Highways & Transport Recruitment Agency

RIS3 is the third Road Investment Strategy, running for the 2025 to 2030 period and covering England's Strategic Road Network through National Highways. Delivery is split across the Scheme Delivery Framework (SDF), the Complex Infrastructure Programme (CIP) and Regional Delivery Partnerships (RDP). Tier-one SRN delivery partners include Balfour Beatty, Kier Highways, BAM Nuttall, Costain, Galliford Try Infrastructure and Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, supported by the major design consultancies.

NRSWA is the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, the statutory framework governing works in the highway by utilities and works promoters in the UK. It covers notification, coordination, permit schemes, reinstatement standards and inspection. NRSWA competence, including Operative and Supervisor qualifications, is a baseline expectation on almost every highways delivery brief, and coordination with HAUC and the UKRLG shapes day-to-day scheme delivery.

Sections 278 and 38 are under the Highways Act 1980. A Section 278 agreement is for works to the public highway funded by a developer (new junction, widening, accesses). A Section 38 agreement is for new estate roads built by a developer then adopted as public highway by the local authority. A Section 50 agreement (New Roads and Street Works Act 1991) is a licence for a non-utility body to open a highway for apparatus. Highways development management and consultancy briefs routinely ask for live experience of all three.

A Highways Term Maintenance Contract is a multi-year agreement under which a contractor maintains a defined portion of highway network on behalf of a highway authority. Scope typically covers carriageway and footway repairs, drainage, gullies, street furniture, street lighting, winter service, traffic signals maintenance and reactive defect response, under a schedule of rates or target-cost form. In England, local authority term maintenance is dominated by Ringway, Balfour Beatty Living Places, FM Conway, Amey, Milestone Infrastructure, Colas, Kier Highways, VolkerHighways and Tarmac Contracting.

CIHT (Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation) is the principal professional body for highways and transportation in the UK, awarding MCIHT (Chartered Member) and FCIHT (Fellow). It sits alongside ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers, CEng MICE) and IHE (Institute of Highway Engineers, routes for Engineering Technician, Incorporated and Chartered Engineer). Senior highways design and major scheme project roles typically expect MCIHT or CEng MICE, often both. We verify chartership route and progression on every relevant brief.

NEC4 is the dominant commercial contract form on UK highways. Option A (priced contract with activity schedule) is used for defined carriageway, structures and surfacing packages. Option C (target contract with activity schedule) is the default on SRN major schemes and on many term maintenance contracts. Option E (cost reimbursable) is used where scope is genuinely unknown at commencement. National Highways layers its own NH Contract Suite on top for SRN delivery. A commercial CV without NEC4 compensation event experience will not clear the senior bar on highways schemes.

UTMC (Urban Traffic Management and Control) is the framework for integrating traffic signals, CCTV, VMS, car park guidance and other traffic systems into a single control room environment. SCOOT (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) and MOVA (Microprocessor Optimised Vehicle Actuation) are the two traffic signal control strategies most commonly deployed on UK networks, originally developed by TRL. Fluency in one or both, alongside TSRGD 2016, is the baseline competence expectation on UK signals and ITS engineering briefs.

Broad 2026 ranges. Graduate Highway Engineer 27 to 34 thousand. Highway Engineer 35 to 48. Senior Highway Engineer 48 to 65. Principal Highway Engineer 65 to 85. Pavement Engineer 50 to 75. Signals Engineer 40 to 60, Principal Signals Engineer 65 to 85. Traffic Management Designer 40 to 60. NEC4 Project Manager (highways) 60 to 90, Senior NEC4 PM 85 to 115. Highways Commercial Manager 65 to 95. Highways Director 95 to 140. London, Scotland major scheme and RIS3 SDF mobilisation premiums apply. Day rates for contract roles typically run 350 to 750 depending on seniority and scheme exposure.

Yes, across all three UK highways tracks. SRN delivery partner programme teams working under RIS3 frameworks. Local authority highways teams inside councils and combined authorities, plus the term maintenance contractor tier they commission (including Amey). Design consultancies across the full UK multi-disciplinary consultancy tier producing DMRB-compliant design into all three (Jacobs included).

Yes. Our highways desk runs a dedicated ITS and signals remit: signals engineers fluent in SCOOT and MOVA, ITS engineers on UTMC and traffic monitoring, VMS and gantry sign specialists, CCTV and traffic monitoring, EV infrastructure project engineers, Active Travel scheme leads and street lighting engineers. TSRGD 2016 knowledge plus TRL, CIHT and IHE credential routes are all in scope.

Yes, across all three. Permanent placements for long-term authority, consultancy and delivery partner hiring. Contract and day-rate cover for scheme peaks, term contract mobilisations and signals commissioning windows. Interim management for programme gaps and senior turnarounds on SRN schemes and local authority highways teams.