Permit Officer

Costain; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A UK-based infrastructure solutions company is seeking a Permit Officer to manage and authorize site permits while ensuring safety and compliance. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of engineering principles, construction contract law, and be competent in using Microsoft Office. They should be organized, detail-oriented, and able to communicate effectively with diverse teams. This is a site-based role requiring 5 days of on-site working, contributing to a culture dedicated to improving safety and performance in construction projects.

Qualifications

• Highly organised with attention to detail.
• Ability to plan and prioritise workload.
• Able to work effectively to deadlines.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Good interpersonal skills and a team player.

Responsibilities

• Assess and authorise permit requests for various work activities.
• Ensure accuracy of permit applications with relevant documents.
• Maintain a permit register and track permit statuses.
• Audit and monitor permit compliance with policies.

Skills

Understanding of Engineering Principles

Knowledge of construction contract law

Technical knowledge of construction techniques

Computer competence (MS Word, Excel)

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Autodesk Vault

Job description

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Permit Officer is responsible for assessing, coordinating and issuing permits that control work activities onsite. The role ensures that all work is planned, risk assessed and executed safely by verifying that appropriate controls are in place before work begins. The Permit Officer acts as a key interface between contractors, site management and package leads to maintain a safe and compliant working environment. The role will require 5 days working from site.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assess and authorise permit requests for a range of work activities
• Ensure permit applications are complete, accurate, and supported by relevant RAMS, drawings and isolations.
• Verify that all control measures (technical, procedural and physical) are in place prior to issue.
• Maintain a permit register, tracking active, suspended and closed permits.
• Review permits on site to ensure conditions remain valid and safe throughout the work period.
• Line manage a SAP (Electrical) and junior permit officer.
• Regularly audit and monitor the permit to work system to ensure strict compliance with company policies, as well as regulatory and client requirements.
• Maintain an organised system for tracking valid work permits, including their issuing, extensions, and any associated changes. Ensure that permits are closed promptly and accurately upon the completion of tasks.
• Facilitate effective communication among project teams, permit acceptors, isolating authorities, and relevant stakeholders to ensure a clear understanding of permit requirements and safety protocols.
• Maintain comprehensive and accurate records of all permit-related activities, including permit issuance, extensions, closures, and audits. Generate reports and summaries as required for management review.
• Upload and manage documents in line with best practice standards.
• Review, manage and upload documents held on sites for projects.
• Deal with enquiries efficiently and effectively.
• Assist in the production and supply of electronic and hard copy documents.
• Monitor permit compliance.
• Provide assurance to the Construction Manager by ensuring that all records are maintained.
• Manage registers and metrics including for file storage.
• Attend relevant meetings.
• Act in mutual trust and co‑operation and uphold Costain values.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Understanding of Engineering Principles.
• Knowledge and understanding of construction contract law and forms of contract through experience and formal training.
• Extensive technical knowledge of construction techniques and best practices.
• Computer competence (MS Word, Excel, Document control system).

QUALIFICATIONS

• Highly organised with an attention to detail.
• Ability to plan and prioritise own workload.
• Able to work effectively to deadlines.
• Ability to communicate effectively with peers and other disciplines in both verbal and written form.
• Good interpersonal skills and a team worker.
• High level of competence in the use of Microsoft Office Suite/Sharepoint and other IT systems.

DESIRABLE

• Proven experience in Permit Coordination or document control function.
• Several years’ experience in a similar role in a construction or related industry.
• Experience in the use of Autodesk Vault.

ABOUT US

Costain helps to improve people’s lives with integrated, leading‑edge, smart infrastructure solutions across the UK’s energy, water, transportation and defence markets. We help our clients improve their business performance by increasing capacity, improving customer service, safeguarding security, enhancing resilience, decarbonising and delivering increased efficiency. Our vision is to be the UK’s leading smart infrastructure solutions company. We will achieve this by focusing on blue‑chip clients whose major spending plans are underpinned by strategic national needs, regulatory commitments, legislation or essential performance requirements. We offer our clients leading‑edge solutions that are digitally optimised through the following five services which cover the whole lifecycle of their assets: future‑shaping strategic consultancy; consultancy and advisory; digital technology solutions; asset optimisation and complex programme delivery. Our culture and values underpin everything we do.

Costain appreciates the time and effort taken when applying for one of our positions but, due to the high volume of responses, we are unable to provide individual feedback on candidates at application phase. We do share individual feedback following an interview.

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that discloses they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high‑volume, seasonal and high‑peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non‑disabled people. For more details please go to the Disability Confident website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign