Design Manager (Wastewater Non-Infrastructure)

COWI; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days' holiday + bank holidays UK

Development plans & yearly promotions

Flexible and hybrid working conditions

Professional Institution membership—2x

Group personal pension – salary swap

Life assurance

Job summary

COWI is seeking a Design Manager (Wastewater Non-Infrastructure) to lead and deliver wastewater non-infrastructure projects in the UK. You will manage multidisciplinary teams across AMP8, ensuring integrated design solutions, regulatory compliance, and value for money within TotEx frameworks.

You will mentor engineers, drive digital engineering and BIM adoption, and collaborate with clients, contractors, and partners to deliver high-quality outcomes while supporting sustainability and carbon

Qualifications

• Degree-qualified in Civil, Mechanical or Process Engineering
• Chartered Engineer status (e.g. MICE, MCIWEM, IChemE) or working towards chartership
• Extensive experience in wastewater non-infrastructure design within UK water sector frameworks (AMP7/AMP8)
• Experience as Design Manager or senior design leader in cooperative delivery structures such as alliances and frameworks
• Knowledge of Ofwat regulatory drivers
• In-depth knowledge of wastewater treatment processes (activated sludge, SBR, MBR)
• Experience with NEC3/NEC4 contracts in a Design Manager or Designer PM capacity
• Thorough understanding of BIM ISO 19650 and data environments
• Knowledge of sustainability and carbon reduction in water projects
• Demonstrated leadership and client-facing skills
• Commercial awareness including programme and cost control

Responsibilities

• Managing and delivering the design of wastewater non-infrastructure projects across all AMP8 stages
• Acting as Design Manager within collaborative delivery models ensuring integration across disciplines
• Ensuring best-for-project and TotEx-led design solutions
• Managing wastewater process design integration including treatment performance and regulatory compliance
• Embedding digital engineering and BIM principles into design delivery
• Managing design programmes, resources, risks, and budgets to AMP8 milestones
• Overseeing design risk management activities and safe-by-design compliance
• Collaborating with contractors, suppliers, and client teams for integrated solutions
• Supporting carbon reduction and sustainability objectives
• Contributing to bids, tenders and framework growth
• Building and sustaining trusted client relationships
• Mentoring and developing engineers and designers

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Client-facing

Commercial awareness

Collaborative delivery

Digital engineering

Education

Degree in Civil/Mechanical/Process Engineering

Chartered Engineer status or working towards chartership

Tools

BIM (ISO 19650)

Job description

Permanent

Office/Home Hybrid Working

Do you want to be part of a growing Water Design team? Can you lead and inspire multidisciplinary design teams? Are you experienced in wastewater treatment design and delivery? Then, read on. This could be the next adventure in your career.

Create Solutions that will enable a better tomorrow

To further expand our Water team, we are looking for a Design Manager (Wastewater Non-Infrastructure) to join us. You’ll be responsible for the design and delivery of wastewater treatment and non-infrastructure projects, including treatment works upgrades, process optimisation, sludge treatment, pumping stations, and associated MEICA and civil assets.

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Managing and delivering the design of wastewater non-infrastructure projects across all AMP8 stages, from optioneering and outline design through to detailed design and commissioning support
• Acting as Design Manager within collaborative delivery models (e.g. alliances and frameworks), ensuring integration across process, civil, mechanical, electrical and ICA disciplines
• Ensuring best-for-project and TotEx-led design solutions, balancing capital and operational expenditure
• Managing wastewater process design integration, including treatment performance, resilience, and compliance with tightening regulatory standards (e.g. nutrient removal, storm overflow reduction)
• Embedding digital engineering and BIM (ISO 19650) principles into design delivery, supporting data-driven decision making
• Managing design programmes, resources, risks, and budgets to meet AMP8 delivery milestones
• Overseeing design risk management activities (HAZID, HAZOP, ALM) and embedding safe‑by‑design principles to comply with CDM Regulations
• Collaborating with contractors, suppliers, and client teams to deliver integrated and buildable solutions
• Supporting carbon reduction and sustainability objectives, including low‑carbon design and circular economy principles
• Contributing to bids, tenders, and framework growth within AMP8 and beyond
• Building and sustaining trusted client relationships as a reliable delivery partner
• Mentoring and developing engineers and designers, supporting capability growth aligned to AMP8 demand

Your skills. Our team. Together we design the future.

The first step to success in this role is that you are eager to collaborate with the people around you, whether they are colleagues, partners, or customers. Developing ties with others is something you do by acting respectfully and delivering on your promises. And you never get set in your ways but keep exploring new insights and ways to improve.

On top of that, you’ll have:

• Degree-qualified in Civil, Mechanical or Process Engineering (or a related discipline)
• Achieved Chartered Engineer status (e.g. MICE, MCIWEM, IChemE or equivalent), or working towards chartership
• Extensive experience in wastewater non-infrastructure design within UK water sector frameworks (AMP7/AMP8)
• Established experience serving as a Design Manager or senior design leader in cooperative delivery structures such as alliances and frameworks
• Demonstrable experience delivering TotEx-driven solutions and understanding of Ofwat regulatory drivers
• In-depth knowledge of wastewater treatment processes (e.g. activated sludge, SBR, MBR, sludge treatment, tertiary processes, nutrient removal)
• Experience working under NEC3/NEC4 contracts in a Design Manager or Designer’s PM capacity
• Thorough understanding of digital engineering, BIM (ISO 19650), and the use of common data environments
• Knowledge of sustainability, carbon reduction, and environmental compliance within water projects
• Demonstrated leadership, stakeholder engagement, and client-facing skills
• Commercial awareness, including programme and cost control within design delivery

A place to work and so much more.

At COWI, we work together with our customers to shape a sustainable and liveable world. We do it by applying our knowledge and curiosity – and sometimes even our courage – to create the solutions the world needs today to enable a better tomorrow. We support our customers’ transition towards increased sustainability. We strive to lead by example by embedding environmental management, social responsibility and good governance into our business practices and the options we provide to our customers. We value differences and development and cultivate an environment of belonging and having fun. Because that is what brings out the best in you, at work and at home. With offices primarily located in the Nordic region, the UK, North America and India, we are currently more than 7,500 people who bring their expertise in engineering, architecture, energy and environment into play.

What we also offer:

To us, a fair reward is more than a competitive salary. We want to take care of our people professionally and personally as well.

Some of our benefits include:

• 28 days' holiday plus all UK bank and public holidays
• Formalised development plans and yearly promotion opportunities
• Flexible and hybrid working conditions
• Annual subscription fees paid for your membership of two Professional Institutions
• Group personal pension scheme – salary exchange
• Life assurance

As part of our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, we partner with the wisecampaign.org.uk to recruit for a better gender balance in our teams.

If you have any unanswered questions about the role or what we have to offer, please reach out to our Talent Acquisition Partner, Laura Dobson at [e-mail].

Get to know us even better at our website, www.cowi.com, where you can learn more about our projects, our strategy, what we want to achieve and what life is like at COWI.

Equal opportunity employer

COWI provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to ethnicity, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.