Turner Lovell is recruiting a Senior Civil Design Engineer for a major European utility group operating across offshore and onshore grids in Europe and providing engineering advisory to Middle East, US, and Asian electricity grid networks. This senior role oversees civil design development and technical specifications for HVDC converter stations (packages valued at typically €50–100M) and associated onshore cable infrastructure routes of approximately 50–120km. Working fully remote with ad hoc project travel, the ideal candidate brings extensive civil design experience in developed markets such as Europe — UK or Germany experience particularly desirable — and the ability to shape projects from site and route selection through to construction-guiding specifications. Previous HVDC experience welcome but not essential. Confidential discussions available through Turner Lovell.
About This HVDC Civil Engineering Opportunity via Turner Lovell
Client: A major European utility group operating across subsidiaries in Europe — building and maintaining offshore and onshore grids whilst providing engineering advisory to electricity grid networks in the Middle East, US, and Asia — one of Europe’s most strategically significant energy infrastructure organisations in the HVDC transmission sector
Role Scale: Converter station civil packages typically valued at €50–100M, onshore cable routes of approximately 50–120km — major infrastructure civil design scope at the commercial scale that defines senior infrastructure engineering career distinction
Working Model: Remote working, permanent employment, ad hoc project travel — some busier periods for design workshops and specification development, but primarily a remote-flexible senior engineering position
Recruitment: Turner Lovell — specialist infrastructure and energy engineering recruitment consultancy — conducting confidential candidate discussions for this senior civil design role across Germany and Europe
Why This Senior Civil Engineer HVDC Role Stands Out
HVDC Grid Infrastructure — Europe’s Energy Transition Engineering: HVDC converter stations and long-distance cable infrastructure are the physical backbone of Europe’s energy transition — the transmission technology that connects offshore wind farms to onshore grids, balances continental electricity markets, and enables the cross-border renewable energy flows that the EU’s net-zero targets require. Engineering at this scale and strategic significance is rare, commercially consequential, and professionally distinctive
€50-100M Converter Station Packages — Early-Stage Influence: Shape major infrastructure projects from early development through site selection, specification development, and contractor design review — at a project scale where the civil engineer’s early technical decisions and specification choices have multi-million euro consequences on project cost, schedule, and constructability
No HVDC Experience Required — Civil Infrastructure Fundamentals Valued: Turner Lovell’s client explicitly welcomes candidates without prior HVDC project experience — prioritising civil design depth, specification capability, and infrastructure delivery experience in developed markets, with the HVDC domain context transferable from the project team and technical induction
Remote Permanent — Germany-Based European Grid Engineering: A permanently employed, remote-working senior civil engineering position in Germany — with ad hoc project travel for workshops and specification reviews — the professional flexibility of senior European grid infrastructure consultancy work without the lifestyle disruption of weekly site commuting
Position Overview
This Senior Civil Design Engineer recruited by Turner Lovell for a major European utility group develops and reviews civil designs, specifications, and technical scopes for HVDC converter stations and cable infrastructure — assesses site and route feasibility considering ground conditions, access, trenching, and crossings — ensures designs are practical to construct, cost-effective, and clearly specified — coordinates design interfaces between civil contractors, converter manufacturers, cable suppliers, and project teams — prepares technical requirements — supports tender evaluations alongside package managers — and shapes HVDC grid projects from early development through to the specifications that guide construction — working remotely in Germany with ad hoc project travel across Europe.
Why This Role Matters: As Senior Civil Design Engineer for HVDC converter stations and onshore cable infrastructure at this major European utility group, the civil specifications you write and the technical decisions you make during early-stage design determine the constructability, cost, and schedule performance of energy transmission projects that will carry gigawatts of renewable electricity from offshore wind farms to European consumers for the next forty years. When your converter station civil package specification correctly defines the structural loading interfaces between the converter building steel frame and the transformer foundations in a way that allows the civil contractor to price accurately and build without encountering the costly design clashes that inadequate specification leaves to be discovered during construction, your cable route feasibility assessment correctly identifies that the preferred alignment crosses a flood plain zone that will require HDD rather than open-cut trenching for a 2km section and adds this to the route selection report before the project enters FEED — saving months of programme delay that would otherwise arise during permitting, or your review of the civil contractor’s design submission correctly identifies that the proposed dewatering scheme for the converter station basement excavation has underestimated the artesian groundwater pressure and requires a more robust approach before construction starts — you are not writing engineering specifications. You are building the technical foundation of Europe’s energy transmission infrastructure. That is the engineering consequence and genuine energy transition significance of excellent senior civil design work at this HVDC scale.
