Principal Engineer
| Posting date: | 05 August 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £53,416 to £61,030 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 22 August 2025 |
| Location: | Canterbury, Kent |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Canterbury City Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | CCC0727 |
Summary
At Canterbury City Council, we’re committed to shaping a district that is well-connected, sustainable, and resilient. From the vibrant city centre to coastal towns and rural landscapes, our infrastructure plays a vital role in supporting economic growth, enhancing quality of life, and delivering on our environmental ambitions.
Our Engineering Team delivers a broad portfolio of civil engineering schemes – including highways improvements, public realm enhancements, drainage and flood alleviation, coast protection works, and more recently the delivery of several complex LUF projects to enhance the city centre. We’re looking for an experienced and dynamic Principal Engineer to join us and lead on the successful delivery of these diverse projects.
The salary for the post starts at £53,416, rising to £61,030 for candidates with exceptional experience. Annual car allowance of £3,621. The post offers flexible working with 26 days annual leave plus an additional three days allocated at Christmas.
The Role
As a Principal Engineer, you will manage the end-to-end delivery of complex civil engineering schemes, ensuring they are completed on time, within budget, and to a high standard. You will provide technical leadership across a variety of disciplines, ideally with a specialist experience in highway engineering.
Working in a forward-thinking and supportive environment, you’ll collaborate with councillors, colleagues across the council, local communities, contractors, and partner organisations to deliver projects that make a visible difference across the district.
Main Duties
Lead and manage the design and delivery of multi-disciplinary civil engineering projects, including highways, drainage and public spaces.
Provide expert technical advice on civil engineering, highway engineering and all other engineering matters for the Council
Oversee procurement, contract management, project governance, and risk mitigation.
Ensure projects comply with CDM, health and safety legislation, and council procedures.
Mentor junior engineers and support the development of in-house technical expertise.
Engage with residents, stakeholders, and councillors to ensure transparency and community alignment.
Essential Requirements
Relevant academic and/or professional qualification from the Institution of Civil Engineers; Chartership with ICE is desirable.
Demonstratable experience of all types of civil engineering processes, including highways, contract procurement and contract law.
The post requires you to have a full driving licence and access to a car.
Interviews are planned to take place in the week commencing 8th September 2025.
If this Principal Engineer job opportunity in Canterbury looks right for you, please apply today! Simply click the “Apply Online” button and create your account to begin your application form.
For an informal discussion about this post please contact Liam Wooltorton, Head of Engineering at liam.wooltorton@canterbury.gov.uk
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at Canterbury City Council.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in everything we do. We provide a safe and welcoming environment where everyone is valued, included and respected.
Our diversity strengthens our ability to serve the diverse communities we support through our work.
To demonstrate this through our actions, all applications are anonymised for the shortlisting panel, allowing all applicants to be assessed on merit alone.
Site Maintenance Dates:
Site maintenance is being carried out and may be unavailable on 01/08/2025-03/08/2025 between the hours of 19:00-12:00.
Our Engineering Team delivers a broad portfolio of civil engineering schemes – including highways improvements, public realm enhancements, drainage and flood alleviation, coast protection works, and more recently the delivery of several complex LUF projects to enhance the city centre. We’re looking for an experienced and dynamic Principal Engineer to join us and lead on the successful delivery of these diverse projects.
The salary for the post starts at £53,416, rising to £61,030 for candidates with exceptional experience. Annual car allowance of £3,621. The post offers flexible working with 26 days annual leave plus an additional three days allocated at Christmas.
The Role
As a Principal Engineer, you will manage the end-to-end delivery of complex civil engineering schemes, ensuring they are completed on time, within budget, and to a high standard. You will provide technical leadership across a variety of disciplines, ideally with a specialist experience in highway engineering.
Working in a forward-thinking and supportive environment, you’ll collaborate with councillors, colleagues across the council, local communities, contractors, and partner organisations to deliver projects that make a visible difference across the district.
Main Duties
Lead and manage the design and delivery of multi-disciplinary civil engineering projects, including highways, drainage and public spaces.
Provide expert technical advice on civil engineering, highway engineering and all other engineering matters for the Council
Oversee procurement, contract management, project governance, and risk mitigation.
Ensure projects comply with CDM, health and safety legislation, and council procedures.
Mentor junior engineers and support the development of in-house technical expertise.
Engage with residents, stakeholders, and councillors to ensure transparency and community alignment.
Essential Requirements
Relevant academic and/or professional qualification from the Institution of Civil Engineers; Chartership with ICE is desirable.
Demonstratable experience of all types of civil engineering processes, including highways, contract procurement and contract law.
The post requires you to have a full driving licence and access to a car.
Interviews are planned to take place in the week commencing 8th September 2025.
If this Principal Engineer job opportunity in Canterbury looks right for you, please apply today! Simply click the “Apply Online” button and create your account to begin your application form.
For an informal discussion about this post please contact Liam Wooltorton, Head of Engineering at liam.wooltorton@canterbury.gov.uk
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at Canterbury City Council.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in everything we do. We provide a safe and welcoming environment where everyone is valued, included and respected.
Our diversity strengthens our ability to serve the diverse communities we support through our work.
To demonstrate this through our actions, all applications are anonymised for the shortlisting panel, allowing all applicants to be assessed on merit alone.
Site Maintenance Dates:
Site maintenance is being carried out and may be unavailable on 01/08/2025-03/08/2025 between the hours of 19:00-12:00.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.