Principal Development Engineer
Gloucester
This is a Gloucestershire County Council job.
- Job Title: Principal Development Engineer
- Job Location: Shire Hall, Block 5, 5th Floor
- Salary: £48,226 - £51,356 + (5% market rate supplement) per annum
- Hours per Week: 37.00
- Contract Type: Permanent
- Closing Date: 18/01/2026
- Job Requisition Number: 10363
- This post is not open to job share
About the Team and Role
Come and join our friendly Highways Development Management Team in the beautiful county of Gloucestershire. We are responsible for ensuring developer-led infrastructure and new highways are designed and constructed to the highest standards, ensuring Gloucestershire remains a desirable location where people want to visit, work and live.
We need a Principal Development Engineer to take on a senior role primarily undertaking technical audits for section 278 and section 38 agreements. You will play a vital role in our enthusiastic and supportive team, where your skills and experience within the Highways sector will be fully utilised, affording you opportunities to make a genuinely positive contribution to both the team and the local area as well as gaining opportunities to grow both personally and professionally.
To find out more about the Highways Development Management team, and what we do, please visit the Manual for Gloucestershire Streets webpages. Manual for Gloucestershire streets | Highways
About You
To be successful in this role, you will need to demonstrate your experience as a competent Highways/Civil Engineer, capable of working autonomously and possessing strong technical and engineering acumen. You will need to be personable and professional, with a proven track record of providing robust technical solutions to complex engineering problems. You will bring your problem-solving skills and customer-focused nature to a talented team delivering a crucial service. You may be a design engineer ready for a new challenge or maybe a civil engineer with experience in highways maintenance, scheme delivery or other areas within the Highway Engineering sector. Whatever your background, you will be proactive and committed to your professional development within civil engineering and, more specifically, highways development management.
About Us
We are committed to investing in your development and operate flexible times and ways of working, so you may be out meeting partners anywhere within the region, working on your laptop in one of our offices or staff cafes in the heart of the City Centre or working from home.
As you’d expect, we offer an attractive package of benefits which makes a career in Local Government both flexible and rewarding.
For all your hard work, you will receive the following:
Flexible and agile working opportunities
25.5 days annual leave rising to 29.5 days after 5 years continuous service
An option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part-time staff)
Family friendly employer offering benefits to help support you and your family
Career development and qualification opportunities
Supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone.
An in-house Occupational Health service
Employee discount scheme
Cycle to Work scheme
Gloucestershire Salary Sacrifice Green Car Scheme (T&Cs apply)
Links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) network, DNet (disability) network and the Young Employees Network.
How To Apply
If you believe that this is your kind of environment, and you have the skills, desire and experience required to make a positive difference, then please submit your application and personal statement today by clicking the “Apply Now” button.
For an informal discussion about the role or how your skills set may match ours, please contact Hen Abbott on 01452 426645 or hen.abbott@gloucestershire.gov.uk.
Closing date 18th January 2026
Short-listed candidates will be contacted by email and invited to interview week commencing 26th January 2026
Additional Information
To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:-
Principal Development Engineer-Job Profile
The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship in this role. Candidates will need to have right to work that enables them to commit to at least 6 months employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer.
Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.
It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.
Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.