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Are you looking for an opportunity to work as a Principal Engineer, whilst still being able to develop your career and have a good work-life balance? If so, then here at Kirklees Council we have the ideal job for you. 

We are looking for a knowledgeable Principal Engineer to work in our Highways Operations Team who ideally holds a degree in Civil Engineering or proven experience of working at that level. You will also need to have experience of effectively managing staff, and competent in using Microsoft Office, GIS based mapping systems and understanding of AutoCAD.

As a Principal Engineer in our Highways Operations team you will:

• Use your experience, knowledge and a practical approach to delivering, and supervise others to deliver, a wide range of highway projects, and to manage a challenging workload which is subject to change at short notice.
• Manage a number of Senior Engineers, Engineers, Apprentices and a site skilled workforce of approximately 50 employees.
• Deliver planned and reactive work (from gully emptying and potholing to highway improvement projects)
• Provide an emergency and callout service, plus a severe weather response (which is predominantly precautionary gritting of the network, but also dealing with high winds, flooding, etc.). 
• Fulfil the role of duty holder in the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, in particular, Contractor and Principal Contractor.
• Demonstrate in depth experience, knowledge and a practical approach to delivering a wide range of highway projects acknowledging the requirements of our customers.
• Work with both Highways Operatives and our outside contractors to ensure complaint scheme delivery to time and to budget.
• Undertake, and supervise others in project management including managing scheme budgets
• Liaise with and advise various Council departments and partners on reactive issues relating to our network and understand the need for effective and efficient communication, both written and verbal.
• Investigate requests from members of the public, Councillors and MPs with regards to highway defects and requests for repairs and replacement of carriageways, footways our infrastructure, and understand the need for effective and efficient communication, both written and verbal
• Be responsible for the wellbeing of yourself and others on a day to day basis, and the supervision of Engineers, Senior Engineers, Apprentices, Operatives and Support staff within in your team, including appraisals, 1-2-1’s etc., and will be experienced in the handling of ‘difficult’ conversations with employees in respect of attendance, behaviours and performance.
• Spend a portion of your time travelling between sites, for which you will need a full and valid driving licence, and a willingness to undertake and pass a Kirklees Council driving test.

At Kirklees Council, we want to support your professional development to give you the right skills, confidence and support to really achieve your potential. We offer a variety of courses and training designed for this exact purpose.

We value the importance of having work life balance, so this is why we offer provisions such as flexible-working, generous holiday entitlement, a variety of special leave policies, employee healthcare services and a childcare voucher scheme.

If you are interested in what we are offering, and have the skills we are looking for, have a look at the attached job profile for more information. To apply please go to Total Jobs and upload your CV.