What does a Senior / Principal Civil Engineer do?

A senior or principal civil engineer leads and manages the design, planning, and execution of complex civil engineering projects, ensuring they meet technical specifications, regulatory requirements, and project timelines. They oversee teams and collaborate with clients, contractors, and stakeholders to ensure successful project delivery.

What Are the Key Responsibilities of a Senior / Principal Civil Engineer?

Key tasks include developing and reviewing designs, managing project risks, conducting site assessments, and ensuring compliance with industry standards. They also mentor junior engineers, oversee project budgets, and contribute to project planning and strategy.

What qualifications do you need to become a Senior / Principal Civil Engineer?

To become a Senior / Principal Civil Engineer, you typically need a degree in Civil Engineering, often with Chartered Engineer status (CEng) and equipped with extensive experience in civil engineering, strong leadership, and project management skills.

What software do Civil Engineers use?

Common engineering software includes AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Revit, and project management tools like Primavera P6 or Microsoft Project.

What industries do Senior Civil Engineers work in?

Senior Civil Engineers work across infrastructure, transportation, water, energy, and construction sectors, handling projects like bridges & highways, and urban development.

Curious about what a career as a Civil Engineer involves?

From key responsibilities to growth opportunities, find out more by exploring our latest Engineering roles. Browse our current openings and take the next step in your career here.

Why choose Advance TRS?

At Advance TRS, we are specialist recruiters in civil engineering and the built environment, connecting skilled professionals with top employers across infrastructure, rail, water, energy, highways, and construction. Whether you’re looking for your next role as a Senior Civil Engineer, Principal Civil Engineer, or Civil Design Engineer, our expert consultants provide tailored support to help you secure the right opportunity.

Need to create a CV but don’t know where to start? Check out our blog on how to create a CV that gets noticed, here.

A senior or principal civil design engineer leads the design and development of civil engineering projects, ensuring they meet technical, regulatory, and safety standards. They work on large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and water systems, providing technical expertise and overseeing design teams.

What are the key responsibilities of a Senior / Principal Civil Design Engineer?

Key tasks include preparing detailed designs, conducting site assessments, coordinating with project teams, and ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulations. They also manage design reviews, solve complex engineering problems, and mentor junior engineers.

What skills & qualifications do you need to be a Senior / Principal Civil Design Engineer?

To excel in a Senior or Principal Civil Design Engineer role, you must have strong civil engineering design skills and extensive experience with AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Revit, and BIM software. A deep understanding of infrastructure design across highways, bridges, drainage, and water systems is essential.

Project management skills are also critical, ensuring that designs are completed on time and within budget while maintaining compliance with BS EN standards, Eurocodes, and local planning regulations.

Many Senior Civil Design Engineers hold Chartered Engineer (CEng) status or are working towards accreditation with ICE or IStructE, demonstrating their expertise and commitment to professional development.

Why Choose Advance TRS for Civil Engineering Jobs?

As specialist recruiters in civil engineering and infrastructure, Advance TRS connects skilled professionals with leading employers across multiple sectors, including civil engineering design and consultancy, infrastructure, highways, bridge engineering, water, environmental engineering, rail, construction, and energy projects. Our team understands the unique demands of the engineering job market and provides tailored recruitment solutions to match candidates with roles that align with their skills and career ambitions.

Why Work with Us?

Advance TRS offers exclusive access to top civil design engineering jobs, working with some of the most respected employers in the industry. We specialise in helping candidates find contract and permanent roles, often before they are publicly advertised. Our consultants provide expert career support, including CV advice, interview coaching, and industry insights, ensuring that job seekers have the best chance of securing their ideal role. Whether you’re looking to progress in highways, bridges, water, rail, or construction engineering, our dedicated team is here to help you take the next step in your career.

Explore Opportunities in Civil Design Engineering

If you’re looking for your next challenge as a Senior or Principal Civil Design Engineer, explore our latest job openings and discover how Advance TRS can help you find the perfect role. Browse our current Engineering jobs here.

