Design Manager

About the Role

We’re looking for a Design Manager to lead a design team for high-end stone and marble projects across London’s most prestigious residential, hotel, spa, and boutique developments.

Reporting to the head of the design function, you’ll own the design process end-to-end: planning workload, managing internal and external resources, maintaining quality and consistency, and ensuring timely information release to support procurement, production, and site delivery.

You’ll be the point of accountability for design coordination across multiple stakeholders, including clients, architects, main contractors, and EDM London’s commercial, production, and site teams.

We’re one of London’s leading stone and marble specialist subcontractors, working on high end projects across central London in partnership with major contractors, architects, and designers.

Our clients include luxury brands, private residential developers, hotels, historic buildings, and boutique operators. We only work on high-end projects where quality, precision, and finish are non-negotiable.

Design Management & Delivery

• Own, implement, and continuously improve the design process, from initial design intent through to IFC/production-ready information.
• Line manage Design Coordinators (and oversee external drafters/freelancers): coaching, 1:1s, objective setting, performance management, and development.
• Support hiring, onboarding, and training of new design team members, including setting expectations.
• Define and enforce team standards for drawing quality, detailing, revisions, naming conventions, and document control.
• Own EDM’s design standards and assets (templates, title blocks, layer standards, CAD standards) and continuously improve them.
• Establish and run a formal QA/checking and sign-off process for all design deliverables prior to issue.
• Plan and manage design workload across internal Design Coordinators and external drafters.
• Ensure drawings, details, and cutting lists are issued in line with the delivery programme.
• Act as the quality gate for design output, driving internal reviews and ensuring a consistent standard, approach, and quality across the team.

Coordination & Information Flow

• Manage design information flow across clients, consultants, and project teams to ensure the right information reaches the right people at the right time.
• Be the escalation point for design issues from Project Managers, site, and production, and drive resolution with clear owners and deadlines.
• Lead client design workshops and coordination meetings, setting agendas, chairing discussions, and issuing clear minutes and actions.
• Coordinate and manage RFIs raised by the design team, including tracking, escalation, and close-out.
• Establish and maintain effective communication and handovers between design, commercial, production, and site teams.
• Maintain accurate project design records and documentation (including the DRS).
• Own the design “controls” pack for each project: drawing register, approvals tracker, change log, issue schedule, and RFI log discipline.

Commercial & Cost Control

• Own design resourcing and external drafter spend, tracking costs month-on-month and managing within agreed budgets.
• Identify design changes and client requests early and brief the Commercial team to progress variations.

Risk, Compliance & Standards

• Assess, mitigate, and manage design risks, including programme and technical risks.
• Ensure design outputs align with Employer’s Requirements (ERs), relevant standards, and project specifications.
• Ensure the design work meets Health & Safety legislation, sustainable building standards, and industry codes of practice.

Essential:

• Degree in Architecture (or closely related discipline).
• 5+ years’ experience coordinating and/or managing design delivery for specialist packages, within interior fit-out or construction environments.
• Proven experience line managing designers/technicians, including developing people and holding quality/standards.
• Excellent AutoCAD capability (BIM/Revit helpful).
• Experience leading a team, including managing internal and external design resource.
• Strong ability to plan…