Market
Transportation
Senior Drainage Engineer
Jacobs
Manchester, UK
Posted on Dec 12, 2025
At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.
Your impact
As a Senior Drainage Engineer, you’ll play a key role in delivering sustainable, high-quality drainage solutions across highways, urban environments, and aviation infrastructure. With a strong technical foundation and experience in hydraulic modelling and drainage design software, you’ll support our discipline leads and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across the UK and Global Delivery Centres.
You’ll contribute to the design and development of major infrastructure projects across Leeds, Manchester, Warrington, and the wider North West—delivering high-quality drainage and flood mitigation solutions for highways and urban environments as part of the SDF framework. With a strong technical foundation and chartered status, you’ll guide multidisciplinary teams and act as a trusted advisor to key clients, supporting local authorities and major stakeholders across the region.
In this role, you will:
- Deliver drainage designs across all project stages, from feasibility studies to detailed design and contract documentation.
- Collaborate with colleagues across offices and disciplines to ensure integrated and efficient project delivery.
- Support client engagement and represent Jacobs in meetings and site inspections.
- Mentor junior engineers and contribute to a culture of innovation, quality, and continuous improvement.
- Work flexibly from London or Manchester, with regular presence in the office or on client sites.
Jacobs’ Transportation team is recognised for delivering high-profile projects for clients including Manchester Airport Group, Heathrow Airport, National Highways, Transport Scotland, Network Rail, Welsh Government, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, HS2 Ltd, and numerous Local Authorities. You’ll be part of a team known for excellence in design, sustainability, safety, and collaboration—contributing to award-winning work on projects like HS2.
Thriving communities. Healthy cities. A brighter future.
If you’re ready to take the next step and make a meaningful impact—Jacobs is ready to invest in you.
Here's what you'll need
- A degree in Civil Engineering or a related discipline
- Chartered Engineer status or actively working towards chartership
- Experience in drainage design for highways and urban environments
- Experience with hydraulic modelling and drainage design software
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with client-facing experience
- Thorough understanding of DMRB, local authority standards, Sewerage Sector Guidance, and the SuDS Manual
- Experience working with local councils, LLFAs, and water authorities
- Proficiency in drainage modelling software and tools
- Working knowledge of health and safety legislation
#UKTransportation #LI-AS5
Joining Jacobs not only connects you locally but globally. Our values stand on a foundation of safety, integrity, inclusion and belonging. We put people at the heart of our business, and we truly believe that by supporting one another through our culture of caring, we all succeed. We value positive mental health and a sense of belonging for all employees.
With safety and flexibility always top of mind, we’ve gone beyond traditional ways of working so you have the support, means and space to maximize your potential. You’ll uncover flexible working arrangements, benefits, and opportunities, from well-being benefits to our global giving and volunteering program, to exploring new and inventive ways to help our clients make the world a better place. No matter what drives you, you’ll discover how you can cultivate, nurture, and achieve your goals – all at a single global company. Find out more about life at Jacobs.
We aim to embed inclusion and belonging in everything we do. We know that if we are inclusive, we’re more connected and creative. We accept people for who they are, and we champion the richness of different perspectives, lived experiences and backgrounds in the workplace, as a source of learning and innovation. We are committed to building vibrant communities within Jacobs, including through our Jacobs Employee Networks, Communities of Practice and our Find Your Community initiatives, allowing every employee to find connection, purpose, and belonging. Find out more about our Jacobs Employee Networks here.
Jacobs partners with VERCIDA to help us attract and retain talent from a wide range of backgrounds. For greater online accessibility please visit https://www.vercida.com/uk/employers/jacobs to view and access our roles.
As a disability confident employer, we will interview disabled candidates who best meet the criteria. We welcome applications from candidates who are seeking flexible working and from those who may not meet all the listed requirements for a role.
We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.
Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support.
Locations
| City | State | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Leeds | West Yorkshire | United Kingdom |
| Warrington | Cheshire | United Kingdom |
| Manchester | Greater Manchester | United Kingdom |
