Design Management Operations Lead - MEP

Crown House Technologies; Dartford; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Crown House Technologies is seeking a Design Management Operation Lead for MEP to oversee strategic engagement and innovation in design across their project portfolio. The role involves managing client relationships, leading design reviews, and collaborating on MEP design transformation to enhance digital practices and optimize delivery from concept to handover. Strong leadership and cross-functional collaboration with internal and external partners are key components of this position.

Responsibilities

• Engage early with clients and MEP design teams across all CHt projects.
• Lead peer reviews of early‑stage consultant designs.
• Oversee MEP design reviews from RIBA Stages 1 to 4.
• Maintain strategic B2B relationships with selected MEP design consultants.
• Collaborate with strategic partners to establish best practice design standards.

Job description

Design Management Operation Lead – MEP

Role Summary This role will lead strategic engagement, design oversight, and transformation of MEP design across Crown House Technologies (CHt) project portfolio. This role ensures early involvement in design development, driving innovation in digital collaboration, and optimisation of design delivery from concept to handover. Managing our Design partners to cost and time driving an operationally led outcome to pre‑construction activities.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Engagement & Design Oversight

• Engage early with clients and MEP design teams across all CHt projects to influence design direction.
• Lead peer reviews of early‑stage consultant designs to assess risk and identify opportunities.
• Oversee MEP design reviews from RIBA Stages 1 to 4, contributing to technical settlements and ensuring design quality.
• Maintain strategic B2B relationships with selected MEP design consultants.

Design Transformation & Innovation

• Collaborate with strategic partners to establish best practice design standards and pattern books for repeatable solutions.
• Develop and implement a strategy for transforming end‑to‑end MEP design—from concept through fabrication to handover.
• In conjunction with the Head of Digital Engineering and Design Systems Leader, develop the strategy and drive the adoption of collaborative digital modelling between MEP design partners and CHt's Digital Engineering (DE) team.
• Drive programme optimisation and reduce design rework through improved workflows and standards.

Leadership & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Provide leadership to the MEICA Design Management team via Design Management Team Leaders.
• Work with CHt Operations Leaders to ensure optimal deployment of design managers across bid, PCSA, and Main Contract phases.
• Interface with CHt Procurement to align design with procurement strategies.
• Collaborate with CHt Planning to develop integrated programmes with embedded design dependencies.
• These accountabilities are dependent on the role placement in the organisation and reporting lines.

Operational & Commercial Engagement

• Provide support on operational oversight during PCSA and pre‑construction periods, monitoring team performance and outputs in the Design phase.

Support the management of Design to cost through the challenge of cost growth during RIBA design stages.

About Us

Laing O'Rourke is an international engineering and construction company delivering state‑of‑the‑art infrastructure and buildings projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia. With over 150 years of experience, we deliver certainty, reliability, quality, and teamwork. We harness our experience to deliver certainty for our clients.

As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we would like to enable access to candidates with long‑term conditions and disabilities through the ‘Offer an interview scheme'. This supports applicants that meet the essential criteria by offering an interview for the advertised position. Please let us know if you would like to opt in to this scheme and let us know if you require any adjustments for the interview process.

We want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all. If you need the application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please email [e-mail].