Senior Design Manager

The Senior Design Manager owns and directs the complete design function across the Company's design & build portfolio, where the Company receives the concept design from the Client and carries single-point design responsibility for all subsequent stages: concept validation, schematic and detailed design development, IFC documentation, authority approvals, shop drawings, construction-stage design support, testing & commissioning documentation, and as-built/turnkey handover.

The role owns the interface between the Client, external design consultants, specialist subcontractors, and the Company's construction teams. With 20+ years of experience, the incumbent is the Company's most senior technical authority on design, mentoring Design Managers across the portfolio, deputizing for the Operations Director on design matters, and shaping tender strategy, value engineering, and contractual design risk management under design & build forms of contract (e.g., FIDIC Yellow Book / bespoke D&B conditions).

• Review and validate the Client's concept design against the Employer's Requirements; identify gaps, ambiguities, buildability risks, and code non-compliances, and prepare technical qualifications, clarifications, and a clear design responsibility matrix before contract award.
• Lead tender-stage design development, alternative design proposals, and value engineering options to strengthen the Company's commercial position.
• Select, negotiate, and appoint design consultants and specialist designers; define scopes, deliverables schedules, and fee structures.
• Support the estimation team with design quantities, specifications, and buildability input.

• Take over the Client's concept design and drive its development through schematic and detailed design to fully coordinated IFC packages, governed by a Design Management Plan, deliverables schedule (MDL/IDR), and stage-gate reviews aligned with the construction programme.
• Direct external consultants and in-house design/BIM teams across all disciplines (architectural, structural, MEP, infrastructure, , landscape) to deliver coordinated IFC documentation.
• Chair design coordination and clash-resolution workshops; enforce BIM execution plans and model coordination protocols (LOD requirements, federated model reviews).
• Manage design change control: assess variations, design development vs. change, and notify commercial/contracts teams of entitlement and cost/time impacts.
• Oversee the shop drawing and material submittal cycle, specialist/temporary works design interfaces, and construction-stage design support (RFIs, site queries, design changes), ensuring buildability and cost alignment with construction, procurement, and commercial teams.

• Drive the Abu Dhabi authority approvals strategy end-to-end and secure building permits and NOCs via DMT (Dari/BinaaAD portals), Abu Dhabi Civil Defence, ADDC, ADSSC, Etisalat/du, Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), and the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), as applicable.
• Ensure designs comply with the Abu Dhabi International Building Codes (ADIBC), UAE Fire & Life Safety Code of Practice, Estidama Pearl Rating System requirements (minimum 1-Pearl; 2-Pearl for government projects), and utility/infrastructure design standards of ADDC and ADSSC.
• Manage design review and NOC cycles with Abu Dhabi master developers and estates and align deliverables with their DRM/plot development guidelines.

• Lead, develop, and performance-manage Design Managers and the wider design team; own resource allocation, succession, and capability development across concurrent projects and tenders.
• Report design status, risks, approvals progress, and KPIs to the Operations Director; elevate critical design risks with mitigation plans.
• Direct design close-out to turnkey standard: as-built drawings, T&C and Civil Defence completion requirements, O&M manuals and handover dossiers, and design support through the defects liability period.

• Bachelor's degree in Architecture Engineering (Master's degree advantageous).
• Minimum 20 years' post-graduate experience in the construction industry, of which at least 10 years in design management leadership roles within a design & build contracting environment, including multi-project/portfolio responsibility.
• Proven delivery of large-scale D&B projects in Abu Dhabi (commercial, residential, mixed-use, industrial, or infrastructure); wider UAE/GCC exposure advantageous.
• Due to the nature of this role, we can only consider Arabic speaking applicants.