Consultant / Senior Consultant - Forensic Collision Investigation

The posting

We are looking for a Consultant (any career level) to join Rimkus’s growing collision investigation team across the UK and the EMEA region. We are looking for people who are, or have the potential to become, industry leaders. You will investigate road traffic collisions from the scene to the courtroom, producing independent, objective, evidence-led reconstructions for criminal and civil clients.

You will have experience of managing your own caseload and be able to work with support from senior experts. We will invest in developing you as an independent expert witness and help you to build your profile as a leading industry expert.

Opportunity:

Rimkus is a global forensic engineering and expert consulting firm, and our UK collision investigation practice is growing fast. We have built a strong book of business and are now growing our collision investigation team to be ready for the future, one where our skills with vehicle and road user data together with in-vehicle video and CCTV, align with more traditional engineering and human factors approaches to provide comprehensive support to our clients.

You will join a wider multidisciplinary team with extensive expert witness and research experience. Our experts give evidence in the civil and criminal courts, publish in their fields, and are determined to push the discipline forward rather than simply keep pace with it.

Growth on this scale creates career progression that established firms struggle to match. Joining now means your work, ideas and standards will help shape the practice, and as the team expands, so do the opportunities to lead casework, specialisms and, in time, people.

Building the team

To support our established and growing collision investigation practice, we are building four technical lead portfolios:

· Technical Lead, Vehicle Data, ADAS and Telematics

· Technical Lead, e-Mobility, and Connected & Autonomous Vehicles

· Technical Lead, Forensic Video Analysis

· Technical Lead, Commercial Vehicle Investigation

These portfolios give the right candidate a clear route to leading a specialism. If you have depth in one of these areas, tell us in your application.

We recruit from two talent pipelines: experienced police forensic collision investigators and engineers with a background in vehicle dynamics or crash reconstruction. We want both, because the strongest collision reconstruction teams draw on both. The work is varied: scene and vehicle examinations, EDR downloads, CCTV and dashcam analysis, visibility assessments and full reconstructions. Cases range from disputed low-speed impacts and suspected fraud to fatal collisions and high-value injury claims.

You will also work alongside colleagues across Rimkus’s wider engineering and scientific disciplines, including human factors, biomechanics and injury causation, toxicology, and others, which brings complex, multidisciplinary cases to our door.

If you already give expert evidence, you will find a team that values rigour, independence and transparency. If you are ready to take that step, we will support you through supervised report writing, training in your duties as an expert, and mentoring from experts who have stood in the witness box many times.

Key responsibilities

· Investigate road traffic collisions, including scene and vehicle examinations, survey, measurement and photographic recording.

· Attend collision scenes when evidence is time-critical, including outside normal working hours.

· Recover and interpret digital evidence, including EDR, telematics, CCTV and dashcam footage.

· Carry out speed, time and distance analyses, visibility assessments and reconstructions using industry-standard software.

· Write clear, well-reasoned reports for civil and criminal matters, compliant with CPR Part 35 or Criminal Procedure Rules Part 19.

· Work with clients to scope instructions, manage deadlines, and give early advice on liability and evidence preservation.

· Maintain rigorous case records, chain of custody and quality procedures to the high technical standards set by the practice’s technical leads.

· Contribute to the team’s profile through client seminars, research, published articles and industry events.

Requirements

Essential

· Previous experience in forensic collision investigation gained in a police collision investigation unit or in engineering or consultancy practice. Alternatively, suitable experience from a closely aligned discipline in industry or academia.

· A degree in mechanical or automotive engineering, physics or a related discipline, or a forensic collision investigation qualification gained through police service (e.g. UCPD / CertHE).

· Practical experience of scene examination, vehicle examination and collision reconstruction calculations.

· A working knowledge of road traffic legislation and of criminal and civil court processes.

· Working knowledge of the key software, equipment, and technology in your area of expertise. This may include EDR data recovery and interpretation, forensic video analysis, survey equipment, and crash reconstruction software such as PC-Crash, Virtual CRASH, HVE, or MADYMO.

· Clear, concise report writing and the ability to explain complex cases to non-technical readers.

· Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel across the UK.

Desirable

· Qualifications or proven competence in the examination of motor vehicles.

· Expert witness experience, including CPR Part 35 or Criminal Procedure Rules Part 19 reports and giving oral evidence (Essential for Senior positions).

· Specialist expertise in one of our technical lead areas: vehicle data and telematics; vehicle dynamics, ADAS and connected and autonomous vehicles; forensic video analysis; or commercial vehicle investigation.

· Membership of a relevant professional body, such as ITAI, IMechE or the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, or the ability to work towards it.

· Experience of scene surveying, laser scanning or photogrammetry.

· Knowledge of electric and hybrid vehicle inspection, including high-voltage safety protocols.

· An interest in injury causation and in working alongside biomechanics and medical experts.

· Experience across both criminal and civil work, and driving licence categories beyond B (for example A, C, D or C+E).

· Published research, conference presentations or teaching experience.

· Experience of working within an ISO accredited environment.

Not a perfect match? Apply anyway.

The best investigators do not all follow the same route, and we would rather meet an exceptional candidate than a complete checklist. If you do not meet every requirement above but stand out as a top performer in your current role, we want to hear from you. You might be early in your career with a track record of high performance, an engineer moving into reconstruction, or a police investigator whose work is relied upon by colleagues and the courts.

Where a strong candidate has gaps in experience or qualifications, we will discuss a tailored development plan, or whether a different level of role is the better fit. We have the opportunity to design a collision investigation service for the future so are not reliant on adopting the same old ways, simply for the sake of it.

Benefits

Why Join Us?

Join a genuinely forward-thinking, growing business with real career opportunities

· Be mentored by and work with industry-leading experts

· Work on high profile projects

· Access to continuous professional development and advanced legal/technical training.

· Enjoy flexible working with opportunities for global travel.

· Join a culture that values integrity, accountability, commitment, and teamwork.

· This position offers hybrid home/office working.