Senior Design Manager - Water

GHD; Manchester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

GHD is seeking a Senior Design Manager to lead multidisciplinary design teams across major AMP8 water and wastewater programmes in the UK. You will guide design through optioneering, outline, detailed design and construction support, while managing design risk, interfaces and assurance.

The role requires leadership, clear client communication and strong governance to deliver quality outcomes. You will influence delivery strategies, mentor senior staff, and collaborate with clients, contractors

Qualifications

• Led multidisciplinary design teams in water, infrastructure or major capital programmes.
• Experience managing interfaces between disciplines, clients and delivery partners.
• Balance technical quality with programme pressure and buildability.
• Strong governance, risk management, change control and design reviews.
• Clear communication with senior clients and technical teams.
• Chartered/ Incorporated status welcome; equivalent leadership experience considered.

Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary design teams on major AMP8 water and wastewater programmes.
• Guide design teams from optioneering through detailed design and construction support.
• Manage design risk, interfaces, assumptions, decisions, reviews and assurance.
• Collaborate with clients, contractors, framework partners and supply chain specialists.
• Challenge traditional delivery approaches and identify smarter, simpler solutions.
• Support work winning, framework growth and early project shaping.
• Mentor Design Managers, coordinators and discipline leads.

Skills

Leadership

Design governance

Risk management

Stakeholder management

Multi-disciplinary coordination

Mentoring

Client communication

Strategic thinking

Education

Chartered / Incorporated status welcome

Job description

Senior Design Manager – Water (AMP8)

We’re not asking you to manage programmes, we’re asking you to shape them.

Job Description

AMP8 is underway, and the UK water sector is entering one of its most important delivery periods in decades. Water companies are investing in resilience, environmental improvement, asset performance, spill reduction and future water security.

GHD is looking for a Senior Design Manager who can bring technical teams together, cut through complexity and help turn ambitious programmes into clear, buildable and well governed outcomes.

This is not a role for someone who wants to sit in project meetings and update trackers. It is for someone who wants to lead people, influence decisions, challenge conventional thinking and help shape how major water projects are delivered.

What You Will Do

• Lead multidisciplinary design teams on major AMP8 water and wastewater programmes.
• Guide design teams from optioneering and outline design through detailed design and construction support.
• Manage design risk, technical interfaces, assumptions, decisions, reviews and assurance activity.
• Work closely with clients, contractors, framework partners and supply chain specialists.
• Challenge traditional delivery approaches and identify smarter, simpler and more sustainable solutions.
• Support work winning, framework growth, client engagement and early project shaping.
• Mentor Design Managers, coordinators and discipline leads so the team becomes stronger as the work bank grows.

What Success Looks Like

• You are the person teams look to if a project becomes unstable or unduly complicated.
• You create clarity for your team when scope, risk, programme and interfaces are moving at pace.
• You help clients and delivery partners make confident decisions when options and standards are imperfect for the situation.
• You encourage and lead multi-disciplinary collaboration: civil, structural, process, mechanical, electrical, control, digital and environmental specialists.
• You protect quality, safety, constructability, sustainability and commercial performance without slowing delivery to a crawl.
• You see and act on project change effectively.

What Makes This Role Different At GHD

• Design management is treated as a leadership discipline, not an administrative function.
• You will have room to influence projects, teams and clients rather than simply report progress.
• You will work within major UK water frameworks while drawing on GHD’s wider technical, environmental, digital and delivery capability.
• You will be trusted to simplify complex problems, make decisions and help others perform at their best.
• You will help shape how GHD builds its UK water design management capability through AMP8 and beyond.

Candidate diversity and background flexibility

• GHD do not believe there is only one route into design management. The strongest teams are built from different backgrounds, disciplines and career paths.
• You may have developed through any of civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, process, environmental, digital, construction, project delivery or client-side roles. What matters is your ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, make sound decisions, manage interfaces and create trust in complex delivery environments.
• We are interested in candidates who can show judgement, leadership and delivery ownership. You do not need to have followed a traditional consultancy career path to be considered.
• Water sector experience is valuable, but relevant experience from adjacent infrastructure, utilities, energy, rail, reservoirs, treatment, industrial or major project environments may also be highly relevant.
• Chartered or Incorporated status is welcome, but we will consider equivalent experience where candidates can demonstrate strong leadership, technical judgement and design governance capability.
• We welcome people returning from career breaks, people who have moved between sectors, and people whose leadership experience has been gained outside a conventional design office route.
• We are particularly interested in people who can bring different perspectives, challenge and help us build teams that reflect the communities and clients we serve.
• Having design and build experience with Tier 1 & 2 contractors would also be welcome and beneficial to our way of working.

We Are Looking For People Who

• Have led multidisciplinary design teams in water, infrastructure, utilities, construction or major capital programmes.
• Understand how to manage interfaces between disciplines, clients, contractors and delivery partners.
• Can balance technical quality, commercial awareness, programme pressure and buildability.
• Are confident in design governance, risk management, change control, design reviews and assurance.
• Can communicate clearly with senior clients, technical specialists and project teams.
• Care about developing people and building resilient teams.
• Stay calm under pressure and can turn uncertainty into a practical plan.

You will thrive here if

• You see problems before others do.
• You simplify complexity without oversimplifying the engineering.
• You are comfortable challenging “the way we have always done it”.
• You lead with clarity, fairness and accountability.
• You care about people as much as technical excellence.
• You want to help shape a growing design management community, not just fill a vacancy.

The future of water infrastructure will not be delivered by individuals. It will be delivered by teams. We are looking for someone who knows how to build them.

Join GHD. Lead the difference.