Design Assurance Manager

Cadent Foundation; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 59,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Medical Insurance

Holiday Allowance

Annual Bonus

Pension Scheme

Employee Assistance Line

Membership support

Job summary

Cadent is seeking a Design Assurance Manager to lead design assurance activities for its Capital Delivery portfolio. You will provide leadership, assurance and technical expertise from concept through construction to ensure safe, compliant and high‑quality outcomes.

Reporting to the Capital Delivery Safety & Engineering team, you’ll coordinate design assurance across projects, collaborate with consultants and contractors, and drive improvements in standards, processes and performance.

Qualifications

• HNC/HND in an Engineering discipline (minimum requirement).
• Degree in an Engineering discipline (desirable).
• Professional Registration (EngTech, IEng or CEng) desirable or working towards.
• IOSH Managing Safely (desirable).

Responsibilities

• Lead design assurance activities across the full project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, design consultants and contractors to ensure robust, compliant engineering solutions.
• Ensure designs align with project objectives and safety by design principles.
• Provide engineering leadership and governance from concept to construction.
• Manage design contractor performance and industry compliance.

Skills

Engineering Expertise

Design & Assurance Experience

Project Delivery Capability

CDM & Regulatory Knowledge

Commercial Awareness

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

Problem-Solving Skills

Education

HNC/HND in Engineering

Degree in Engineering

Professional Registration (EngTech/IEng/CEng) desirable

IOSH Managing Safely desirable

Job description

Title: Design Assurance Manager

Location: Ansty Business Park

Advertised Salary: circa £65,700

Job Function: Capital Delivery

Working Hours: 37

Location Type: Hybrid

Contract Type: Permanent

Req ID: 3070

Posting End Date: 14th October 2026

Drive design excellence and assurance across critical infrastructure projects

As our Design & Assurance Manager, you’ll play a pivotal role in ensuring the successful delivery of major infrastructure projects across Cadent’s Capital Delivery portfolio. This isn’t just about reviewing designs – it’s about providing leadership, assurance and technical expertise that help deliver safe, compliant and high‑quality projects from concept through to construction.

Working within our Capital Delivery Safety & Engineering team, you’ll lead the management of design assurance activities across the full project lifecycle. You’ll work closely with internal stakeholders, design consultants, contractors and project teams to ensure engineering solutions are robust, compliant and aligned with project objectives.

This is a fantastic opportunity to combine technical leadership, project delivery and engineering assurance while helping shape the future of Cadent’s above 7 bar assets, pipeline projects, customer diversions, integrity programmes and security upgrades.

Why You’ll Love This Role

• Design Assurance Leadership – Lead design assurance activities across a diverse portfolio of capital delivery projects, ensuring quality, consistency and compliance.
• Project Lifecycle Ownership – Oversee early project development through to construction handover, ensuring effective planning, design and governance.
• Technical Expertise – Provide engineering support and guidance on technical queries, deviations and complex design challenges.
• Contractor & Consultant Management – Manage design contractor performance, ensuring high standards of engineering and design delivery.
• Safety by Design – Champion a proactive safety culture and embed Safety by Design principles throughout project development.
• Stakeholder Collaboration – Work closely with Engineering, Assurance, Commercial, Project Delivery and external partners to ensure successful project outcomes.
• Continuous Improvement – Drive lessons learned and identify opportunities to improve processes, standards and project performance.

What You’ll Bring

• Engineering Expertise – Strong technical knowledge of high‑pressure gas distribution assets, pipelines and above‑ground installations.
• Design & Assurance Experience – Proven experience delivering engineering design and assurance activities across complex infrastructure projects.
• Project Delivery Capability – Experience managing multiple projects and coordinating activities across a programme portfolio.
• CDM & Regulatory Knowledge – Strong understanding of CDM regulations, safety legislation and engineering compliance requirements.
• Commercial Awareness – Experience of cost control, procurement and contractor management within project environments.
• Leadership & Stakeholder Management – Ability to influence, engage and collaborate effectively across multi‑disciplinary teams and senior stakeholders.
• Problem‑Solving Skills – Analytical mindset with the ability to make informed decisions and resolve technical challenges.

Qualifications

• HNC/HND in an Engineering discipline (minimum requirement)
• Degree in an Engineering discipline (desirable)
• Professional Registration (EngTech, IEng or CEng) desirable or working towards
• IOSH Managing Safely (desirable)

What’s In It For You

• MyChoices, our flexible benefits programme, gives you access to a range of salary sacrifice benefits, including Private Medical Insurance for you and your family, plus a 24/7 Bupa HealthLine.
• 25 days’ holiday, plus 8 statutory days and an option to buy or sell holiday days
• An Annual Performance Bonus of up to 15% of your salary
• A generous pension scheme where the company double matches your contributions up to 12% i.e. if you contribute 6% a month, the company will contribute 12%
• A competitive salary that’s reviewed each year against the market median salary for your role, skills, knowledge and experience
• Generous family policies and flexible benefits
• A free Employee Assistance Line where you can get support and advice on any of the challenges you’re facing, completely confidentially
• Support to help you cover the cost of professional membership subscriptions, course fees, books, examination fees and time off for study leave – so long as it’s relevant to your role
• Plus many more benefits that help you join the dots between your work and home life!

Diversity and Inclusion

Don’t meet every requirement? No problem! If you’re excited about this opportunity but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification mentioned, we would still love for you to submit your application – you may just be the right person for this role or other opportunities at Cadent.

• Women in Cadent
• Pride at Work (LGBTQ+)
• Embrace (ethnicity and religion)
• Thrive! (disability)
• the Cadent Military Community
• the Grief Awareness Community
• the Men's Engagement Network (M.E.N)

As a proud Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for the vacancy. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process and we will ensure that support is provided.

Interviews will be held shortly after the closing date.

Disclaimer: While the closing date is set as mentioned, we reserve the right to close the application process earlier if necessary, depending on the unique circumstances of each role.

At Cadent, we’re thrilled to be part of the future of UK energy! We have a clear roadmap to drive our performance to the forefront of our industry and support the UK government in achieving its net zero targets by 2050. We’re making a difference through innovation and new ways of working. Together, we’re shaping a cleaner, greener future for our 11 million customers, whom we put at the heart of everything we do.

Be part of something big. Help shape the future of gas for generations to come.