Digital Engineering Lead

Job Description

Hybrid | Warrington | Competitive Salary + Exceptional Benefits

Ready to redefine how a FTSE‑listed utility designs, models and delivers complex infrastructure? At United Utilities, we’re accelerating our digital transformation — and we need a visionary digital engineering leader who can turn cutting‑edge technology into real‑world performance, efficiency and design excellence.

This is your opportunity to shape the digital toolchain that underpins our entire engineering capability, from BIM and automation to drones, digital twins and immersive modelling environments.

Your mission

As our Digital Engineering Lead, you’ll own and drive the organisation’s digital engineering strategy — expanding today’s Digital Design (CAD) capability into a fully integrated, futureready digital ecosystem. You’ll lead a team of specialists, govern the full suite of digital tools, and embed datarich, automated and standardised workflows across the internal design function.

You’ll champion innovation, ensure digital tools are robust and well‑governed, and position United Utilities at the forefront of digital engineering within the water sector and beyond.

You’ll be doing things like

• Leading the Digital Engineering Strategy, unifying CAD, BIM, 3D/4D modelling, drones and emerging technologies into a single coherent vision.
• Defining and delivering the roadmap for digital transformation, including AI‑supported modelling, automation, immersive environments and digital twins.
• Embedding digital workflows that improve design quality, coordination, efficiency and predictability.
• Overseeing the governance, performance and evolution of all digital engineering applications — CAD, BIM platforms, 3D/4D tools, intelligent P&IDs, drone systems and model‑based engineering.
• Leading upgrade strategies to ensure tools remain secure, resilient and aligned to industry best practice.
• Ensuring seamless integration between design tools, CDEs, information management workflows and emerging digital platforms.
• Developing processes for automated data capture (drone surveys, LiDAR, photogrammetry) and embedding this data into design workflows.
• Owning governance for drone‑enabled surveys, ensuring safe, compliant and value‑adding use across the business.
• Integrating drone‑derived imagery, scans and models into digital engineering outputs to enhance design intelligence.
• Leading the development of digital engineering standards — CAD, BIM, naming conventions, modelling rules and information requirements.
• Driving a consistent, standardised approach to digital engineering across the design community.
• Managing and developing the digital engineering team, ensuring capability, capacity and continuous professional growth.
• Designing and delivering training programmes to uplift digital fluency across the engineering function.
• Building a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and digital confidence.
• Working closely with Technology Services, Information Management, Discipline Leads and Project Delivery Teams to ensure digital outputs support reliable, efficient design delivery.

What we’re looking for

• Relevant degree‑level qualification or equivalent experience.
• Strong leadership and coaching capability with experience managing technical teams.
• Extensive experience across digital engineering — CAD, BIM, 3D/4D modelling and emerging technologies such as drones and AI.
• Knowledge of drone platforms, digital surveying technologies and integration of drone data into engineering workflows.
• Demonstrable ability to drive adoption of new digital tools and data‑centric processes.
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiation skills.
• Strong technical knowledge of CAD, BIM and intelligent modelling technologies.
• Deep understanding of the project lifecycle, engineering assurance, asset coding and information management.
• Experience supporting complex capital projects within the water sector or similar infrastructure environments.
• Understanding of UK and international BIM standards and digital engineering best practice.

What you’ll get

A competitive package that recognises your expertise, including:

• 26–30 days holiday + bank holidays
• Up to 14% employer pension contribution
• £5,000 car allowance
• Up to 20% bonus
• Healthcare, wellbeing benefits, discounts and more

If you’re ready to lead the next wave of digital engineering innovation, transform how we design and deliver assets, and position United Utilities as a digital leader in the sector, we’d love to welcome your expertise.