Senior Design Manager – Tier 1 Main Contractor

London & South East | Healthcare Schemes | Major Projects

Maximise your chances of a successful application to this job by ensuring your CV and skills are a good match.

An outstanding opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior Design Manager to join a leading Tier 1 main contractor delivering a portfolio of high-value healthcare projects across London and the South East.

With a strong pipeline of complex hospital schemes, this role offers the chance to play a key leadership position across multiple projects, contributing to the successful delivery of technically challenging and high-profile developments.

The Role

As Senior Design Manager, you will take ownership of the design management function across several healthcare schemes, ensuring design excellence from pre-construction through to project completion.

This is a dynamic, multi-site role requiring travel between projects, working closely with internal teams, consultants, and stakeholders to drive coordination, quality, and programme certainty.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the design process from pre-construction through delivery
• Coordinate and oversee consultant and subcontractor design outputs
• Ensure design compliance with statutory, regulatory, and employer’s requirements
• Carry out design assurance, technical reviews, and buildability assessments
• Identify and manage design risks, driving value engineering opportunities
• Lead design change control, assessing programme and cost implications
• Maintain accurate records of design submissions, approvals, and revisions
• Collaborate closely with construction, commercial, and procurement teams
• Provide leadership, mentoring, and guidance to Design Managers within the team

Skills & Experience

• Proven track record in a Senior Design Manager or Design Manager role on major projects
• Experience working for a Tier 1 or large main contractor
• Strong understanding of RIBA Stages 3–6
• Background in delivering complex, site-based projects (healthcare experience advantageous)
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and manage complex design interfaces
• Excellent communication, coordination, and leadership skills
• Relevant professional qualification (desirable but not essential)

Why Apply? xbpsjku

• Opportunity to work on high-profile, technically complex healthcare schemes
• Involvement across multiple major projects rather than a single site
• Long-term pipeline offering stability and career progression
• Key leadership role within a highly respected Tier 1 contractor

Apply

If you are seeking a senior design leadership position within a forward-thinking Tier 1 contractor, we would be keen to hear from you. Please submit your CV or contact Francesca Cainelli on for a confidential discussion.