Senior Design Manager

Location:
Stockton on Tees
We are looking to appoint an experienced Senior Design Manager to join our Building team, supporting projects across the North East region. This is a senior leadership role responsible for leading the design function on complex construction projects ranging from £2m to £40m, from tender stage through to completion of the construction design phase and production of operating and maintenance manuals.

Senior Design Manager
Location:
Stockton on Tees
We are looking to appoint an experienced Senior Design Manager to join our Building team, supporting projects across the North East region. This is a senior leadership role responsible for leading the design function on complex construction projects ranging from £2m to £40m, from tender stage through to completion of the construction design phase and production of operating and maintenance manuals.

You will provide strategic design leadership across a portfolio of projects, influencing outcomes from bid stage through to successful delivery on site. Working closely with clients, consultants, specialist subcontractors and internal teams, you will drive design excellence, innovation and value, ensuring projects are delivered safely, compliantly and in line with programme and commercial objectives. As a senior member of the business, you will champion best practice in design management, support the development of design capability across project teams and play a key role in securing and delivering major healthcare, education and commercial projects.

Key Duties

• Provide senior design leadership across multiple projects and framework opportunities (£2m–£40m), managing consultants, specialist subcontractors and project teams from bid stage through to project completion.
• Lead the development and implementation of design strategies, ensuring solutions are innovative, buildable, compliant and aligned with programme, commercial and client objectives.
• Drive design governance, risk management and value engineering activities, identifying opportunities to improve quality, sustainability, buildability and overall project performance.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, consultants and key stakeholders, leading design workshops, resolving complex technical challenges and ensuring effective decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.
• Support business growth through bid and pre-construction activities, including design planning, technical submissions, tender interviews and the development of high-quality, winning proposals.

About You

You will be an accomplished design management professional with a proven track record of leading multidisciplinary design teams on complex construction projects within a main contractor environment.

You will bring

• Extensive experience delivering projects through both pre-construction and construction phases, ideally across healthcare, education, commercial and public sector environments.
• Strong knowledge of framework, negotiated, single-stage and two-stage procurement routes, with the ability to influence project strategy from bid stage through to delivery.
• Excellent technical expertise across architectural, structural and building services disciplines, together with a thorough understanding of Building Regulations, CDM requirements and sustainable design principles.
• Outstanding leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills, with experience mentoring and developing Design Managers, Coordinators and wider project teams.
• Strong commercial awareness, planning capability and problem-solving skills, enabling you to manage risk, drive value and deliver successful project outcomes in complex environments.

A degree or HNC in a construction-related discipline, or equivalent technical…