National Highways
Head of Specialist Bridges
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About the job
At National Highways, we're responsible for some of the most iconic and strategically important structures in the country. We're looking for a Head of Specialist Bridges to provide leadership across our specialist bridges portfolio in the South West region, helping to ensure these nationally significant assets remain safe, resilient and available for the millions of people who rely on them every day. This is your opportunity to make a lasting impact on critical infrastructure, supporting communities, businesses and the economy.
Reporting to the Regional Director, you’ll provide strategic leadership across a complex portfolio of nationally significant assets, working with multidisciplinary teams and supply chain partners to deliver safe, reliable and efficient services. With accountability for investment programmes totalling approximately £47m per annum across capital, operational and maintenance activities, you’ll ensure value for money while supporting high performance, continuous improvement and long-term asset resilience.
You will:
- Lead the development and delivery of maintenance programmes and long-term asset strategies for National Highways' specialist bridges portfolio, ensuring safe, reliable and customer-focused outcomes.
- Oversee asset planning and investment activity, translating safety, customer and economic priorities into commercially viable plans aligned to organisational objectives.
- Encourage innovation in the management of specialist and large-span bridges, supporting the adoption of new technologies, materials and engineering practices to improve performance and resilience.
- Ensure effective management of asset, operational and safety risks, supporting investment decisions that optimise whole-life value and network availability.
- Build trusted relationships with internal teams, suppliers, government bodies and external stakeholders, fostering a culture of safety, service excellence and continuous improvement.
About you
- Proven track record of providing strategic leadership across asset management, service delivery and financial planning activities within highways structures and infrastructure.
- Ability to build effective relationships, bring people together and work collaboratively with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders to achieve shared objectives.
- Customer-focused, with sound understanding of the political environment and ability to navigate complex challenges and competing priorities towards positive outcomes.
- Commercially minded, with the ability to manage complex contracts and work in partnership with suppliers to deliver successful outcomes.
- Knowledge of statutory duties and regulatory requirements, including the Highways Act, Road Traffic Regulation Act and CDM Regulations.
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About us
Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England’s motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.
Operations is at the heart of keeping the strategic road network moving and ensuring our customers get the best possible experience when using our roads.
We address over 39,000 customer enquiries every month, plan and deliver all maintenance activities on the network, drive efficiencies and improvements across our systems and roads, and respond to incidents across 4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads that we manage. All to make sure National Highways customers have safer, smoother, and more reliable journeys.
External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy.
We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.
Why you should join us
At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers.
So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation.
A connected and sustainable working approach has been adopted across National Highways. For some roles, this means being able to work in a hybrid way spending up to 60% of time working from a remote location such as home.
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We offer many different ways to work flexibly and we’re open to discuss part-time working, job shares, and flexible start and finish times.
Please wait until the interview stage before asking us about flexibility, and we will explore what is possible.
Our benefits package
- Our total reward package includes basic salary, the potential for a performance related bonus
- Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10%
- Annual Leave starting at 26 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising by 1 day each year up to 31 days (plus Bank Holidays)
- Flexible hours and an approach driven by connected and sustainable working which includes hybrid working
- Life assurance of 4 times annual salary
- Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines
- A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
- Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience
And we are
- Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities
- Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme
- Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year
If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:
- Right to work check
- 3 year employment history references
- DBS criminal record check
- Social media and adverse journalism check
- Driving licence check (if applicable)
- Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable)
- Qualifications and/or professional membership check (if applicable)
And finally
We reserve the right to close before the advertisement expires.
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