Design Manager - Water Projects

Your new company

A leading infrastructure contractor delivering major investment programmes across the UK water sector is looking to appoint a Design Manager to support the delivery of Southern Water AMP8 projects. With a strong pipeline of work secured for the coming years, they are expanding their design management team to help deliver a range of clean water and wastewater schemes. This will be a long-term contracting role.
Working closely with operational teams, suppliers, consultants and client representatives, you will play a key role in ensuring designs are developed, coordinated and delivered efficiently from concept through to construction.

Your new role

As Design Manager, you will take responsibility for managing the design process across multiple water projects. You'll act as the link between design consultants and delivery teams, ensuring solutions are practical, buildable and aligned with programme, cost and quality requirements.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Managing the design programme and coordinating multidisciplinary design teams
• Reviewing and challenging designs to ensure buildability and value for money
• Supporting project teams through planning, construction and commissioning phases
• Managing design risks, change control and technical approvals
• Working closely with commercial, planning and operational teams
• Ensuring compliance with client specifications, industry standards and regulatory requirements
• Supporting stakeholder engagement and technical workshops throughout the project lifecycle

What you'll need to succeed
Candidates should have a strong background within the UK water industry and experience working on water or wastewater infrastructure projects.

You will ideally have:

• Proven experience in a Design Manager, Senior Design Engineer or similar role
• Previous experience delivering projects within the water sector
• Understanding of AMP frameworks and the challenges associated with live utility infrastructure
• Experience managing external design consultants and multidisciplinary teams
• Knowledge of design assurance, technical approvals and engineering governance processes
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Relevant engineering qualification, degree or equivalent experience

Water industry experience is essential for this position. Applications from candidates without water sector exposure are unlikely to be considered due to the technical and regulatory requirements of the projects.

What you need to do now


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