M&E Design Manager

The Opportunity Our client, an established M&E engineering specialist based in Wigan, is looking for a Design Manager to lead their design function. This is not what M&E design usually means. Education, healthcare and public sector work, rather than the industrial and process schemes most designers spend a career on. You would lead the mechanical and electrical design team, taking responsibility for design quality, standards and output across live projects, managing workload and resource, and acting as the senior design point of contact for clients and main contractors.

It is a role with real scope to shape how the design function operates, working closely with pre-construction, estimating and delivery rather than in isolation. This is a permanent role in Wigan, £70,000 to £80,000 depending on experience, plus a full benefits package. About the Business Public sector and framework work changes what a design function is for. When the same clients come back, the standards, templates and details the team sets get used again rather than rebuilt from scratch, so the value of getting them right compounds.

That is a large part of why this role exists, and why it carries the BIM and CAD standards alongside the projects. Our client is an M&E engineering specialist covering mechanical, electrical, HVAC, in-house design and maintenance under one roof, working nationally from a strong North-West base. Projects range from smaller, fast-turnaround schemes through to multi-million-pound work, for long-term public sector clients with a high proportion of repeat and framework business across education, healthcare, local authority, transport and the wider public sector.

Design sits in house, working alongside pre-construction, estimating and delivery rather than separately, and the business holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. That range of scale is the part most people underestimate. It means holding quality across two very different tempos at once, with the same team and the same standards, and it is why the role is as much about resource and priorities as it is about engineering.

What You'll Be Doing Leading the mechanical and electrical design team, setting standards and ensuring consistent quality across all design output Managing design resource and workload across live projects, balancing priorities as the pipeline changes Taking design deliverables from concept through to construction, ensuring technical accuracy and buildability Acting as the senior design point of contact for clients, main contractors and consultants Reviewing and approving design output before issue, maintaining rigorous quality control Supporting the pre-construction and estimating teams with design input at bid stage Maintaining and developing BIM and CAD standards, templates and workflows across the design team Mentoring and developing design engineers, supporting their technical growth and progression Working closely with delivery teams to resolve design queries and support constructability throughout installation What We're Looking For A strong mechanical or electrical design background within building services, with experience managing or leading a design team Comfortable taking ownership of design quality and output across multiple concurrent projects Confident engaging directly with clients and main contractors on technical and design matters Strong working knowledge of Revit, AutoCAD and BIM coordination processes Comfortable mentoring and developing less experienced design engineers Degree, HNC/HND or equivalent in Mechanical or Electrical Building Services Engineering Full UK driving licence

Experience of education, healthcare or wider public sector design work is a strong advantage, and chartership or working towards it is welcomed, though neither is essential. What's on Offer £70,000 - £80,000 depending on experience Design leadership (The function is yours to shape) Full company benefits package Public sector and framework work, distinct from standard commercial or industrial design Variety of scale, from fast-turnaround schemes through to multi-million-pound projects In-house delivery and estimating capability supporting the design team