Development Engineer - Heat Networks

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.

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

• Deliver high-quality customer experience across all touchpoints.
• Liaise with sales and commercial colleagues to tailor engineering solutions to client needs.
• Present heat network technical and commercial investment cases to senior internal, external and customer stakeholders.
• Develop and validate technical inputs for heat network bids, including energy centre design, network sizing, and heat loss calculations.
• Interpret and respond to technical requirements in tenders, RFIs, and feasibility studies.
• Support our ICP and operational partners to build their knowledge base and technical offering deliver heat network solutions for ESP to adopt.
• Support the ESP commercial team to present strategies to internal, external and customer stakeholders and be ESP representative in key industry forums.
• Stay up to date with advances in low-carbon heat technologies, thermal storage, and energy efficiency.
• Produce clear cost plans to support project viability assessments.
• 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.
• Contribute to internal tools, templates, and best practices for heat network development.
• Produce investment case models that assess revenues, operation, capital, replacement and other costs to prove the viability and validity of projects vs alternative strategies.
• 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.
• Evaluate sustainability, efficiency, and decarbonisation outcomes of different design options.
• Support the development of the ESP operating standards to meet the forthcoming Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme.
• Collaborate with commercial leads to develop compelling propositions for clients.
• Develop energy strategies for developments including innovative 4th and 5th generation heating and cooling systems.
• 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.
• Developing commercial and technical business cases and energy strategies to enable the growth of the ESP heat portfolio.
• Carry out demand modelling, hydraulic analysis, and concept-level system design using industry tools.
• Produce clear technical documentation and performance specifications for handover to delivery teams.

• Degree-qualified in mechanical, energy, or building services engineering (or equivalent experience).
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience in district heating/cooling, building energy systems, or related fields.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in project development engineering roles.
• Ability to communicate complex engineering concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with knowledge of thermal modelling, plant selection, and network sizing.
• Comfortable working across multiple projects in a fast-paced, commercially driven environment.

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 change to a remote based role once agreed.