Principal Designer Representative (PD Rep) - Energy
WSP in the UK & Ireland
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
WSP in the UK & Ireland is seeking a Design Safety Compliance Lead / PD Rep to support the safe delivery of major power, energy infrastructure projects across the UK. The role blends technical health and safety expertise with client-facing advisory responsibilities to embed effective risk management from early project stages.
You will advise on design risk management, lead Safety in Design reviews, and coordinate multidisciplinary teams to reduce hazards while balancing delivery goals.
Qualifications
- Experience acting as a Principal Designer Representative or Health & Safety Advisor within infrastructure projects.
- Strong understanding of Safety in Design principles and design risk management processes.
- Experience facilitating workshops, leading design reviews, and engaging with multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Commercial awareness and the ability to balance risk reduction with project delivery requirements.
Responsibilities
- Lead and coordinate design risk management activities during project development.
- Facilitate Safety in Design reviews and multidisciplinary risk assessments.
- Promote hazard elimination through design and ensure risks are reduced as far as reasonably practicable.
- Coordinate communication between designers, clients, contractors, and key stakeholders on major project risks.
- Support the development and maintenance of project risk registers and design decision records.
- Monitor actions from design reviews and risk workshops and ensure smooth handovers to construction.
- Act as a trusted adviser to clients on design risk management and industry best practice.
Skills
Job description
What if you could do the kind of work the world needs? At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects and connect with the brightest minds in your field to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.
We are seeking a Design Safety Compliance Lead / PD Rep to join our growing team, supporting the safe and successful delivery of major power, electricity transmission and distribution, low carbon and renewables and wider energy infrastructure projects across the UK.
This role combines technical health and safety expertise with client-facing advisory responsibilities, helping clients and project teams embed effective risk management and safe‑by‑design principles at the earliest stages of project development. You will play a key role supporting major infrastructure clients, including transmission owners, developers, and network operators such as National Grid and Distribution Network Operators (DNOs).
Acting as a Principal Designer Representative (PD Rep), you will influence design decisions, coordinate design risk management activities, facilitate collaboration across multidisciplinary teams, and help clients achieve safer, more efficient project outcomes throughout the project lifecycle.
As a Health, Safety & Design Risk Consultant, you will operate across a diverse portfolio of infrastructure and energy projects, with a strong focus on design-stage risk management, stakeholder engagement, and project assurance.
- Ensure health, safety, and constructability considerations are integrated into project development from the outset.
- Support clients in implementing effective design risk management and governance arrangements.
- Influence project outcomes by balancing safety, risk, delivery, operational, and commercial considerations.
- Promote collaborative approaches to hazard elimination and risk reduction across multidisciplinary teams.
- Lead and coordinate design risk management activities during project development.
- Facilitate Safety in Design reviews, hazard identification workshops, and multidisciplinary risk assessments.
- Promote the elimination of hazards through design and ensure risks are reduced as far as reasonably practicable.
- Coordinate communication between designers, clients, contractors, and key stakeholders on significant project risks.
- Challenge design assumptions and encourage innovative solutions that improve safety, constructability, operability, maintainability, and sustainability.
- Provide assurance that design risk management processes are being effectively implemented across project teams.
- Support the development and maintenance of project risk registers and design decision records.
- Monitor the close‑out of actions arising from design reviews and risk workshops.
- Support the collation of information required for future operation, maintenance, modification, and decommissioning of assets.
- Act as a trusted adviser to clients on design risk management and industry best practice.
- Ensure PCI, H & S Files and CDM Summary Logs in place and handovers to the Principal Contractor.
- Lead and facilitate Safety in Design reviews and workshops.
- Coordinate multidisciplinary identification of hazards and significant risks.
- Ensure opportunities for hazard elimination are actively explored and documented.
- Review residual risks and ensure these are clearly communicated to relevant stakeholders.
- Promote best practice in Safety in Design and risk‑led decision making across project teams.
- Undertake project reviews, audits, workshops, and site visits to monitor implementation of design risk management processes.
- Review project documentation, risk registers, design assumptions, and key design decisions.
- Support lessons learned activities and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Provide independent challenge and assurance on project safety performance during design development.
- Build strong relationships with clients, designers, project managers, and contractors.
- Facilitate workshops, briefings, and collaborative reviews.
- Provide clear, practical, and proportionate advice aligned with project objectives and delivery requirements.
- Influence project teams to adopt best practice approaches to Safety in Design and risk management.
- Experience acting as a Principal Designer Representative, Design Safety Professional, Design Risk Manager, or Health & Safety Advisor within infrastructure projects.
- Strong understanding of Safety in Design principles and design risk management processes.
- Experience facilitating workshops, leading design reviews, and engaging with multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Commercial awareness and the ability to balance risk reduction with project delivery requirements.
- Experience within the power, utilities, transmission, distribution, energy, transportation, or major infrastructure sectors.
- Ability to challenge constructively and drive improvements in project safety outcomes.
We are one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services firms. Our passionate people are united by the common purpose of creating positive, long‑lasting impacts on the communities we serve through a culture of innovation, integrity, and inclusion. With over 11,000 professionals across the UK and Ireland, we are dedicated to our local communities and propelled by international brainpower.
At WSP, we understand that work is just one aspect of your life. It’s important to make time for you, your family, friends, interests and your community. Our hybrid working policy offers the flexibility to work from home two days a week, while also providing opportunities to collaborate in our modern offices across the UK.
We welcome applicants with varied backgrounds and experiences. We enable rewarding careers by encouraging people to bring their whole and authentic selves to work so that our work represents the fullest spectrum of society. We celebrate integrity and treat people with respect, supporting each other and embracing a culture of inclusion and belonging at WSP. We have our employee resource groups bring together employees and allies with different backgrounds to promote a culture of inclusivity.
We are committed to supporting our people, giving you the tools to make improvements to your health and wellbeing through our Thrive programme. Our Virtual GP service gives you access to an NHS or Irish Medical Council GP at a time and place that suits you – giving you peace of mind and quick access to medical advice when you need it most. We also provide reasonable workplace adjustments for those in need. Additionally, you can benefit from the Gymflex scheme, which offers up to 40% off annual gym memberships through our WSP flexible benefits program, as well as a comprehensive menopause support package.
To enhance work-life balance, WSP offers the “WSP My Hour,” allowing you to take one hour each day for personal activities, with the flexibility to make up the time earlier or later that day. We also provide part‑time and flexible working arrangements, the option to purchase additional leave, and the ability to use your bank holiday entitlement to suit you.
We understand the importance of development and training to you. That’s why we foster a supportive environment that invests in your growth, whether through training, mentoring, or Chartership.
Here at WSP we positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy or maternity/paternity. As a Disability Confident leader, we will interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria, please let us know if you require any workplace adjustments in support of your application.
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