KAEFER UK & Ireland
Senior Design Engineer
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The Opportunity
At KAEFER, our success is built on our values and culture, which create a supportive and inclusive environment where employees can thrive. We prioritise growth and development, with abundant opportunities for advancement and a commitment to promoting from within. Our wide range of job openings, including entry-level positions, allows for the first steps on the ladder to success. We provide ongoing training and development opportunities to support our employees throughout their careers.
We are looking for a Senior Design Engineer to join our Engineering team at Devonport on a permanent basis. Our Devonport team supports critical marine and defence infrastructure projects, delivering bespoke access, scaffolding, and temporary works designs in a highly regulated dockyard environment. In this role you will act as a technical lead responsible for delivering robust, compliant, and cost-effective temporary works and bespoke access solutions. Operating within a high-consequence, complex industrial and marine infrastructure environment, you will oversee designs from initial site survey and conceptual engineering through to detailed analysis, independent checking, and site support.
You will play a pivotal role in driving technical excellence, ensuring strict compliance with UK temporary works procedures and safety standards, mentoring junior engineers and technicians, and integrating modern 3D analysis and BIM workflows into day-to-day project execution.
How You Will Make An Impact
Technical Design & Analysis
- Undertake structural analysis and calculations for complex temporary works, including heavy-duty access scaffolds, bespoke support structures, suspended systems ot weather protection/temporary roofs.
- Carry out both Design (Category 1/2) and Design Checking (Category 2/3) in accordance with BS 5975, ensuring complete structural integrity, stability, and buildability.
- Prepare clear, concise calculation packs, design risk assessments (DRA), designer hazard logs, and erection sequences in alignment with CDM 2015 regulations.
Project & Site Interface (Devonport Infrastructure)
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- Liaise directly with site operations teams, client representatives, appointed Temporary Works Coordinators (TWCs), and Designated Individuals to review Design Briefs and resolve complex site interfaces.
- Conduct structural surveys, site assessments, and inspections inside dockyard facilities to assess existing structures, anchorage substrates, and logistical constraints.
- Address Technical Queries (TQs), Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs), and design changes promptly during erection and operational phases.
Team Leadership & Digital Engineering
- Mentor and provide technical direction to Design Engineers, Trainees, and CAD/BIM Technicians.
- Provide site operations with technical support.
- Contribute to continuous improvement by standardizing design details, parametric templates, calculation spreadsheets, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Compliance & Safety
- Champion safety-in-design, adhering strictly to KAEFER’s safety culture and Devonport Royal Dockyard’s nuclear/marine site safety rules.
- Ensure all deliverables meet the requirements of relevant UK and European codes, including BS EN 12811-1, BS 5975:2019, NASC TG20.
Essential
What You Will Bring
- BEng or MEng in Civil or Structural Engineering (or equivalent relevant engineering discipline).
- Chartered or Incorporated Engineer (CEng / IEng) with ICE or IStructE, or actively working toward professional review.
- Proven track record in temporary works design, scaffold engineering, or structural steelwork design within the UK.
- Demonstrable experience working under BS 5975 temporary works procedures, including Cat 2 and Cat 3 design checks.
- In-depth understanding of standard modular systems (Cuplok, Layher, Ringlock) as well as traditional tube and fitting solutions.
- Comprehensive knowledge of wind loading calculations (Eurocode BS EN 1991-1-4) and connection design.
- AutoCAD (2D/3D), structural analysis software (e.g., Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis or SCIA Engineer).
- Must hold or be eligible to attain UK Security Clearance (SC level), requiring UK residency criteria.
- Ability to balance rigorous structural compliance with practical site buildability and commercial efficiency.
- Clear technical writing skills and the confidence to present structural schemes to site managers, clients, and TWCs.
- Aptitude for resolving non-standard geometry, tight spatial envelopes, and complex tie/anchorage constraints under pressure.
- Constructive peer review capabilities, patience in mentoring developing engineers, and strong ownership of regional design output.
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Desirable
- Prior experience delivering design engineering within complex, regulated infrastructure (e.g., naval dockyards, nuclear decommissioning, rail, or major industrial marine terminals).
- Experience with Building Information Modelling (BIM) workflows utilizing Autodesk Revit and Navisworks.
Why KAEFER UK & Ireland?
Our mission is clear: to be the most reliable and efficient provider of technical industrial services.
KAEFER UK & Ireland provides a large and growing range of industries with asset integrity services including access solutions, insulation, surface protection, HVAC fabrication, EC&I and more. We focus on improving energy efficiency and extending asset life cycles. We have twelve operating centres across the UK and Ireland, employing approximately 3,500 highly skilled and experienced people. Our people are our lifeforce and every day they deliver excellence to our customers.
KAEFER UK & Ireland is part of the KAEFER Group, a global €2.3 billion business with its headquarters in Bremen, Germany. KAEFER works on more than 5,500 job-sites internationally, with around 33,000 employees. With unrivalled experience and expertise, our teams provide trusted partnerships and tailored support to execute even the most challenging and complex projects for clients.
We take pride in being part of a global company, with common values and many diverse and individual voices. You can ‘count on us’ to make positive contributions in the communities where we live and work.
Our Values
- Reliability
- Ambition
- Team Spirit
- Respect
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