Job title: Area Network Engineer

Salary: PO1 £38,220 - £40,777

Hours: 37 per week

Contract: Permanent

Location: Hybrid working / site working / base office Merrion House.

As one of the Network Management Team’s Area Network Engineers in the Highways & Transportation Service you will thrive on ensuring effective operation of the city’s highway network, preventing unnecessary disruption for people, goods and services. We work closely with internal and external parties for the planning and delivery of projects and ensure compliance with codes of practice. As well as working with the general public and elected representatives to answer queries and resolve issues that may arise.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As an Area Network Engineer you will bring to the role:

Knowledge of New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, Traffic Management Act 2004, Highways Act 1980 and accompanying codes of practice.
Knowledge of Street Works Permitting and Lane Rental.
Ability to deal courteously and effectively with people at all levels verbally or in writing, remaining calm in difficult situations.
Ability to work on own initiative, with minimum supervision and often to tight deadlines.
To interpret information and to prepare / present reports.
Ability to work with Geographical Information Systems and permitting systems.

About the role

As our next Area Network Engineer, you will be expected to lead a team to plan, manage and co-ordinate all highway works and events within your area of the district. You will also be responsible for all aspects of the New Roads and Street Works Act and for licensing some activities under the Highways Act. You will be working with an extensive range of stakeholders at all levels and should therefore have good communication skills. Leeds City Council operates a permit scheme for street/road works. You will be expected to ensure that all the permit applications are assessed within the required timescales and that appropriate conditions are included on the permit to minimise disruption. The council is also planning to introduce a Lane Rental scheme in the district to build on the success of the permit scheme

To help manage Leeds City Council’s Network Management Duty, the Council’s permit scheme is applied to all streets maintained by Leeds City Council, allowing greater control over the whole network and movement of traffic throughout the city. As a consequence of this and the unprecedented amount of large schemes planned for the next few years through programmes including Transforming Cities Fund and our Connecting Leeds proposals, along with the proposed introduction of Lane Rental we are an essential service team within Leeds City Council.

The role is integral to the Council’s incident management processes when unplanning incidents impact on or impact the highway network.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidancefor further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Lee Monaghan, Senior Network Management Engineer. Call 0113 3787007 or email lee.monaghan@leeds.gov.uk.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job purpose

The City of Leeds is rapidly changing, and the Network Management team plays a central role in this process ensuring the effective operation of the city’s highway network, preventing unnecessary disruption for people, goods and services.

The team works with a wide range of people and organisations such as individual residents, developers, utility providers and internal works promoters as part of our duties. This planned work ranges from the licencing of skips through to the co-ordination and permitting of major highway works and international events. In addition, the team plays a leading role in the Council’s incident management processes when they impact on the network.

Responsibilities

Manage the NRSWA Inspection regime and procedures to meet legislative and local targets.
Liaise with administrative staff in dealing with NRSWA procedures.
Liaise with and attend meetings with Statutory Undertakers regarding their programmes and performances
Implement co-ordination and manage timing and durations of work under NRSWA and TMA procedures for all works on the highway.
Prepare temporary road closure notices/orders and diversionary routes in conjunction with Legal Services.
Liaise with consultants/contractors in respect of licences for hoardings, scaffoldings and skips arrangements for building/civil engineer projects.
Implement licences procedure under the Highways Act 1980.
Support the work of community safety in progressing highway gating orders under the Highways Act 1980.
Liaise with other staff throughout the Department regarding the implementation of TMA 2004 and NRSWA 1991.
Provide guidance to ensure that any activity on the public highway causes minimum disruption.
Support enforcement of failures to comply with legislative requirements and where damage is caused to the fabric of the highway.
Deputise for the Senior Engineer (Network Management) as and when required.
Provide day to day supervision of the Assistant Network Officer within your area.
Support the development of staff within the team following the current staff development procedures.
Comply with Standing Orders, Financial Procedures and Quality Assurance Procedures.
Promote and deliver positive solutions to achieving diversity and equality in all aspects of service delivery, community engagement areas, focusing on equality of outcome.
To work as part of the team for Leeds, in ways which are open, inclusive, responsive and accountable, to develop and maintain good working relationships with internal and external customers, other stakeholders and partners to achieve excellent outcomes for the citizens of Leeds.
Take responsibility for developing your own performance within the job.
To work responsibly to ensure the safety of staff, service users and contractors in accordance with all statutory obligations and the council’s Health and Safety Policy.
Other duties which are commensurate with the grade and within the purpose of the Post.
The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications

HNC/HND in civil engineering or equivalent relevant qualification or equivalent appropriate experience.

Essential requirements

It is essential that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria. Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

KNOWLEDGE

a) Substantial knowledge of New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and accompanying codes of practice.
b) Knowledge of Highways Act 1980
c) Knowledge of Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual
d) Knowledge of highway materials

EXPERIENCE

a) Experience of highway construction and utility works.

SKILLS

a) Possess full current driving licence.
b) Ability to take accurate records and present findings.
c) Ability to deal courteously and effectively with people at all levels, including members of the public, elected members and external organisations.
d) Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and writing.
e) Ability to supervise develop and motivate staff.
f) Ability to work with minimum supervision and often to tight deadlines.

BEHAVIOURAL & OTHER RELATED CHARCTERISTICS

Understand and promote policy on equal opportunities and diversity in both service delivery and employment.

Essential behavioural and other characteristics

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
Be aware of and be able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety.
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
Be aware of and support difference ensuring equality for all, working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Desirable requirements

It is desirable that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria. Candidates are not required to meet all the desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

KNOWLEDGE

a) Knowledge of Street Works Registers
b) Knowledge of Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
c) Knowledge of Lane Rental
d) NRSWA Accreditation