Design Lead

Allscreens Nationwide Ltd; Reading; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension contributions

Annual bonus schemes

Professional subscription

Job summary

Mott MacDonald Bentley seeks a Design Lead to drive multi-disciplinary design delivery across water and wastewater projects in the UK. You will lead teams of engineers from electrical, mechanical, civil and process disciplines, delivering affordable and low-carbon design solutions and ensuring client satisfaction.

You will manage design cost and schedule, oversee project controls, and maintain strong client relationships while pushing for innovation and best-value outcomes.

Qualifications

• Engineering degree required.
• Chartered or Incorporated Engineer or equivalent professional status.
• Experience in Water or Wastewater infrastructure design.
• Knowledge of the Designer or Principal Designer duties under CDM 2015.

Responsibilities

• Leading the delivery of multi-disciplinary design for your projects/programme.
• Developing and leading a team comprised of electrical, mechanical, civil, and process designers.
• Leading the development of affordable and low carbon solutions, including managing opportunities and risks.
• Delivering detailed designs to meet construction needs and client acceptance including managing cost and programme.
• Challenging the engineering solutions and delivery effectiveness of your team to ensure we always offer the client the best value solutions.
• Providing direction and oversight of project controls and ensuring your team understands and complies with quality, programme, and cost requirements.
• Maintaining positive client relationships at project level

Skills

Water/Wastewater design experience

Education

Engineering degree

Chartered or incorporated member of professional institution (ICE/IMechE)

Job description

This is a Mott MacDonald Bentley role, employed by Mott MacDonald.Mott MacDonald Bentley is a joint venture business, established in 1999 between civil engineering contractor JN Bentley and global management consultancy, Mott MacDonald.

Mott MacDonald Bentley offers fully integrated design and build services to its clients, combining the contracting expertise of JN Bentley and the design specialisms of Mott MacDonald.

This role is employed by Mott MacDonald but will involve working across the joint venture business, both with Mott MacDonald and JN Bentley colleagues.

About Mott MacDonaldMott MacDonald is a global engineering, management and development consultancy.

Our purpose is to improve society by considering social outcomes in everything we do, relentlessly focusing on excellence and digital innovation, transforming our clients’ businesses, our communities and employee opportunities.

A fundamental part of this is respecting each person’s differences and striving to meet their needs.Our values: progress, respect, integrity, drive, excellence.

We believe that because we care about what we do, we do things better.We know that our people are our most valuable asset, so we are dedicated to investing in them, through our comprehensive training and development schemes, exposure to the wider design and build business and endless opportunities.

We are committed to creating a workplace where our people are safe, have a voice, can reach their full potential, and everyone shares in the rewards.

You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to projects that benefit our communities – from helping to secure water supplies for future generations to protecting homes and businesses from flood risk – our projects make a real difference.

Diversity, Equity & InclusionA Mott MacDonald Bentley we welcome applications from all sectors of the community. We are dedicated to building a diverse workplace where everyone feels included, has the opportunity to thrive, and is treated with respect.

Even if you don’t meet every requirement for this role but are excited about the opportunity, we encourage you to apply. Find out more about our approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion here: https://www.mottmacbentley.co.uk/people.

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment practices are barrier-free and as inclusive as possible. This includes making adjustments during the job application process and throughout your future career with us. Please call 01756 691572 or email [e-mail] to discuss any such adjustments that we can make. You can read more about our Equal Opportunities Policy here: Equality, diversity and inclusion

Agile workingWe are committed to providing a flexible and agile working environment that supports both our employees and the needs of the business.

#LI-MMB

Location:London (Fleet Place) / Reading (Clearwater Court)

Hours: Full-time

Job type: Permanent

Salary: Not specified

Posting date: 27 Aug 2026

Closing date: 26 Sept 2026

Mott MacDonald Bentley is a fully integrated design and build business combining the design expertise of Mott MacDonald with the contracting experience of JN Bentley to deliver award winning projects. With an annual turnover surpassing £500 million, Mott macdonald Bentley cements its position as a leader within the industry. The sustained, robust business performance creates an ideal environment for career growth.

As a Design Lead, you will contribute to projects that significantly impact our environment and communities. Working primarily in the UK water market, MMB provides the feasibility, design, construction, and commissioning services needed to keep water flowing and wastewater treated. You’ll work on projects that make a real difference to our environment and our communities by enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of water and wastewater treatment systems.

MMB has extended its contract with Thames Water for an additional five years. As the largest water and wastewater provider in the UK, Thames Water serves 15 million customers throughout London and the Thames Valley. This extension will carry the current workload beyond the end of AMP8 in March 2030. We are delivering work in the Thames Valley region (extending from Cirencester in the west to the M25 and from Basingstoke in the South to Banbury in the North). This sees us undertake a varied programme of sizable projects in wastewater treatment, clean water production and Infrastructure (Water and Wastewater networks).

Design Lead

• Leading the delivery of multi-disciplinary design for your projects / programme
• Developing and leading your team comprised of electrical, mechanical, civil, and process designers
• Leading the development of affordable and low carbon solutions, including managing opportunities and risks.
• Delivering detailed designs to meet construction needs and client acceptance including managing cost and programme.
• Challenging the engineering solutions and delivery effectiveness of your team to ensure we always offer the client the best value solutions.
• Providing direction and oversight of project controls and ensuring your team understands and complies with quality, programme, and cost requirements.
• Maintaining positive client relationships at project level

What you’ll need:

• Degree in Engineering
• Chartered or incorporated member of professional institution e.g ICE, IMechE, etc, or equivalent experience
• Experience in Water or Wastewater infrastructure design
• Knowledge of the Designer or Principal Designer duties under CDM 2015.

What’s in it for you:

Financial wellbeing

• MMB match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues including our annual bonus schemes.
• Payment of annual professional institution subscription costs

Health and wellbeing

• A minimum of 33 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays, with the ability to buy, sell or carry over annual leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Access to Life Assurance / Private Medical Insurance / Critical Illness Insurance and Health Screening options
• We are happy to talk openly about flexible working and how we can support your responsibilities beyond the workplace.
• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.

Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave plus the option for shared parental leave.
• Up to 2 paid additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities

Learning and development

• MMB are committed to empowering our people to grow professionally and thrive in their careers. We offer structured development schemes that support your journey toward professional chartership. From day one, employees are fast-tracked towards chartership reviews and benefit from mentorship, hands-on experience, and tailored training opportunities

Mott MacDonald Bentley are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

About Disability Confident Disability Confident is a government scheme. It encourages employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term health conditions.