What Does a Project Engineer Do?

A Project Engineer plays a crucial role in overseeing the planning, execution, and delivery of engineering projects across various sectors. They ensure projects are completed within technical, budgetary, and time constraints. By coordinating between design teams, contractors, and clients, Project Engineers streamline workflows and resolve any technical challenges that may arise during the project lifecycle.

What Are the Key Responsibilities of a Project Engineer?

Key tasks for a Project Engineer include preparing technical specifications, reviewing designs, managing risks, and ensuring compliance with relevant industry standards and regulations. They are also responsible for monitoring the project’s progress, conducting site inspections, and providing solutions to engineering problems. Project Engineers play a vital role in ensuring projects stay on track and meet performance expectations.

What Skills and Qualifications Does a Project Engineer Need?

Strong communication and problem-solving skills are essential for a Project Engineer, as they often act as the point of contact between various teams and stakeholders. Experience in project management tools and methodologies is crucial for keeping projects on schedule and within budget. In addition, knowledge of health and safety regulations, contract management, and cost control is highly important. Many Project Engineers hold a degree in engineering and work towards professional accreditation, such as Chartered Engineer (CEng) status, to further their career progression.

Why Choose Advance TRS for Project Engineer Jobs?

At Advance TRS, we specialise in recruiting professionals for Project Engineer roles across diverse sectors, including construction, infrastructure, and energy. With our extensive network of clients and in-depth industry expertise, we can help you find the ideal role that matches your skills and career goals.

Explore Project Engineer Opportunities

Ready to take the next step in your career as a Project Engineer? Browse our latest job openings and discover how Advance TRS can help you secure your ideal role. View our latest Project Engineer jobs here.

Need help perfecting your CV? Check out our expert guide on Creating a CV That Gets Noticed.

Looking to enhance your networking skills? Read our article on Networking Tips for Engineers: How to Network and Get Noticed.

Building a strong professional network can open doors to new job opportunities, industry insights, and career growth. Whether you’re an experienced engineer or just starting out, making the right connections is key. Here’s how to do it effectively.

How to Build a Strong Personal Brand in Your Industry – Advance TRS

Attend Industry Events

Industry events are a great way to meet professionals, learn about trends, and showcase your expertise. Conferences and trade shows, such as Railtex, UK Construction Week, or Renewable Energy Conferences, attract key players in the industry. Attending talks, asking questions, and introducing yourself to speakers and attendees can help you stand out. Networking meetups and professional body gatherings, like those hosted by ICE, IET, or IMechE, offer a more personal setting to engage with peers. Workshops and training sessions also provide opportunities to expand your technical skills while meeting like-minded professionals.

Engage on Social Media

A strong online presence helps you connect with the right people and stay visible in your industry. Keeping your LinkedIn profile updated, sharing industry news, and engaging with posts from professionals and companies can help establish your presence. Engineering forums, such as The Engineer or Engineering.com, are great spaces for technical discussions and networking with others in your field.

Using social media and job boards to find your next role – Advance TRS

Make Meaningful Connections

Networking is about building relationships, not just collecting contacts. When reaching out to someone, start with common ground, such as a shared interest, mutual connection, or industry event. Being active in professional groups and contributing to discussions can strengthen your credibility. After meeting someone, following up with a short LinkedIn message or email can keep the conversation going and build long-term connections.

Leveraging Online Platforms for Digital Networking – Advance TRS

Offer Value to Others

Networking works best when it’s a two-way street. Sharing useful insights, job leads, or project updates can make you a valuable connection. Introducing contacts who might benefit from knowing each other also strengthens your network. Supporting others by engaging with their posts or attending their events helps form and maintain strong professional relationships.

Building a professional network takes time, but consistent engagement will help you get noticed and stay connected in your field.

