Hybrid Project Design Lead for Water & Wastewater

Southern Water; Brighton; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Water is seeking a Project Design Lead to drive engineering design assurance and delivery across wastewater projects. You will coordinate multi‑disciplinary design teams and ensure lowest whole‑life cost solutions while upholding safety, quality and environmental standards.

The role involves leading option studies, outlining and detailing designs, construction and commissioning, with hybrid working between Falmer and home. A Chartered or working towards Chartership is preferred.

Qualifications

• Strong experience in an engineering design, design management or technical assurance role.
• Experience supporting or assuring design across infrastructure and/or non‑infrastructure projects in a regulated sector.
• Strong technical engineering judgement and ability to review and challenge designs.
• Experience coordinating multi‑disciplinary design teams and delivery partners.
• Good understanding of project delivery, contract management, design governance and change control.
• Strong awareness of health and safety standards, environmental requirements and CDM.

Responsibilities

• Provide authoritative technical input across needs identification, optioneering, design, construction and commissioning phases.
• Assure the quality of design deliverables across multiple projects.
• Lead in-house outline design and optioneering to select lowest whole-life cost, best-value solutions.
• Coordinate multi-disciplinary design teams and delivery partners.
• Ensure designs comply with technical standards, HSE and CDM regulations.
• Promote safe, environmentally responsible design behaviours throughout the process.
• Drive standardisation and digital design across delivery.
• Manage design scope, cost, quality, resources and change control.

Skills

Engineering design experience

Design assurance experience

Technical engineering judgement

Multidisciplinary coordination

HSE/CDM knowledge

Option assessment

Communication skills

Financial awareness

Decision making under ambiguity

Collaborative working

Education

Engineering degree (MEng/BEng/BSc/HND/HNC)

Chartered or working towards Chartership

Job description

Southern Water is seeking a Project Design Lead to drive engineering design assurance and delivery across wastewater projects. You will coordinate multi‑disciplinary design teams and ensure lowest whole‑life cost solutions while upholding safety, quality and environmental standards.

The role involves leading option studies, outlining and detailing designs, construction and commissioning, with hybrid working between Falmer and home. A Chartered or working towards Chartership is preferred.