Principal Clean Water Process Engineer

Costain helps to improve people’s lives with integrated, leading edge, smart infrastructure solutions across the UK’s energy, water, transportation and defence markets. We help our clients improve their business performance by increasing capacity, improving customer service, safeguarding security, enhancing resilience, decarbonising and delivering increased efficiency. Our vision is to be the UK’s leading smart infrastructure solutions company. We will achieve this by focusing on blue chip clients whose major spending plans are underpinned by strategic national needs, regulatory commitments, legislation or essential performance requirements. We offer our clients leading edge solutions that are digitally optimised through the following five services which cover the whole lifecycle of their assets: future-shaping strategic consultancy; consultancy and advisory; digital technology solutions; asset optimisation and complex programme delivery. Our culture and values underpin everything we do.

We are currently growing our water and wastewater treatment process engineering capabilities both for our Asset Optimisation and Major Project Execution service lines. We are seeking to recruit a Principal Clean Water Process Engineer with extensive knowledge and experience in the design and operation of UK clean water facilities.

Our Asset Optimisation Team provides process engineering consultancy to support our customers to get the very best from their assets and capital programmes. Our technology, systems, solutions and processes improve our clients operational/production capabilities to increase resilience, drive efficiencies, and optimise new capital investment.

Our Engineering and Design process engineering team undertakes traditional process design services to major projects both for AMP frameworks and bespoke projects during bidding and project delivery.

Our pipeline of work includes frameworks for United Utilities, Southern Water, Severn Trent Water, Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Anglian Water and South Staffs Water. The role will require flexibility to work across our client base.

A Principal Process Engineer is one of the company’s leading specialists in process optimisation and design. The role will report to the Chief Process Engineer (Water).

The role will lead on process engineering input to clean water schemes for major projects and provide direction to the development of Costain’s Asset Optimisation value proposition for Northern UK clients.

You will be responsible for:

• Process engineering design and optimisation services for clean water projects as part of a collaborative multi-disciplined project delivery team
• Growing the capability and product offering of process engineering services to the water sector, developing innovative process-led solutions in our existing frameworks and capital programmes
• Leading optimisation studies at feasibility and concept design stages, with accountability for quality, budget and schedule
• Development of process optimisation schemes, initiatives, and solutions at both site and programme level. These schemes will mitigate risk, return sites to compliance, or enable low or no build solutions to be provided for new permit drivers
• Technical assurance and support to process engineers working on clean water projects including:
  • Technical responsibility for work carried out by the process engineering discipline in the clean water sector
  • Ensuring that the process engineering discipline produces safe, sustainable, economic and technically sound engineering designs, in accordance with company policies and standards, meeting the Client’s requirements
  • Driving innovation and continuous improvement in the work processes and tools used for design work
  • Performing own design work and checking/approving work of others
• Supporting our business development directors to develop opportunities for asset optimisation services as part of our integrated solutions
• Providing technical thought leadership and strategic consultancy advice to clients and joint venture partners
• Ensuring that assigned staff have the necessary technical skills and experience through:
  • Providing line management to assigned process engineers
  • Supporting recruitment
  • Identification and organisation of training and development needs for direct line reports
  • Provision of support and coaching to individuals as required
  • Setting of clear performance objectives, with assessment of performance and delivery of feedback

• Degree qualification in a process related discipline is essential
• Chartered Engineer and member of a relevant engineering institution e.g. CIWEM, IChemE etc
• The candidate should have at least 10 years’ experience including significant experience of clean water treatment
• A background in an engineering consultancy or contracting environment is essential. Operational utility experience would be beneficial
• An existing network of relationships with clients (asset managers, project and operations) and industry influencers and suppliers will be an advantage
• Eperience in the full project lifecycle: scoping, outline design, detailed design, construction support commissioning and handover
• Ability to apply relevant industry codes, standards and guidelines for the water sector
• Proven background in process engineering definition including development of mass balance, data analysis, design calculations, technology selection, major equipment and package datasheet specification, process flow diagrams, process control philosophies and P&ID’s

Why work for us?

Talent comes in many different guises. At Costain we recognise this and work with employees to take them where they want to go rather than where we think they should go. We are fully committed to creating a safe place to work, where everyone can be at their best, every day. A workplace where everyone can be their true self, feel valued and understood for who they are and what makes them unique.

As a mark of our progress we were named as a Times Top 50 Employer for Women in 2018 and again in 2019. In addition to this, we have won various awards, including IChemE Diversity and Inclusion, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Employer of the year and a Business in the Community (BITC) Game Changer award. Manchester and London Pride parades are now established dates in the Costain calendar, and we are proud to be a Stonewall diversity champion. We are a member of Working Families, an early signatory to the BITC Race Charter and a Disability Confident Committed employer. 

Costain value that everyone is different and by being different, our people can bring their own valuable contribution to the business. Creating an inclusive culture makes us more able to recruit, retain and progress a diverse workforce, increasing employee engagement and experiencing higher levels of wellbeing.

Our employee benefits

We’re dedicated to providing a broad range of rewards and benefits. As well as a competitive salary, our employees enjoy a comprehensive core benefits package which includes:

• Group Pension Plan, to help you save for the future
• Employee Assistance Programme, to help employees and their families balance the pressures of work and home life
• Incentive payments to recognise high-performance
• Life assurance, to help protect your loved ones financially
• Funded membership to a professional Institute
• Private healthcare and dental packages
• Salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme
• Discounted gym membership, to keep you as fit and as healthy as you can be
• Volunteering days, so you can give back to your local community
• Save as You Earn (SAYE) scheme, that lets you save towards buying shares in Costain

Costain, and the Armed Forces

We actively encourage applications from candidates who have a relationship with the armed forces community whether as a currently serving member or reservist, ex-military or wounded personnel or as a member of a service family.

Right to Work & Security Checks

Understandably given the nature of our business, everyone who is employed at Costain must undergo thorough referencing checks. We will need different information depending on the job we have offered you. For all roles, we'll carry out a criminal record check and we’ll ask to see evidence that you have the legal right to work in the UK. You may be required to obtain and maintain security clearance of at least Security Check level (or SC clearance). To satisfy the requirements, you will need to have been a legal UK resident for a minimum of 5 years and have successfully complete all stages of the vetting process.

Closing date

Please note that Costain reserves the right to bring forward the closing date of any of its job vacancies if we receive a suitable number of quality applications from which to make a shortlist. Therefore, we recommend at you apply as soon as possible rather than wait until the published closing date.