Project Design Lead

Job Title:

Project Design Lead

Location:

Hybrid working between Falmer (approximately 2 days pw) and home.

Contract Type:
Permanent

Hours:

37 hours per week, Monday - Friday

Salary:
Up to circa £55,000.

We’re looking for a Project Design Lead to join Southern Water, playing a key role in the technical assurance and delivery of engineering design across Wastewater projects.

You’ll lead and coordinate design activity from early needs identification and optioneering through to outline design, detailed design, construction and commissioning. A key part of the role will be making sure that the lowest whole-life cost solution is selected, without compromising on safety, quality, environmental outcomes or long‑term operational performance.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced engineering professional who enjoys working in complex, regulated environments and wants to influence the delivery of major water and wastewater investment programmes at scale.

• Providing authoritative technical input across the identification of needs, optioneering, design, construction and commissioning stages
• Assuring the quality of design deliverables across multiple projects, ensuring designs are technically robust, compliant and fit for purpose
• Leading in-house outline design and optioneering activity to support the selection of lowest whole-life cost, best‑value solutions
• Managing and coordinating multi‑disciplinary design teams, including Southern Water colleagues, suppliers and delivery partners
• Ensuring designs comply with Southern Water technical standards, health and safety requirements, environmental expectations and relevant regulations, including CDM
• Holding yourself and others to account for strong health, safety and environmental behaviours throughout the design process
• Driving consistency, rigour and efficiency across design delivery, including the use of standardisation, digital design concepts and best practice
• Managing design scope, cost, quality, resources and change control across your projects
• Preparing design plans, design cost estimates and monthly cost forecasts, working closely with Project Managers and Programme Design Managers
• Working with Asset Strategy & Planning, Operations and delivery teams to develop practical solutions for emerging needs, operational incidents and business planning activity
• Providing early warning of design risks, blockers, cost pressures or programme delays, and working with senior stakeholders to resolve them
• Supporting continuous improvement by challenging existing standards and ways of working where better, safer or more efficient solutions are possible
• Coaching and mentoring junior colleagues, helping create an environment where people feel able to challenge, innovate and learn
• Ensuring customer, regulatory and environmental expectations are properly reflected in design decisions and delivery outcomes

What you’ll bring to the role:

• Strong experience in an engineering design, design management or technical assurance role within a complex project delivery environment
• Experience supporting or assuring design across infrastructure and/or non‑infrastructure projects, ideally within the water, wastewater, utilities or wider regulated sector
• Strong technical engineering judgement, with the ability to review, challenge and assure designs rather than simply produce them
• Experience coordinating multi‑disciplinary design teams, including internal teams, suppliers, contractors and delivery partners
• Good understanding of project delivery, contract management, design governance and change control
• Strong awareness of health and safety standards, environmental requirements and CDM regulations
• Ability to assess technical options and…