Senior Design Engineer (Water) United Kingdom York Application Deadline 17 April 2026

Do you want to be a part of a growing Water team? Can you collaborate with colleagues across UK and International projects? Are you experienced in the Civil or Mechanical design of water or wastewater schemes? Then this could be the next adventure in your career.

Create Solutions that will enable a better tomorrow

To further strengthen our civil and mechanical capability on water and wastewater treatment projects, we are looking for a Senior Design Engineer with a water utilities background to join us. Your primary task will be to deliver engineering work related to the design of elements including water supply and wastewater infrastructure and non-infrastructure equipment. This includes pressurised mains, pumping stations, treatment works apparatus and other relevant equipment and structures.

Your role will be focused on the design environment which, while based in the UK, will involve interacting day-to-day with colleagues across our global hubs. There may also be opportunities to broaden your contribution to other areas within the Civils or MEICA discipline as well as client side or site based roles in a variety of major infrastructure settings.

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Contributing towards the design of projects for a wide range of clients in the UK water sector
• Planning design work and deliverables together with wider civils and MEICA teams
• Development and technical assurance of design including use of relevant software and engineering calculations
• Ensuring compliance with both local and international standards
• Coordination of multi disciplinary aspects of projects including civil, mechanical, electrical and process interfaces
• Mentoring junior team members in design and supporting the development of graduate engineers
• Contributing to the building of relationships with clients and other stakeholders
• Acting as a technical link between senior discipline leads and junior engineers or international delivery teams

Your skills

The first step to success in this role is that you are eager to collaborate with the people around you, whether they are colleagues, partners or customers. Developing ties with others is something you do by acting respectfully and delivering on your promises. And you never get set in your ways but keep exploring new insights and ways to improve.

On top of that, you'll have:

• A degree in civil or mechanical engineering
• Achieved Chartered Engineer status (or equivalent) or be working towards Chartership with a recognised professional institution
• Relevant experience within civil engineering, structural engineering or mechanical systems design in the water sector
• A solid understanding of water based systems such as pressurised water supply mains, pumping stations and treatment works apparatus
• Experience with hydraulic modelling of pipe networks, steady state and transient analysis calculations
• Knowledge of pipe support and stress calculations
• Experience in the design or specification of mechanical equipment within water or wastewater treatment works (e.g. pumps, screens, pipework systems, valves, or sludge handling equipment)
• Experience of pressure pipeline systems including surge considerations and associated civil interfaces such as thrust blocks
• Awareness of hazardous area classification and relevant regulations such as DSEAR would be advantageous
• Exposure to other mechanical equipment such as lifting equipment, actuated hydraulic gates and building services would be an advantage
• Experience with 3D and BIM design
• Knowledge of relevant Water Industry Specifications (WIMES)
• Experience of applying CDM2015 regulations to design tasks
• Experience of design and build projects would be beneficial which may include designer's representation on site

A place to work and so much more

At COWI, we work together with our customers to shape a sustainable and liveable world. We do it by applying our knowledge and curiosity - and sometimes even our courage - to create the solutions the world needs today to enable a better tomorrow. We support our customers' transition towards increased sustainability. We strive to lead by example by embedding environmental management, social responsibility and good governance into our business practices and the options we provide to our customers.

We value differences and development and cultivate an environment of belonging and having fun. Because that is what brings out the best in you, at work and at home.

With offices primarily located in the Nordic region, the UK, North America and India, we are currently more than 7,500 people who bring their expertise in engineering, architecture, energy and environment into play.

What we also offer:

To us, a fair reward is more than a competitive salary. We want to take care of our people professionally and personally as well.

Some of our benefits include:

• 28days' holiday plus all UK bank and public holidays
• Formalised development plans and yearly promotion opportunities
• Private health care, for you and your immediate dependents
• Flexible and hybrid working conditions
• Annual subscription fees paid for your membership of two Professional Institutions
• Group personal pension scheme - salary exchange
• Life assurance

Equal opportunity employer

COWI provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to ethnicity, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

If you have any unanswered questions about the role or what we have to offer, please reach out to our Talent Acquisition Specialist Laura Dobson at LD

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Get to know us even better on our website where you can learn more about our projects, our strategy, what we want to achieve and what life is like at COWI.