Senior Design Engineer – Role Overview

As a Senior Design Engineer, you'll be responsible for producing drawings, calculations, and specifications for a wide range of permanent and temporary works. You'll also play a key role in supporting live projects and tenders by offering practical advice on buildability, construction methods, and value engineering.

You may also take the lead in managing junior engineers—supporting them day-to-day, mentoring their development, and checking their work to make sure everything meets the required standards.

A strong technical background is essential. You should be comfortable designing with common structural materials like steel, reinforced concrete, and timber, using Eurocodes. Experience with geotechnical design and familiarity with falsework, formwork, and shoring systems will be a big advantage.

What You'll Be Doing

Commercial & Project Management

Help ensure designs are efficient and cost-effective by applying your experience and judgement
Manage your time (and others' where needed) effectively, including use of software and external design support
Keep track of your workload and provide regular updates to the Lead Engineer

Safety & Compliance

Make sure all designs meet relevant health and safety legislation (CDM, LOLER, PUWER, etc.)
Follow company safety and quality systems
Take ownership of your designs and ensure the right level of checking is applied
Carry out design risk assessments and clearly communicate any remaining risks
Include key details like load limits, pour rates, and performance constraints on drawings
Highlight any safety-critical elements and recommend inspections or tests where needed
Provide clear construction sequence information to support site teams
Stay up to date with safety alerts and standards, and reflect these in your work
Carry out site visits if required to ensure designs are being followed correctly

Engineering & Innovation

Develop practical, buildable, and innovative engineering solutions
Use tools like FE analysis and 3D modelling where appropriate
Design using industry standards across steel, concrete, and timber
Contribute geotechnical input where needed (e.g. excavations, slopes, working platforms)
Consider all load cases, including temporary conditions during construction
Review and check designs from others, including junior engineers
Ensure construction methods don't compromise permanent works designs
Communicate clearly with designers, planners, and site teams
Support tenders with outline methods, pricing inputs, and technical advice
Produce designs and drawings using CAD, BIM, and other available tools

Team & Development

Support and mentor junior engineers on the team
Share knowledge and help develop internal training where needed
Keep your own skills up to date through training, learning, and professional development

Quality & Processes

Follow quality procedures for checking and approving designs and documents
Make sure everything is properly recorded and filed with document control teams
Contribute ideas to improve processes and ways of working

About Us

Laing O'Rourke are an international engineering and construction company delivering state-of-the-art infrastructure and buildings projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia.

Certainty, reliability, quality – this is what our clients want. And at Laing O'Rourke, we have more than 150 years of experience delivering it. Laing O'Rourke's story is one of energy, passion, ambition, people and teamwork. We harness the power of our experience, stretching back over a century and a half to deliver certainty for our clients.

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we would like to enable access to candidates with long term conditions and disabilities through the ‘Offer an interview scheme'. This supports applicants that meet the essential criteria by offering an interview for the advertised position. Please let us know if you would like to opt in to this scheme and let us know if you require any adjustments for the interview process.

We want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all. If you need the application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please email resourcingteam@laingorourke.com

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