Engineering Manager – Exeter

Overview

Engineering Manager – Exeter

Job Type: Full time

In a Nutshell…

We have an exciting opportunity for a Engineering Manager to join our team within Vistry Cornwall South West, at our Exeter office. As our Engineering Manager, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring new projects and development phases progress efficiently from land purchase or contract through to start on site.

The primary focus of this role is to drive the achievement of all key pre‑construction milestones, ensuring every project achieves its agreed start‑on‑site date.

Working collaboratively across Land, Planning, Technical, Commercial, Build, Sales, and external partners, You will coordinate all pre‑start activities to ensure projects are fully prepared, risk‑assessed, commercially validated, and operationally ready. The role requires strong leadership, programme management, and communication skills to align stakeholders, remove blockers, and maintain clear visibility of progress against programme.

A critical part of the role is the ability to find a way when challenges arise. The successful candidate will be expected to think creatively and identify pragmatic, “outside‑the‑box” solutions to maintain programme certainty — whether that means carving out enabling works packages, sequencing activities differently, accelerating specific workstreams, or finding alternative approaches to remove blockers and keep the project on track.

The successful candidate will bring a proactive, solution‑focused approach, ensuring each project is set up for success before handover to the delivery/project teams. They will champion early engagement, drive accountability, and maintain a disciplined approach to governance, documentation, technical compliance, and pre‑start readiness.

We value in-person collaboration and team culture, but we’re also committed to supporting flexible working where possible. We encourage you to raise any specific requirements during the interview process so we can explore how this could be accommodated.

 

Let’s cut to the chase, what’s in it for you…

• Competitive basic salary and annual bonus
• Company car, car allowance or travel allowance
• Salary sacrifice car scheme available to all employees
• Up to 33 days annual leave plus bank holidays increasing to up to 39 days with service
• 2 Volunteering days per annum
• Private medical insurance, with employee paid cover
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Competitive pension scheme through salary sacrifice
• Life assurance at 4 x your annual salary
• Share save and share incentive schemes
• Employee rewards portal with many more benefits…

In return, what we would like from you…

• Behave in line with our company values – Integrity, Caring and Quality
• Strong knowledge and ability in planning software, ideally Asta Power Project
• Relevant SHE experiences & training
• Advanced knowledge and experience of working in the pre-construction environment.
• Construction experience working with a main Contractor preferably a PLC housebuilder.
• Good knowledge of traditional and modern constructions methods.
• IT literate – Office 365 preferable
• Viewpoint / SharePoint
• Working with many stakeholders and cross-department collaboration.
• Strong time management skills with an ability to prioritise.
• Able to work under own initiative, having good decision making skills and a keen sense of responsibility
• Ability to visit sites across the Devon & Cornwall region – must have a clean full UK driving license
• Excellent management and communication skills with the ability to proactively communicate to stakeholders and the ability to deliver quality information within the set timescales.
• Professional manner
• Able to work as part of a team as well as autonomously.
• Ability to communicate well with individuals at all levels.

Desirable

• Degree/NHC/HND in a Construction/Engineering/Planning related area.
• Professionally qualified or working towards a membership of a Professional Body
• Nebosh Construction Certificate or working towards
• Large development delivery
• Consortium/JV arrangements
• Experience of all stages of development including legal, design and planning related activities.
• Problem resolution in a timely manner
• Contract Management

More about the Engineering Manager role…

• Work in accordance with our Life of Site procedures, collaborating closely with the operational team to produce a comprehensive Construction Report at Land Acquisition stage. This report ensures all construction elements have been fully considered and assessed, including site conditions, construction feasibility, potential constraints, buildability challenges, Open Market strategy and phasing, resource requirements, and any other factors that may influence programme, cost, or delivery.
• Develop detailed, accurate, and fully coordinated pre‑construction programmes to drive the achievement of planned start‑on‑site dates across all projects and phases, understand all critical paths utility requirements and planning requirements.
• Work closely with the Technical and Commercial teams to support timely procurement integrating accurate and necessary information from the build team.
• Coordinate the collation and flow of all required pre‑construction inputs—including logistics plans, build‑stage schedules, design packages, specifications, enabling works details and sequencing requirements—so that procurement can progress without delay.
• Have due regard to the readiness of design information, package releases and technical approvals to maintain alignment with procurement programmes, escalating risks or gaps early and driving resolution with relevant teams.
• Work closely with Build, Technical, Commercial and Sales to develop phasing and sequencing strategies that optimise cashflow, support affordable housing revenue, and maximise open‑market release opportunities.
• Provide programme input to adjudications, including prelim planning, logistics, resourcing and sequencing to ensure financially and operationally viable delivery plans
• Promote the company at pre-qualification, tender interviews, presentations and meetings. In accordance with existing Company standards.
• Visit sites to ascertain conditions and constraints to be taken into account in preparing pre-con programmes and method statements. To show we have a thorough understanding of the project and surrounding environment.
• Assess requirements and working with the build team provide comprehensive scaffold and crane schedules to be used in obtaining competitive and realistic quotations. To enable an accurate pricing

Finally, let’s tell you a bit more about us…

We build more than homes, we’re making Vistry. Being a responsible developer and award-winning employer means we live each day through our ethos – doing the right thing. Our behaviours reflect this, as well as our values of integrity, caring and quality. Shaping all we do; they empower us to develop sustainable communities across affordable and private housing. We work in a partnership-led way, and you’ll recognise our renowned brands Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Countryside Homes. Together with Vistry Works, our manufacturing operation, and the functional support of Vistry Services, we’re a proud UK Green Building Council member, UK top five housebuilder with a five-star House Builders Federation (HBF) customer satisfaction rating, and winner of many awards including Top Employer, Global Top Inspiring Workplaces, and Best for Talent Attraction and Outreach. 

Join us in making Vistry.  

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IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.