Strategic Lead - Highways Engineering

Job Description

Salary £68,525 - £74,531 Per annum | Permanent, Full Time, 37 hours per week | Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Strategic Lead – Highways Engineering

We're looking for a Strategic Lead with drive and passion to deliver an effective and very specialist service to our stakeholders at an incredibly exciting time for both the present and future of Lancashire County Council and the community we serve.

About The Role

This is an opportunity to take a leading technical role in shaping the quality, safety and consistency of highways engineering across Lancashire.

As a senior technical authority, you’ll provide expert advice and assurance across highways services, major programmes and schemes, helping ensure engineering decisions are safe, compliant, sustainable and deliver strong whole-life value.

You’ll lead the development and application of engineering standards and assurance, scrutinising complex designs, specifications and technical solutions and providing constructive challenge on high-risk or technically significant issues. Working across the full project and asset lifecycle, you’ll bring together engineering, operational, asset, commercial and programme considerations to improve design quality, buildability and delivery

You’ll help minimise disruption on the network, provide authoritative highways advice on development proposals and work with developers and partners to secure appropriate mitigation, improvements and technical approvals.

Alongside this, you’ll champion innovation, professional standards and the development of engineering capability across the service.

About You

You’ll be an experienced highways or infrastructure engineering professional with the technical credibility and judgement to advise, influence and challenge at a senior level.

You’ll be equally comfortable getting into the detail of a complex engineering issue and translating its implications into clear recommendations for senior leaders and decision-makers.

Ideally, you’ll bring:

• A degree in Civil Engineering ora related discipline, or equivalent experience, together with Chartered Engineer status or demonstrable progress towards professional accreditation.
• Significant experience providing senior engineering leadership within highways, infrastructure, construction, asset management or another complex technical environment.
• Strong experience of engineering standards, technical governance and assurance, including the scrutiny of designs, specifications, technical solutions and departures from standards.
• The professional judgement to manage complex engineering risks and balance safety, compliance, affordability, buildability, sustainability and whole-life value.
• Experience providing technical leadership across major or complex projects and programmes, working effectively across multidisciplinary teams and professional boundaries.
• Strong knowledge of Network Management and Highways Development Control, including highway impact assessment, development proposals, technical approvals and developer mitigation.
• Excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills, with the confidence to explain complex technical issues to senior leaders, elected members, professional colleagues and external partners.
• A commitment to professional development, innovation and continuous improvement, with the ability to develop engineering capability, share expertise and raise professional standards.

About Us

At Lancashire County Council, we're committed to delivering services that make a real difference to the people and communities we serve. Our Highways Team is at the heart of that mission, helping ensure that customers are put first by delivering safe, reliable and accessible highways services that local communities can depend upon.

When you join us, you'll become part of a supportive and knowledgeable team where your expertise is valued, your development is encouraged and your contribution has a direct impact across the organisation.

In return, we offer:

• Competitive salary

• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays

• Flexible working opportunities

• Health and wellbeing support

• Family-friendly policies

• Financial and travel benefits

• Training and development opportunities

Please refer to the job description and personal specification for further information regarding the scope of work and responsibilities for the post.

Please ensure you address and evidence all the essential criteria from the person specification at the application stage in your supporting evidence. Some criteria will also be addressed further at the interview stage.

Please take care to upload your supporting documentation before submitting your application. No additional documentation will be accepted after the closing date.

If you're already a Lancashire County Council employee, you must apply via the internal vacancies option on Oracle Fusion. You can do this by logging into Oracle Fusion and then going to Me - Current Jobs.

We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.

Local Government Reorganisation

The Government has confirmed that local government across Lancashire will be reorganised, with the current 15 councils being replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire from April 2028.

If you are successful in your application, you will initially join Lancashire County Council. However, as part of the planned transition, your employment will transfer to one of the new unitary councils from April 2028, subject to the implementation of the reorganisation and relevant employment legislation.

Throughout this period, our focus remains on delivering excellent services to our communities. By joining us now, you'll play an important role in shaping the future of local government and helping to build a strong new organisation that will serve residents for years to come.

Job Description & Person Specification