Geotechnical Engineer

Location/s: Cambridge, UK / Leeds, UK
Recruiter contact: Emma Cantley

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices. 

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual. 

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

About the division 

The Water Consultancy Division is Mott MacDonald’s centre of excellence for responding to water and wastewater challenges, offering fantastic opportunities to get involved in diverse and technically challenging work.  The work we do is at the forefront of ensuring safe water supplies for future generations and protecting our environment.  Our multi-disciplinary teams provide a variety of services throughout the full project life cycle, from advisory services and feasibility studies, through outline and detailed design, to construction support and site supervision. 

About the role

Mott MacDonald’s UK water business is the centre of excellence for responding to water and wastewater challenges, offering fantastic opportunities in diverse and technically complex projects.  The work we do is at the forefront of ensuring safe water supplies for future generations and protecting the ecology of our river and seas.

As a Geotechnical Engineer, you will be responsible for:

• Developing design solutions, and associated deliverables, drawing on a range of geotechnical skills, including:
• Foundation, slope, earthwork, and retaining wall design; notably working alongside structural engineers to design structures involving complex soil-structure interaction.
• Geotechnics in the context of dam and reservoir engineering.
• Geotechnical risk management through desk studies, site investigation, geotechnical data management, and ground modelling.
• Delivery of packages of design work, requiring collaboration with external and internal stakeholders, quality control, management of inputs from other team members, and travel to project sites when necessary.
• Advancing the team’s capability by advancing technical excellence and digital innovation.
• You will be able to express the contribution of your work in the context of social outcomes.

 
For your longer-term career development, we can offer a number of paths, including technical leadership, staff resource management, and client engagement.
The position can be offered on either a full-time or a part-time basis. We operate an agile working policy with the expectation that around 50% of your time will be spent in the offices stated above, fluctuating as required to suit business and individual needs.

Essential:

• A strong academic background, with a Masters level degree in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, or Engineering Geology
• Working towards chartered status with a relevant professional body (for example the ICE)
• Experience in developing innovative geotechnical engineering solutions to current design standards; with experience in the water sector in general, and dam engineering in particular an advantage.
• Capability with foundation, slope, and retaining wall design software; with numerical modelling software experience, and coding capability an advantage.
• Experience of the implementation or construction of design solutions on construction sites.
• Effective communication, interpersonal, and teamwork skills; able to collaborate effectively with all levels of staff and clients and nurture the development of junior staff.

UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion 

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

Agile working  

We are happy to talk openly about flexible working and how we can support your responsibilities beyond the workplace. 

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years’ service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

 Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
• Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.