Key Responsibilities
Converter Station Civil Design & Specification Development
- Develop and review civil designs, specifications, and technical scopes for HVDC converter stations — applying civil engineering expertise to the unique challenges of converter station civil packages typically valued at €50–100M, including the structural interfaces with converter building steel frames and transformer foundations, substation civil infrastructure, access roads, drainage, earthworks, and site security, with the specification clarity and technical completeness that guides civil contractors to build what was intended
- Ensure designs are practical to construct, cost-effective, and clearly specified — applying the constructability awareness and practical construction experience that separates specifications written by engineers who understand how infrastructure is built from specifications that are technically correct but commercially and practically problematic for construction contractors to price and execute
- Prepare technical requirements and support tender evaluations alongside relevant package managers — developing the civil technical documentation that procurement teams need to run competitive tender processes for converter station and cable civil works, and reviewing contractor submissions for technical compliance, value, and risk with the senior civil engineering judgment that commercial procurement decisions require
Cable Route Feasibility, Site Selection & Ground Condition Assessment
- Assess site and route feasibility for HVDC converter stations and onshore cable infrastructure — evaluating the civil engineering constraints and opportunities presented by alternative site and route options, considering ground conditions, access, flood risk, environmental constraints, trenching methodology, road and utility crossings, and community impact, with the civil infrastructure assessment experience that produces reliable feasibility conclusions at project development stage
- Influence projects from early development through site and route selection — contributing civil engineering expertise at the earliest project stage where decisions about converter station sites and cable route alignments have the most impact on project cost, schedule, and deliverability, before design details are fixed and optioneering flexibility is lost
- Apply HDD and cable landfall civil engineering expertise — advising on horizontal directional drilling (HDD) methodology for cable route crossings of significant obstacles (rivers, roads, railways, environmentally sensitive zones) and cable landfall civil design for offshore-to-onshore transition sections, where specialist installation method knowledge and ground condition assessment are critical to safe and programme-compliant installation
Design Interface Coordination & Cross-Disciplinary Management
- Coordinate design interfaces between civil contractors, converter manufacturers, cable suppliers, and project teams — managing the multi-stakeholder technical interface complexity that major HVDC project civil packages generate, ensuring that the civil design is correctly coordinated with the converter equipment foundation loading, cable installation methodology, electrical earthing requirements, and project schedule constraints from all parties
- Shape large-span industrial building civil design for converter station facilities — applying civil engineering knowledge of large industrial building civil design (foundations, structural interfaces, drainage, access, hardstanding) that is relevant for the converter building element of HVDC converter station packages, even where direct HVDC experience is not yet held
- Communicate clearly in English across international engineering teams — serving as the senior civil technical reference in multi-national project teams spanning European utility subsidiaries, international EPC contractors, and specialist cable and converter equipment suppliers, with the technical authority and cross-cultural communication confidence that senior infrastructure engineering in a major European utility environment requires
Qualifications
Essential Requirements
- A civil engineering qualification — degree or professional qualification in civil engineering with a strong track record in infrastructure design, demonstrated across delivered projects of commercial scale and technical complexity comparable to major HVDC or power transmission civil packages
- Relevant experience on cable, pipeline, or other major onshore linear infrastructure projects — the civil design methodology, specification practice, and cross-discipline coordination experience that long-distance onshore infrastructure installation generates
- The ability to set specifications, review designs, and challenge technical proposals — with the senior technical authority and specification writing competency that a client-side civil engineering specification role in a major European utility requires
- Experience gained with a contractor, engineering consultancy, developer, or asset owner — contractor design and construction experience particularly valuable for the constructability awareness and cost-consciousness that effective civil specification writing requires
- Clear communication in English and confidence working with international engineering teams — for professional engagement across multi-national utility subsidiaries, EPC contractors, and specialist equipment suppliers
- Experience delivering design scopes in developed markets such as Europe — UK or Germany experience particularly desirable for familiarity with European planning, permitting, and technical standards frameworks
Preferred & Advantageous
- Previous HVDC experience — welcome but not essential; transferable civil infrastructure design competency is the primary requirement
- Experience designing large-span industrial buildings or comparable facilities — relevant for the converter station building civil design element of HVDC converter packages
- HDD and cable landfall experience — significant technical advantage for cable route civil design involving complex crossings and offshore-to-onshore transitions
About Turner Lovell — HVDC Grid Civil Engineering Recruitment
Turner Lovell is a specialist engineering recruitment consultancy placing senior technical professionals in energy infrastructure and grid engineering roles across Europe and internationally. This Senior Civil Design Engineer vacancy for a major European utility group is one of the most commercially and technically significant HVDC civil engineering positions currently available in the European energy infrastructure market — an opportunity to work on converter station and cable civil packages at the scale and strategic importance of European HVDC grid expansion, in a remote permanent position based in Germany, with the European project exposure and international advisory scope that the client’s multi-subsidiary utility group structure provides. HVDC experience welcome but not essential — civil infrastructure design depth, specification authority, and European developed-market delivery experience are what this role is built around. Send your CV to Turner Lovell for a confidential discussion.
Career Excellence: HVDC converter station civil design €50–100M, onshore cable routes 50–120km, civil specifications, HDD, cable landfall, site selection, European grid infrastructure — Senior Civil Design Engineer, Germany Remote, Turner Lovell 2026.
Who Should Apply?
- Senior Civil Engineers — Cable & Pipeline Infrastructure Germany/Europe: With strong civil design and specification experience on long-distance cable, pipeline, or linear infrastructure projects in developed European markets — ready to transfer proven infrastructure civil engineering competency into HVDC converter station and onshore cable civil design scope at a major European utility group
- Civil Infrastructure Specification Engineers — HVDC & Energy Transition Germany: With civil technical specification writing capability, design review experience, and contractor design management background — seeking a senior civil engineering role at European grid infrastructure scale where early-stage influence and specification quality directly determine project outcomes
- HDD & Cable Landfall Civil Engineers — European Grid Infrastructure: With horizontal directional drilling, cable trenchless crossing, or cable landfall civil design and specification experience — bringing specialist underground infrastructure installation civil expertise directly applicable to HVDC onshore cable route civil design
- Industrial Building Civil Engineers — Converter Station Packages: With large-span industrial building civil design experience (foundations, structural interfaces, drainage, hardstanding) — applicable to the converter station building element of €50–100M HVDC converter station civil packages
- Remote-Working Senior Civil Engineers — European Utility Group Germany: Seeking a permanent remote Senior Civil Design Engineer position within a major European utility group — where HVDC converter station and cable infrastructure civil design, €50–100M project packages, 50–120km cable routes, remote working, ad hoc European travel, and confidential Turner Lovell placement combine in one of Europe’s most strategically significant energy infrastructure engineering careers
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