrastructure, as well as projects delivered through Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) models.
You will understand how engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, programme, commercial strategy and risk must come together from the outset to create a solution that is not only competitive, but practical, deliverable and attractive to the customer.
What you'll be doing
You’ll lead our pre-construction approach across priority Energy opportunities, from early engagement and pursuit planning through bid governance and into operational handover.
You Will
- Lead multi-disciplinary pre-construction teams across engineering, design, estimating, planning, commercial and delivery
- Drive structured pursuit planning across strategic Energy opportunities
- Provide technical leadership during the early stages of business development and opportunity shaping
- Work closely with customers to understand technical requirements, delivery challenges, interfaces and programme drivers
- Lead the development of robust technical and delivery solutions for major Energy infrastructure projects
- Bring together engineering, procurement and construction thinking to support Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) delivery models
- Support opportunities involving complex assets such as HVDC converter stations, substations and major transmission infrastructure
- Ensure solutions consider constructability, methodology, programme, logistics, commissioning interfaces and delivery risk
- Champion innovation and value engineering to create competitive advantage
- Ensure bids are underpinned by robust cost, programme, methodology and risk positions
- Lead governance from Gate 2 through to Gate 5
- Oversee cost modelling, benchmarking and risk/opportunity analysis
- Work in partnership with Business Development and Work Winning colleagues to create effective conversion strategies
- Ensure appropriate commercial strategies are embedded within bids
- Balance competitiveness with appropriate risk-adjusted returns
- Ensure a seamless transition from pre-construction into operational delivery
- Build and develop a high-performing, collaborative Energy pre-construction team.
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Who we're looking for
Technical business development and work winning
A critical part of this appointment will be your ability to combine technical credibility with strong business development instincts.
You will be comfortable engaging with customers early in the project lifecycle, understanding what they are trying to achieve and using your technical knowledge to help shape solutions that respond to their operational, commercial and programme priorities.
You’ll understand how to translate complex engineering requirements into a compelling customer proposition and how to bring together the right people across design, estimating, planning, procurement, commercial and operations to develop a winning solution.
We’re looking for someone who can move confidently between customer conversations, technical challenge, commercial strategy and operational delivery.
Winning major Energy projects starts long before a formal tender is submitted. It requires strong relationships, market awareness, early opportunity shaping, technical challenge and a clear understanding of how to create value for the customer.
This role will suit a dynamic, personable and technically credible senior leader with a strong track record in Energy infrastructure, pre-construction and work winning.
You’ll Bring
- A proven track record of winning and converting major Energy infrastructure opportunities
- Significant experience of business development from a technical and construction perspective
- Strong customer engagement and opportunity-shaping experience
- Experience developing technical and delivery strategies for complex infrastructure projects
- A strong understanding of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) delivery models
- An understanding of the interfaces between engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning
- Ideally, experience associated with HVDC converter stations, substations, transmission infrastructure or similarly complex Energy projects
- The ability to challenge technical solutions while maintaining a strong focus on constructability, programme and delivery
- Proven experience leading major and complex pre-construction bids
- A deep understanding of the pre-construction lifecycle across estimating, planning, design and procurement
- Strong knowledge of construction methodologies and delivery models
- Excellent commercial and financial acumen across cost, value, margin and risk
- Strong understanding of risk management, value engineering and bid governance
- Experience leading complex, multi-disciplinary teams
- Excellent stakeholder management and influencing capability
- A dynamic and personable leadership style, with the ability to build credibility and trusted relationships quickly
- The confidence to engage with customers, designers, supply-chain partners, consultants and JV partners at senior level
- Knowledge of the Scottish and wider UK Energy infrastructure market
- Demonstrable success in improving bid quality, customer confidence and conversion outcomes.
Why Balfour Beatty?
As Head of Pre-Construction – Energy, you’ll have the opportunity to influence what we pursue, how we engage with customers, the technical solutions we develop and ultimately how we win and deliver major projects.
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This is a role for someone who enjoys being at the front end of major projects — building relationships, solving complex technical challenges, shaping strategy, leading teams and creating winning solutions.
Why work for us
Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.
Why join us?
Benefits
As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:
- Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
- 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
- Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
- Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more…
About Us
From Dunfermline’s tramways in 1909 to highland hospitals today, Balfour Beatty has been trusted for over a century to deliver the complex and critical infrastructure and iconic buildings Scotland relies on.
We have the people, knowledge and experience to safely deliver projects right first time, maximising value for money and ensuring a positive social impact and inclusive economic growth for local communities.
Our award-winning sustainable projects, including active travel, Passivhaus and retrofit, demonstrate our commitment to supporting Scotland’s transition towards net zero in the built environment.
Diversity and inclusion
At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit www.balfourbeatty.com/diversityandinclusion
To help and support us with our desired commitment to create an inclusive culture we are members of WISE, enei, Business Disability Forum and the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE). In 2020, we signed the Audeliss and Involve Open Letter to demonstrate our commitment to taking key long term and sustainable actions on Black Inclusion. Balfour Beatty is also a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long-term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. For more info, visit: https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/
We are looking to continually improve our resourcing process and ensure that it is fair and inclusive for all. If you have any feedback on the process, please share this with us at: candidaterecruitmentqueries@balfourbeatty.com
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