Development Engineer

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Development Engineer – Heat Networks

As a Development Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in the ESP team in securing and delivering new district heating and cooling projects.

You will be responsible for the technical development of projects, bringing engineering rigor to the pre-sales and pre-contract stages. This includes developing innovative strategies and concepts, system sizing, modelling, reviewing consultant designs, and working closely with both ESP commercial, delivery, and operational teams as well as equivalent teams from our partners, to ensure our solutions are technically robust, commercially viable, and deliverable.

This role will be based onsite in our Leatherhead, Surrey office a minimum of 3 days a week for the first 6 months. After this period we can look to reduce once agreed.

You will set out and be responsible for:

• Developing commercial and technical business cases and energy strategies to enable the growth of the ESP heat portfolio.
• Support the ESP commercial team to present strategies to internal, external and customer stakeholders and be ESP representative in key industry forums.
• Help develop ESP technical strategies and specifications to be compliant with Heat Network Technical Assurance Compliance.
• Part of the team responsible for project management of complex projects, this will include working with clients, consultants, and industry stakeholders in the delivery and implementation of projects to time and budget.
• Deliver high-quality customer experience across all touchpoints.

Key Responsibilities

Bid and Proposal Support

• Develop energy strategies for developments including innovative 4th and 5th generation heating and cooling systems.
• Produce investment case models that assess revenues, operation, capital, replacement and other costs to prove the viability and validity of projects vs alternative strategies.
• Develop and validate technical inputs for heat network bids, including energy centre design, network sizing, and heat loss calculations.
• Carry out demand modelling, hydraulic analysis, and concept-level system design using industry tools.
• Evaluate sustainability, efficiency, and decarbonisation outcomes of different design options.
• Liaise with sales and commercial colleagues to tailor engineering solutions to client needs.
• Interpret and respond to technical requirements in tenders, RFIs, and feasibility studies.
• Present heat network technical and commercial investment cases to senior internal, external and customer stakeholders.

Pre-contract Engineering

• Support the transition from bid to contract award by refining engineering designs and assumptions.
• Work with consultants, developers, and internal stakeholders to interrogate load profiles, plant selections, and control strategies.
• Produce clear technical documentation and performance specifications for handover to delivery teams.
• Produce clear cost plans to support project viability assessments.
• Work closely with project delivery teams to review designs, installation plans, and commissioning processes to ensure smooth and seamless handover from pre-contract to delivery and installation.

Collaboration & Innovation

• Support the development of the ESP operating standards to meet the forthcoming Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme.
• Support our ICP and operational partners to build their knowledge base and technical offering deliver heat network solutions for ESP to adopt.
• Collaborate with commercial leads to develop compelling propositions for clients.
• Stay up to date with advances in low-carbon heat technologies, thermal storage, and energy efficiency.
• Contribute to internal tools, templates, and best practices for heat network development.
• Skills & Experience Required
• Degree-qualified in mechanical, energy, or building services engineering (or equivalent experience).
• Experience in district heating/cooling, building energy systems, or related fields.
• Strong analytical skills with knowledge of thermal modelling, plant selection, and network sizing.
• Ability to communicate complex engineering concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Comfortable working across multiple projects in a fast-paced, commercially driven environment.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in project development engineering roles.