At Advance TRS, we connect engineering professionals with top employers across the built environment. If you’re looking for new opportunities or industry connections, get in touch with our team today.

Delivering premium quality solutions for the technical engineer sector

Tam Shahid is a Delivery Project Manager, Water Environment & Infrastructure Team. He joined Advance TRS in November 2020, specialising in the delivery process for Senior Consultants. Tam generates suitable candidates to match client requirements/expectations.

Group MD and Founder Andy Ridout explains:

“Tam is an absolute asset to the company. In his time with us, he has mastered the complexity and skill required to deliver exemplary service to both clients and candidates. Tam project manages the assignments from our clients and supports our consultants throughout the process. Having the knowledge, expertise, and skillset to source and deliver niche engineering specialists. He provides our clients with an efficient and top quality service, something Advance TRS is recognised for.”

Tam provides bespoke support to our Port Solent based Water and Environment team. The team offer an expert focus and quality recruitment service to both clients and candidates in the sector. They consistently meet and exceed expectations. As a well-respected and effective recruitment partner, the team deliver results time and time again. They offer services for a range of public and private sector clients across the UK. These include consultancies, contractors, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). They place exceptional talent in permanent, contract and interim roles.

In his time in the role, Tam has assisted in the development of a dynamic and efficient delivery function within the team. He is capable of supporting the sales function across market verticals. Tam truly understands the calibre of staff required for our business to thrive.

Today our Marketing Consultants sit down with Tam and his Director to understand more about the role Tam plays in driving the Port Solent office’s success and growth.

So, Tam, what led you to this career?

I started working from the age of 16 part-time within retail, whilst studying full-time. Once I graduated from the University of Portsmouth, I was looking for a change in direction from Retail and came across Recruitment. I saw this as an opportunity to expand on my skills in areas such as communication, time management, persuasion, multi-tasking etc. It also meant I could learn new skills, and learn about the specified markets.

What made you take the job at Advance TRS?

Advance TRS are a growing company and has a clear vision for the future. The company and colleagues I work with have specialist knowledge that enables you to progress in this role. Having previously worked with Rob Kelly at another company, I was managed and trained by him to a high level, so this also drew me to the role. I was excited to be contributing and be part of it all!

How has your role developed since you joined the company?

Initially, I was asked to carry out a Senior Delivery role where I would generate candidates, working on live jobs, advertising roles, writing adverts etc. My role has since developed, and my responsibilities now include supporting internal recruitment. I also project manage the growth of the delivery team, train and develop new staff and provide regular reports on the delivery output. The managing director has approved training to gain my APMP qualification, to become a qualified project manager and progress my role even further.

In what way does your role assist your colleagues and the company?

My role helps support the Senior Sales team workload, allowing them to focus on other key areas and ease some of their work pressures. The process involved contributes to increasing our company’s reputation. We provide a more thorough and polished search, ensuring we are covering all markets and sourcing that ideal candidate for our clients. My experience within the role means I’ve developed a good understanding of the candidates I’ve spoken to, their skills, qualifications, responsibilities etc.

When a client presents us with a role, I’m able to deliver someone suitable and who meets the requirements. Unlike other consultants, I don’t specialise in one area, or one job role. I’ve worked on a broad range of different roles and built a knowledge and understanding based on the job specification and the candidates. Each time we successfully fill a role, it increases our reputation and generates a flow of further work from the clients.

What complexities do you find with this role?

As with the nature of recruitment, it’s always tough when you lose out on a candidate. There may be a number of reasons why they may have rejected a job offer but through experience, you learn when to be persuasive with someone, when you need to be persistent and when you need to be patient. It can sometimes be challenging trying to juggle multiple job roles, so the ability to multitask and be organised is key. You have to learn to prioritise the most important task.

What have been some of your biggest successes?

Since joining the team in November 2020 I have helped contribute to 31 placements for the business. I continually support the business with the growth of the delivery team.

