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Principal Civils Engineer

Posted: 26/10/26
Recruiter:Matchtech
Reference:3203366320
Type:Permanent
Disciplines: Engineering
Salary:£70,000 - £80,000 Annual
Location:Southmoor, Oxfordshire
Description: Principal Civils Engineer - STEP Fusion Programme

  • Location: West Burton / Culham (Abingdon) with programme travel.

  • Type: Full-time (Flexible working options available)

  • Security Clearance: UK BPSS Vetting Required.

  • Client / Project: Major UK Infrastructure & Construction Group Supporting STEP Fusion Programme (ILIOS Partner)

  • Sponsorship: Candidates must have existing right to work in the UK (sponsorship not available)



About the Client:

Our client is a leading UK infrastructure and construction group operating as the primary Construction Partner (ILIOS) for the UK's world-leading Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) fusion programme. Embedded within the central project leadership, their technical teams bring high-integrity engineering governance, design authority oversight, and major infrastructure delivery capabilities to world-first clean energy and nuclear-adjacent developments.



Role Overview:

Fully embedded within the STEP Design Authority team, the Principal Civils Engineer acts as a technical authority, applying authoritative civil and structural engineering judgement to define, integrate, and assure the design of buildings, civil structures, groundworks, and site-wide infrastructure for the prototype fusion power plant.



Key Responsibilities:

  • Design Vision & Governance: Define and maintain the civil plant design vision, engineering principles, and controlled civil design basis. Establish proportionate civil/structural engineering governance and technical review arrangements.

  • Technical Authority & Review: Act as the technical authority for reviewing and accepting civil and structural design outputs, exercising independent engineering judgement on complex design baselines.

  • Systems Integration: Guarantee design integrity and seamless interface integration between civil structures, buildings, groundworks, fusion plant systems, and external utilities.

  • Safety Case & Regulatory Support: Support safety case development, regulatory engagement, and construction readiness by providing authoritative advice on civil/structural safety and compliance.



Candidate Requirements:

  • Education & Professional Status: Degree in Civil or Structural Engineering (or closely related discipline) and Chartered Engineer (CEng) status with a recognized professional institution (e.g., MICE / MIStructE).

  • Technical Authority Experience: Proven track record acting as a Technical Authority, Design Authority Specialist, Intelligent-Client Engineer, or Independent Assessor in complex, highly regulated, or safety-critical sectors.

  • Complex Design Governance: Experience managing technical verification, validation, and review processes on complex, multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects with evolving design baselines.

  • Interpersonal Skills: Strong systems-integration capability and ability to make robust, defensible engineering decisions under uncertainty.

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