Principal CFD Engineer - Dams & Hydraulic Structures

Job Description

Start here. Grow here.

Are you ready to support a team of talented engineers and shape the future of the water industry?

Join our dynamic and multidisciplinary Water Team as a Principal CFD Engineer and help us deliver projects throughout the UK and internationally. This position offers a hybrid work arrangement with flexibility to work from home and one of our Reservoir Engineering hub offices - Edinburgh, Belfast or Leeds.

At AECOM, we’re at the forefront of innovation, delivering an exceptional portfolio of water programmes and projects through long-term partnerships with key clients. This position offers an unparalleled opportunity to support and work alongside a talented, diverse team committed to innovation and efficiency.

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Lead end‑to‑end 3D CFD modelling for spillways, energy dissipation structures, intake/outlet works, and other hydraulic infrastructure.
• Analyse turbulent and transient flows, energy losses, cavitation risk, air entrainment, water‑hammer effects, and scale interactions to inform safe, efficient designs. 
• Integrate CFD with physical model results (calibration/validation), translating insights into design optimisation and risk reduction. 
• Produce high‑quality technical reports, visualisations, and client presentations for interdisciplinary teams and stakeholders.
• Serve as technical authority for hydraulic CFD within the dams & reservoirs team; uphold QA standards and best practice. 
• Mentor and guide junior modellers, fostering capability growth and knowledge‑sharing across the practice. 
• Contribute to scope definition, proposals, and cost estimation; support business development related to CFD services.
• Coordinate planning, execution, and delivery schedules across multidisciplinary teams to meet project and client requirements.
• Undertake occasional site visits (e.g., surveys, data collection for model build/calibration). (Travel typically occasional; can flex to project needs.)

Enjoy the Perks.

You’ll thrive in an inclusive and forward-thinking environment where your contributions are valued - and let's not forget the perks! At AECOM, you'll enjoy a range of core benefits designed to support your future and well-being, and flexible benefits you can customise to suit your lifestyle. Take advantage of our technical practice networks, AECOM University, and volunteering days to accelerate your career development, and utilise our flexible hybrid working model to create a healthy work-life balance. We recognise that everyone’s circumstances are different, so we’re more than happy to discuss part-time or flexible working arrangements.

If you're passionate about innovation and turning bold ideas into reality, we want to hear from you. Follow our AECOM Water page on LinkedIn to stay updated on the impactful projects we're working on and see firsthand the difference we're making in the industry!

Qualifications

Ready to push the limits of what’s possible?

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Degree (or equivalent) in civil, hydraulic, mechanical engineering or related field. 
• Chartered engineer status or actively working towards being chartered. 
• Significant experience applying CFD to hydraulic structures (dams, spillways, intakes, outlet works).
• Proficiency in either Flow3D, OpenFOAM, ANSYS Fluent or other CFD software as well as complementary tools like HEC-RAS, ICEM CFD, Paraview, Rhino, Grasshopper or other pre/post-processing tools.
• Demonstrated strength in combining numerical and physical modelling to solve complex hydraulic challenges.
• Experience with analytical problem‑solving, practical engineering judgement, and client‑facing communication (reports, presentations, data visualisation).
• Proven capability to mentor, enforce quality assurance, and deliver robust outputs aligned with regulatory and safety requirements.

Additional Information

We celebrate diversity, including neurodiversity, and believe it enriches our team. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and abilities. If you are an applicant with a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us at [email protected]. At AECOM, we value everyone's unique contributions and perspectives.

Interested in the role or curious about life at AECOM? Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to explore our AECOM voices, employee stories, latest projects, and much more!

For further information about the role, reach out to the recruiter on LinkedIn – Katie Scales.

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address [email protected]  if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.