Development Manager

tdm recruitment; Leicester; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

tdm recruitment's client, a privately owned developer, seeks an Development Manager to take projects from feasibility through delivery, reporting to the MD. This is a genuinely autonomous role: you'll own your schemes end to end, not administer someone else's process.

You'll own projects from initial feasibility and appraisal through to practical completion, running a live pipeline across care, retail and residential schemes while reporting directly into the MD with real day-to-day autonomy.

Qualifications

• Experience leading development, design and delivery of schemes.
• Autonomy to own schemes end-to-end with minimal supervision.
• Strong stakeholder engagement with funders and authorities.

Responsibilities

• Own projects from feasibility through practical completion.
• Manage live pipeline across care, retail and residential schemes.
• Report to MD with day-to-day autonomy.
• Lead on site appraisals, viability and development strategy.
• Instruct and coordinate consultants, contractors and design teams.
• Manage risk, programme and budgets per scheme.
• Represent business with landowners, agents, funders and authorities.
• Travel nationally to sites; base in Leicester.

Skills

Quantity surveying

Project management

Job description

Our client is a privately owned developer with a strong order book and solid funding behind it — no PE pressure, no committee-driven decision making, just a business that's grown steadily and now needs to add capability to match its pipeline. Projects span care, retail and residential, running concurrently across the country.

They're looking for a Development Manager to take projects from early feasibility through to delivery, reporting directly to the MD. This is a genuinely autonomous role: you'll own your schemes end to end, not administer someone else's process.

The company

• Privately owned, financially stable, and not answerable to external investors
• Strong, well-funded order book with visibility on projects well into the future
• Growing deliberately rather than chasing scale for its own sake
• Flat structure — decisions get made quickly, without layers of sign-off

The role

• Own projects from initial feasibility and appraisal through to practical completion
• Run a live pipeline across care, retail and residential schemes at the same time
• Report directly into the MD, with real day-to-day autonomy over how projects are run
• Take the lead on site appraisals, viability, and development strategy at the front end
• Instruct and coordinate consultants, contractors and design teams through delivery
• Manage risk, programme and budget across each scheme personally
• Represent the business directly with landowners, agents, funders and local authorities where required
• Travel nationally to sites, with a base in Leicester

What we're looking for

• Background in quantity surveying or project management (development, construction or consultancy side)
• Track record of taking schemes through feasibility, design and delivery stages
• Comfortable owning multiple projects and sectors at once without close supervision
• Someone who wants autonomy and is happy to be judged on outcomes, not hours at a desk
• Confident dealing directly with senior stakeholders, funders and external consultants
• Full UK driving licence — national travel is a core part of the role

Why apply

• Real autonomy: you run your projects, the MD doesn't run them for you
• Backed by solid funding and a strong order book, not speculative growth
• Broad sector exposure: care, retail and residential in one role
• Direct line to the MD — decisions get made in days, not months
• A business investing in growth, not maintaining the status quo