Pre-Construction Civils Manager

You’ll lead the pre-construction phase of our cable route projects: feasibility, surveys, route design and the engineering difficulties that make or break a programme and hand construction a scheme that’s buildable, compliant and priced right. You’ll lead a team of Senior Project Managers and present to clients at tender, explaining exactly how we’ll deliver it. About Jsm JSM Group designs and builds the power networks and digital infrastructure that clients across the UK, Europe and beyond depend on from high-voltage grid connections and critical utilities to data centres and renewable energy. Our civil, power and digital engineers work under one roof, giving clients one team from design to energisation, with the technical, commercial and consenting risk managed from day one.

Belonging here isn’t accidental; it’s engineered. Our values of personal responsibility, sound judgment and drive shape how we work, and you’ll get the work to stretch you and the support to develop fast. See life at JSM at careers.jsmgroup.com.

About The Team You’ll join our Pre-Construction Civils team at Potters Bar, part of JSM Power, reporting to the Head of Pre-Construction Civils. The team takes cable route projects from first feasibility to construction-ready design for DNO and IDNO networks and blue-chip clients, working day-to-day with estimating, engineering and delivery colleagues.

THE ROLE This role exists to take the risk out of projects before they reach site. You’ll be the link between design, commercial and delivery, making sure every scheme we tender and build has been properly surveyed, engineered and thought through.

What You’ll Do

• Lead feasibility studies, route surveys and technical assessments for cable route projects — including paving schedules, cable pack designs, straight line diagrams and tender and construction programmes
• Own the register of Special Engineering Difficulties, choosing the right trenched or trenchless solution (HDD, TBM) for each and making sure scopes of work, method statements and risk assessments build HSQE in from the start
• Lead, coach and develop a group of Senior Project Managers and their teams, with risk registers built and actively managed across every project in your portfolio
• Secure approvals and agree methodologies with DNOs and IDNOs, the Environment Agency, local authorities and other statutory bodies
• Shape tenders with our estimators and surveyors' methodology, programme, risk and value-engineering options and present them at client negotiations

Good to know: this is a hybrid role based at our Potters Bar office, with visits to site and to client and stakeholder offices as projects require.

Essential WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• Pre-construction or feasibility experience on cable route or utility civils projects, taking schemes from survey to construction-ready design
• Working knowledge of trenched and trenchless methods, including HDD and TBM
• Experience securing approvals from statutory bodies such as the Environment Agency and utility providers, and a working understanding of DNO/IDNO standards
• Experience leading project managers or engineering teams
• A degree in Civil Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent experience

Nice to have

• Experience presenting technical proposals or methodologies at tender or client negotiation
• Chartered or incorporated status (or working towards it)

You’ll thrive here if you

• Take ownership of your work and your development
• Would rather solve a hard technical problem than avoid it
• Know that good delivery depends on civil, power and digital teams pulling in the same direction
• Are straight with people about risk and programme, especially under pressure

Don’t tick every box? Apply anyway. We look at what you’ve delivered and what you’re capable of — not just the list. What We Offer

• Pay & reward: competitive salary, performance-linked bonus and car allowance (where applicable), 4% matched pension
• Time off 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
• Health & wellbeing: BUPA health cash plan, Benenden Health, employee assistance programme
• Career growth funded training through our Training Centre and Competency Cloud, professional memberships and a clear route to chartership or higher authorisation
• Extras electric car salary-sacrifice scheme

READY TO APPLY? Click Apply and upload your CV it takes around 5 minutes, and no cover letter is needed.

• What happens next a call with one of our Talent Partners. If you’re successful at that stage, we’ll invite you to an interview with the hiring manager.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES JSM Group is an equal opportunities employer, and we welcome applications from everyone. Better engineering comes from bringing different experience into the same room, and we assess every application on skills, experience, and potential. If you need an adjustment at any stage — the application, interview format or assessment

At JSM Group, we are a leading specialist infrastructure engineering company. We design and install the complex power networks, digital infrastructure and specialist systems a future-focused worldwide marketplace needs. From High-Power grid connections to Critical Utilities. Data Centres to Renewable Energy, our full turnkey solution teams manage the full scope to help advise and deliver complex infrastructure projects at speed, on time and with reduced legislation, technical and commercial risks.