Senior Design Manager

Balfour; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading construction firm in Birmingham is seeking an experienced Senior Design Manager to drive design excellence across complex projects. You will oversee design proposals, lead teams, and ensure compliance with regulations. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership and communication skills, a good understanding of BIM, and relevant experience in delivering design strategies. This full-time position offers flexible working with significant remote opportunities and various benefits.

Benefits

Smart working

25 days paid annual leave

Family friendly policies

Pension and share incentive plan

Qualifications

• Proven experience at a senior level in delivering design services.
• Strong numerical and bid/report writing skills.
• Desire to pursue innovation and development.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and implementation of design proposals.
• Manage effective briefing of the Design Team including M&E elements.
• Ensure compliance with building codes, regulations, and safety standards.

Skills

Leadership skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

BIM knowledge

IT skills

Education

Relevant professional membership (e.g. RIBA, BIBSE)

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Senior Design Manager

Join to apply for the Senior Design Manager role at Balfour Beatty plc.

About The Role

Are you a proven design leader with a passion for delivering technically challenging projects? We are seeking an experienced Senior Design Manager to join our team and drive design excellence across a portfolio of large-scale complex developments. As Senior Design Manager, you will take a pivotal role in strengthening the technical capability of our design function. Working closely with Project Directors, Consultants, and Contractors, you will provide leadership and oversight through every stage of the design and delivery process. Your ability to bring clarity to complex challenges will ensure we achieve innovative, buildable and commercially sound solutions.

What you'll be doing

• Lead the development and implementation of design proposals, ensuring they meet customer requirements, including budget constraints, presenting proposals for approval to the customer.
• Manage and ensure effective briefing of the Design Team including M&E elements. This includes the management of any 3rd parties or novated design teams to ensure that they meet all customer specifications and where necessary, checking the competence and resources of any incumbent design teams or 3rd parties.
• Management of consultants.
• Development and management of design programme to align and integrate with the contract programme.
• Provide advice and guidance on the “buildability” of the design proposals to the design and construction teams on all packages.
• Liaise with statutory bodies/authorities as required – such as town planning, building control and services e.g. gas and water.
• Ensure that all design work complies with relevant building codes, regulations, and safety standards.
• Ensure that construction risks are reviewed and reduced / eliminated throughout the designs.

Who we're looking for

• This role requires an individual with proven experience at a senior level in delivering design services within a Work Winning environment and or in delivery of a project and successfully implementing design strategies as well as relevant project experience.
• Leadership skills are required to deliver design services in a timely manner with a customer and business sector specific focus.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills are required, coupled with an ability to form effective relationships with partners and delivery team members under time pressure.
• Experience of leading a team and/or coaching team members is desirable.
• Numeracy and bid/report writing is a requirement.
• The individual will know ‘what good looks like’ in bid submissions and work winning and have hands on experience of delivering work-winning bids in a timely manner.
• Good working knowledge of BIM is required.
• The individual will have experience within the most current forms of procurement.
• Relevant professional membership with an appropriate institute, e.g. RIBA, BIBSE, IET, aligned to the workstream is recommended.
• A valid CSCS card is a requirement.
• Excellent IT Skills relevant to the Business Stream are desirable and Microsoft Office is essential.
• Detailed knowledge of codes of practice and other regulatory material, applicable to the business stream.
• The individual should have a desire to continuously pursue innovation and development, with a focus on the customer and the relevant business stream.

Benefits

• Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working where roles allow.
• 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata).
• Family friendly policies: 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave.
• Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more.

About Us

Operating across England and Wales, our buildings teams create places where people live, are cared for, work, learn, meet and have fun, with a focus on the aviation, health, defence, education and development sectors.

Diversity and Inclusion

At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit www.balfourbeatty.com/diversityandinclusion. We are members of WISE, ENEI, Business Disability Forum and the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE). In 2020, we signed the Audeliss and Involve Open Letter to demonstrate our commitment to taking key long‑term and sustainable actions on Black Inclusion. Balfour Beatty is also a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence ‘Employer Recognition Scheme’ and actively encourages applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long‑term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. For more info, visit: https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/

Seniorities, Employment Type, Job Function

• Seniority level: Mid‑Senior level
• Employment type: Full‑time
• Job function: Design, Art/Creative, and Information Technology (Industries: Construction)

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