Highway Project Delivery jobs

My current role at Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) is Senior Project Officer within the Project Delivery team. In this role I work alongside the Project Manager and Team Leader to efficiently deliver major highway projects across Cambridgeshire. I feel that I make a difference by actively engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, from contractors to local members, this creates solutions that improve the lives of road users and communities. I feel that my voice is heard and valued in group settings, this gives me the confidence to contribute towards projects I am involved with and diligently suggest improvements or solutions.

I began my career at CCC as a Technician and worked up to where I am today. I started at CCC because the opportunities to grow and progress were clear from the outset, I felt that I was beginning my journey in a supportive, inclusive environment that nurtures development. I still work for CCC because this feeling remains, colleagues from line management to senior management are approachable and invoke a feeling of value amongst the team.

I have progressed through multiple roles since joining CCC in 2018. Beforehand I had no experience within the highway or local authority sector, thus I am impressed at the rate at which I have gained knowledge and built an extensive skill base in civil engineering, local government and project management. In no way do I fear I will stagnate as there are a wide range of opportunities available to me in order to continue on my desired career path at a sustainable and individual pace.

The main development opportunity I have been provided with is a BSc (Hons) Degree in Civil Engineering. This has been delivered through an apprenticeship programme with time set aside within my contract to allow me to complete the assignments and exam preparation required to thrive in my degree and accomplish something which seemed unlikely before joining CCC. Alongside this I have completed many construction related courses and qualifications such as budget management training, SMSTS and CSCS, which have positively impacted on my career success and educational studies.

I am currently working as a Project Engineer within the Highways Projects Delivery Team delivering a variety of maintenance and improvement schemes. I work very closely with County Councillors, Town Councils & Parish Councils to deliver improvements which benefit the wider community. It feels good knowing that I have helped design these solutions to problems that are faced day to day, seeing its progression from a feasible project state to it being delivered on-site, working collaboratively with our Term Service Contractor and engaging with the community as a scheme progresses.

I applied for my initial role as a Technician within the Highways Team back in 2015. I had no prior experience or knowledge working within Local Government or the Civil Engineering Industry and was unsure of what career path I was going to take. When I saw the advertisement for the Technician role it peaked my interest, being able to part of a collective team, working with one and another to deliver a wide variety of different schemes. I really enjoy the design aspect of my role. Being able to use software such as AutoCAD to bring my ideas and proposals to fruition. It was made clear that there are various paths and development opportunities within the county and you get back what you put in. Never do I feel like I am unsupported or under-valued, there is always a platform to my voice and thoughts.

During the 7 years of working for Cambridgeshire County Council I have been able to progress from Technician, to Assistant Engineer to where I am now as a Project Engineer. I have always been encouraged to progress with my career path and feel that opportunities and platform to progress further will always be there. The support from my mentors and the knowledge I have gained since being within the team, taking into account I had no prior experience in the industry is something that I value greatly. All members of the team are happy to assist whenever I have a query or question and we work together to find the right outcome.

After my first year I was supported with my decision to undertake a foundation degree in Civil Engineering at ARU Chelmsford. I was able to do this with only GCSE’s to my name and a year of experience within the industry. Halfway through the course I had the chance to transfer to the apprenticeship programme which meant I would be awarded a full bachelor’s degree once completed. In October I was awarded a 1:1 BSc Civil Engineering degree and I am currently working towards becoming an Incorporated Engineer (IEng) through the ICE as part of the apprenticeship degree. Cambridgeshire County Council have also put me through various training courses such as CDM, NRSWA and AutoCAD training, I believe there will be much more training available to me in the upcoming future.

I’m the Programme Management Office Team Leader managing a diverse team who in turn support the wider delivery teams across Highways & Transport. The PMO is the custodian of a centralised programme management tool which helps support reporting, governance, and the foundation of information for technical reviews.

At CCC I have been recognised for the skills I bring to the council and the environment and culture has enabled me to thrive and grow, professionally and personally. I have a young family so the ability to be flexible when I work and empowered to deliver value when I know I am most productive is really valuable to me. Going through the pandemic I felt stability working for the council which is a privilege some of my friends didn’t share. This supported the wellbeing my family and I.

I am most impressed by my personal development since working at CCC. Working in an environment where the culture is people focused makes a huge difference that hasn’t been lost on me.

I have been on multiple training courses from CDM, PowerBI, H&S, Leadership and Management, the list goes on. I had limited knowledge of infrastructure when I started at CCC, however, I was recognised for my transferable skills and have learnt so much in a relative short period of time, which has laid the foundation of a new career, which I couldn’t have fathomed before working here.