Senior Design Manager

About The Role

Job Title: Senior Design Manager

Location: Birmingham

Company: Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty is seeking an experienced Senior Design Manager to join a major refurbishment and building improvement programme in Birmingham.

This is an exciting opportunity for an established Design Manager or Senior Design Manager with experience delivering complex refurbishment, remediation and upgrade projects within existing occupied buildings. The role will involve managing the design process across a fast-paced programme of improvement works, ranging from fire safety upgrades and compliance-driven alterations through to the modernisation and reconfiguration of existing internal spaces.

Working within a live operational environment, you'll play a key role in coordinating multidisciplinary design teams, managing stakeholder expectations and ensuring design solutions are practical, compliant, buildable and aligned with programme requirements.

The successful candidate will be comfortable working in an agile, fast-moving project environment where design decisions, sequencing and stakeholder coordination are critical to maintaining operational continuity.

You will initially be required on site four days per week due to the collaborative nature of the role and the complexities associated with working in an occupied building. Following the initial project mobilisation period, there will be the opportunity to transition to a more hybrid working arrangement.

What you'll be doing

As Senior Design Manager, You Will

• Lead the development and implementation of design solutions for refurbishment, remediation and building improvement works.
• Manage and coordinate multidisciplinary design teams, including architectural, structural and MEP disciplines.
• Drive the design process from feasibility through to construction, ensuring designs are compliant, buildable and commercially viable.

Coordinate works within a live operational environment, ensuring minimal disruption to end users and existing operations.

Manage design programmes and ensure information is released in line with construction sequencing and project milestones.

Provide technical leadership on building remediation, compliance and modernisation projects.

Lead the coordination of consultants, specialist subcontractors and external design partners.

Work closely with project, commercial, planning and delivery teams to resolve design challenges and mitigate risks.

Ensure design proposals support evolving Building Regulations requirements and Building Safety Regulator (BSR) expectations.

Review existing building constraints and develop practical solutions for refurbishment and upgrade works.

Liaise with statutory authorities, building control and other key stakeholders throughout the design process.

Identify opportunities for innovation, efficiency and continuous improvement across the project.

Who we're looking for

We're looking for a commercially aware and technically strong Design Management professional with significant experience delivering refurbishment or complex building upgrade projects.

Ideally, You'll Have

• Proven experience as a Design Manager or Senior Design Manager within the construction industry.
• Strong experience working on refurbishment, remediation, building improvement or major maintenance projects.
• Experience managing design on projects within occupied or live operational environments.
• A solid understanding of building safety legislation and experience working within Building Safety Regulator (BSR) requirements.
• Experience delivering fire safety improvements, compliance-led works and building modernisation programmes.
• Strong knowledge of the challenges associated with modifying and upgrading existing buildings.

Experience coordinating architectural, structural and MEP design disciplines.

The ability to challenge designs from a buildability, programme and operational perspective.

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Experience managing external consultants, specialist designers and subcontractor design packages.

Good understanding of BIM and digital design processes.

Detailed knowledge of current construction regulations, industry standards and best practice.

A valid CSCS card.

Professional membership of a relevant institution would be advantageous.

Why Apply?

This role offers the opportunity to work on a high-profile programme of refurbishment and modernisation works that presents unique technical and operational challenges. You'll be joining a collaborative team environment and will play a key role in delivering safe, compliant and effective improvements to an important operational facility.

Professional and personal development

The size and scale of Balfour Beatty coupled with our strong pipeline of work provides incredible opportunities, regardless of what stage you are at in your career.

We encourage and empower our employees to take control of their career and explore which part of the business they want to work in and what role is right for them. We actively encourage our managers and employees to have open communication throughout the year about wellbeing, development and career opportunities.

We're proud of the Balfour Beatty Academy. Whether it’s sharpening your technical expertise, improving your personal skills or seeking support to become professionally qualified, our 70:20:10 approach to development means we have a learning approach that suits everyone.

70% learning on the job, 20% learning from those around you, and 10% formal training courses and learning events.

For further information about Balfour Beatty Scotland, please visit the Balfour Beatty careers website.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

Why join us?

Benefits

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key 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 which include 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 want everyone to be able to thrive and achieve their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. We’re making great progress through our Value Everyone DEI Action Plan, but we know we’ve got more to do. Find out more about our values and DEI initiatives.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this role will be offered an interview.

We are committed to our processes being barrier-free and will support adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please let the recruiter for this role know if you require any adjustments.

We’re looking to continually improve our recruitment process, so if you have any feedback, please share this with us via [email protected]