If you are interested in learning from Tam and finding out how you can pursue a career in Delivery, we are always hiring. Find out more about our current opportunities here (https://www.advance-trs.com/about/careers-at-advance/)

Rob Kelly, our Water & Infrastructure Director works closely with Tam throughout the recruitment process. He explains the vital role Tam plays in supporting the candidates and meeting our clients’ requirements.

How would you describe the benefits of having Tam in his role?

Tam co-ordinates between our sales function and candidate delivery function. His role ensures an excellent experience for the candidates, developing a rapport with them throughout the entire hiring process. He has likely pre-interviewed and pre-referenced a volume of candidates and assessed their suitability prior to jobs being advertised by our clients. This provides clients with a more efficient, pro-active service and means we are able to quickly source appropriate candidates. This gives us and our clients an edge over competitors and puts us at the forefront of recruitment.

If you’re interested in joining our team, or viewing our latest sector vacancies, please visit our website https://www.advance-trs.com/jobs. Alternatively, you can speak to one of our dedicated team on 01483 361 061.


Why Advance TRS?

Advance TRS is a niche recruitment consultancy specialising in the provision of highly skilled technical professionals for the built environment. We provide permanent, contract and temporary recruitment solutions to both candidates and clients across several key technical sectors including rail, construction and water & environment services.

Since its establishment in 2011, the company has shown remarkable growth, delivering MSPs and RPOs for some of the biggest businesses in the built environment. The team continue to work closely together to deliver honest, reliable solutions to clients and candidates.

As recruiters, we really understand that talented and motivated staff is the key to any successful business. To help us develop our team into the best they can be, all staff receive invaluable mentorship from our experienced senior leaders and map out potential routes of progression within the company.

Advance TRS were delighted to attend the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) Scottish Section meeting again this year, held in Glasgow at the Marriott Hotel.

As leading suppliers of specialist rail signalling engineers to both the London Underground and Network Rail networks, Advance TRS have been a key partner and member of IRSE since establishing in 2011.

“The annual Glasgow meeting always proves to be a great event, which is well attended by many professionals engaged in or associated with railway signalling and telecommunications, train control and traffic management professions.” Explains Specialist Recruitment Consultant – Signalling, Josh Hill.

“The IRSE continue to play a vital role in attracting, developing and retaining skilled engineers and technicians Technical Meetings and events across the country and internationally.”

Andy Mellors, Managing Director of South Western Railway, provided a keynote address in conjunction with IMechE prior to the main event, examining the economic and wider societal benefits that the rail industry delivers, and also discussing the current challenges facing the industry, the engineering profession and the institutions.

This was followed by an evening of networking, dinner and drinks. It’s always a pleasure to be in the same room as so many industry professionals, meeting new people, seeing old faces and talking about the future of the Railway!

Each year, there is an opportunity available for everyone to be able to donate money to the charity Railway Children. This year was no exception. Again, the astounding generosity of attendees raised a total of £3,100!

Railway Children is an international children’s charity, with outreach teams operating out of the UK, India and East Africa. Donations help to fund street teams that seek out children living in squalid conditions on the streets, where the charity’s team of experts can meet the child’s immediate needs and attempt to reintegrate them back into normality.

Since establishing in 2011, giving back to those less fortunate and advancing others has been a central motivator for founder Andy Ridout and the growing Advance TRS team. In previous years, Andy has personally championed the charity at different industry events, including IRSE dinners.

With over 200 signalling professionals currently working across London Underground on Europe’s largest rail signalling project, 4 lines Modernisation, Advance TRS is a leading recruitment specialist in rail signalling partnering key organisations, to provide them with skilled candidates to deliver signalling programmes aimed at increasing safety, capacity, reliability and performance across the rail network.

Click here to view the hottest rail signalling jobs and apply! Alternatively contact our team of expert recruiters directly by calling 01483 361061.