Portray engineers now (9)
I believe the answer is:
represent
'portray' is the definition.
(I know that portray is a more specific form of represent)
'engineers now' is the wordplay.
'engineers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'now' becomes 'present' (the present time).
're'+'present'='REPRESENT'
(Other definitions for represent that I've seen before include "Speak on behalf" , "Illustrate" , "show" , "Explain" , "Picture" .)