Design & Development Engineer

Design & Development Engineer

Location: Bristol

Salary £53,461 - £67,612

About the role

Are you passionate about shaping the future of critical infrastructure? Do you thrive in roles where analytical thinking, technical curiosity and problem‑solving come together to influence major investment decisions?

Join us as a Design Development Engineer, where you’ll help define, shape and guide early-stage CAPEX projects that keep our network safe, efficient and future‑ready.

As a Design Development Engineer, you’ll play a pivotal part in developing the foundations of major engineering projects. You’ll turn early ideas and emerging needs into clear, evidence‑based project scopes that enable confident investment decisions.

From site surveys and feasibility assessments to cross‑functional collaboration and technical analysis, you’ll ensure every project begins with clarity, accuracy and purpose. Your work will directly influence the success, safety and deliverability of projects throughout their lifecycle.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Developing clear, evidence-backed project scopes that articulate needs, feasibility and expected outcomes.
• Evaluating feasibility findings and optioneering outputs to recommend safe, value‑driven technical solutions.
• Preparing high‑quality project definition documentation, including risks, costs, assumptions and programme impacts.
• Analysing asset condition and survey data to validate project drivers and technical requirements.
• Planning and conducting site surveys to capture critical technical information and identify risks or constraints.
• Coordinating specialist inputs and facilitating stakeholder engagement across engineering, operations and commercial teams.
• Integrating supplier feedback, operational insights and constructability considerations into early project development.
• Maintaining robust documentation to support transparent decision‑making and seamless project handovers.
• Identifying opportunities to standardise and improve early-stage scoping processes across the region.

What we're looking for

You’ll be someone who enjoys turning technical information into meaningful conclusions. You’ll bring structure, curiosity and professional judgement to early‑stage engineering challenges, with the confidence to problem‑solve and the awareness to escalate when needed.

This role suits someone who’s proactive, analytical, an excellent communicator — and who thrives in a fast‑moving environment where every decision shapes the future success of our projects.

Key Skills & Experience Required

• Working knowledge of engineering principles relevant to gas transmission assets and infrastructure.
• Understanding of design fundamentals, technical standards and CDM principles.
• Ability to interpret survey results, condition reports and feasibility data.

    
Skills

• Strong analytical capability and structured problem‑solving skills.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills for stakeholder engagement.
• Well‑organised, able to plan and manage site visits and multiple workstreams.
• Competence in developing technical documents such as scope definitions, risk logs and cost inputs.
• Ability to build constructive working relationships across multi‑disciplinary teams.

Experience

• Practical experience applying engineering knowledge in utilities, operational or infrastructure environments.
• Experience supporting feasibility assessments, surveys, option development or early-stage project work.
• Experience working with engineering information and collaborating with multiple technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

• HNC/HND or equivalent in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Valid UK driving licence (required for site travel).

What we can offer

• Company car based on doing 10,000 company miles being met annually 
• Annual bonus of up to 6% based on personal and company performance
• 26 days’ holiday plus statutory holidays - option available to buy extra holiday days
• Generous double-match pension scheme - for every £1 you put in, we'll add £2 (max company contribution 12%)
• An optional flexible benefit scheme, including private healthcare, dental insurance, technology plans, travel insurance
• Death in service 10x your basic salary
• Financial protection if you're unable to work due to long term illness or injury
• Excellent family friendly provisions - maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental leave
• Professional development and career progression
• Employee assistance programme offering free confidential professional counselling 24 hours per day
• Financial support to help you cover the cost of professional membership subscriptions, relevant to your role

Inclusive recruitment

At National Gas, we are disability confident and signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant. We are committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and encourage you to let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may need.

LI-JM