Senior Contracts Engineer

Description:

Job Title: Senior Contracts Engineer

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Suffolk

Project Type: Ground Engineering & Large-scale Engineering Construction

Role Summary:

Lead multiple work fronts of ground engineering works, achieving safety, quality, contract performance and programme outcomes; drive commercial value and NEC4 compliance; mentor engineers and manage stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

* Lead technical and site operations for ground engineering works, ensuring compliance with specifications, drawings, ITPs, RAMS, permits, and project requirements;

* Coordinate resources across work fronts, resolve technical issues, and drive timely close-out of non-conformities;

* Provide visible safety leadership, lead incident investigations and root-cause analysis, and identify recurring safety trends;

* Set, approve, and audit site briefing content and records, including briefings for clients, stakeholders, and site teams;

* Develop workface procurement plans, support hire versus buy decisions, and manage subcontractor performance, variations, and delivery expectations;

* Own quality assurance planning for D-Wall and soil mixing scopes, ensuring ITP coverage, hold points, NCR close-out, and data-driven reporting;

* Monitor productivity across wall panels and soil mixing activities, benchmark performance, remove constraints, and lead weekly productivity reviews;

* Own detailed programme sequencing, manage float, run critical path checks, lead delay analysis, and agree recovery plans with the Project Manager;

* Support commercial management through preparation of early warnings, NCEs, compensation events, cost/value tracking, forecasting, and earned value reporting;

* Ensure compliance with NEC4 Option 4 Alliance contract requirements, including change documentation, responses, obligations, and programme acceptance updates;

* Coach, mentor, and manage engineers, including performance management, difficult conversations, and strong stakeholder engagement across support teams;

* Maintain a proactive, flexible, and solution-focused approach, supporting multidisciplinary project needs and working rotational weekend or night shifts where required.

Required Skills & Experience:

* Experience in senior leadership of construction work fronts, ideally within ground engineering or major infrastructure environments;

* A degree in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, or a related discipline;

* Professional accreditation such as IEng or CEng would be desirable;

* A valid CSCS card, with SMSTS, AP, incident investigation, or NEC4 training considered advantageous;

* Strong technical understanding of D-Wall, soil mixing, grouting, de-risking, and rapid issue resolution;

* Proven ability to manage programmes, critical paths, delay analysis, float, and recovery planning;

* Commercial and contractual awareness, including experience supporting compensation events, forecasting, and NEC4 processes;

* Confident user of project tools and systems, including P6, MS Project, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, AutoCAD, and Cemar;

* Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to challenge constructively and communicate effectively;

* A calm, decisive, fair, and proactive approach, with the ability to lead teams and resolve issues in a fast-paced project environment