Senior Development Manager

Willmott Dixon; Exeter; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading development company in the UK is seeking a Senior Development Manager to manage ongoing projects and lead new development opportunities. Ideal candidates will have strong business-development skills, proven commercial acumen, and experience in engaging with public sector customers. The role offers a hybrid working model split between home and office, supporting work-life balance while delivering on mixed-use regeneration projects. A competitive salary and benefits package is included.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits package

Company pension scheme

Green company car allowance

Private medical cover

Employee trade discounts

Qualifications

• Experience in a development-related function.
• Strong skills in identifying and creatively delivering projects.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage and deliver existing pipeline of development projects.
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders.
• Identify alternative funding solutions for projects.
• Lead development-related bids and feasibilities.

Skills

Strategic engagement

Commercial acumen

Business development

Communication skills

IT proficiency

Tools

MS Word

PowerPoint

Excel

Teams

Job description

Senior Development Manager

Our Development Solutions team at Willmott Dixon has an exciting new opportunity for a Senior Development Manager to join our team and expand capacity throughout our South West region.

With over five years of successfully partnering with public sector customers across a variety of sectors, our main aim now is to deliver current projects and grow further development‑led opportunities to support Willmott Dixon’s growth.

You will play a key role in the growth and success of our national development solutions team with a focus on delivering our current pipeline of mixed‑use regeneration projects and engaging with our new business and delivery teams to identify new opportunities. Your leadership will be instrumental in ensuring continued success in both delivery and expansion.

Ideally you will be based in the South West of England as we currently focus on projects along the South West Coast, but as the role evolves you could work on national projects and therefore you should be prepared to undertake regular travel.

Work‑life balance is important to us and, as our team is national, hybrid working is key to allow you to split your time between home, our offices (London, Bristol and Exeter), and visiting sites/customers.

Willmott Dixon is driven by quality and customer service and remains family‑owned, taking pride in our core values. We are passionate about people and have a real focus and drive around continuous development.

The key responsibilities will include:

Maintain / Deliver

• Working with the existing development and preconstruction teams to manage, maintain and deliver the existing pipeline of development projects.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with customers, consultants, funders and other stakeholders to deliver projects to site and successful outcomes for our customers.
• Establishing and creating development‑management services solutions for customers and delivering the service through to project completion.
• Identifying and understanding key alternative funding solutions and options.
• Creating and maintaining development appraisals on schemes, reporting internally and externally as required.
• Working closely with regional preconstruction teams to establish deliverable solutions that achieve relevant margin requirements.
• Managing relevant consultant relationships on projects.
• Identifying and mitigating risks/opportunities and developing contingency plans to eliminate risk and optimise returns to ensure that projects evolve to meet and better the financial and programme requirements.

Growth

• Leading and managing development‑opportunity related bids and feasibilities to successful outcomes.
• Representing Willmott Dixon development solutions publicly and encouraging/developing new relationships to grow the team and our reputation.
• Collaborating with and supporting other regional development managers to grow their pipeline, including supporting business development, bids, tenders, attending events, etc.
• Managing relationships and key accounts for regional development customers/partners/frameworks.

Essential and Desirable Criteria

Essential criteria:

• A passion to creatively identify new opportunities, push boundaries and engage strategically to help our customers deliver their outcomes.
• Experience working in a development‑related function previously (ideally with an in‑house developer/contractor – desirable but not essential).
• Strong business‑development skills and experience in identifying and creatively delivering projects in partnership with the public sector.
• Proven commercial acumen, experienced in developing and reporting on commercial appraisals & financial modelling.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including report writing, presenting and pitching ideas. IT‑proficient including MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams and appraisal software.

Desirable criteria:

• Mixed‑use development experience (town centre, retail, leisure, community, office and residential).
• Knowledge of public‑partnering contractual arrangements (development agreements, partnership agreements, JV’s, etc.).
• Knowledge of funding routes (either private funding or public‑sector grant funding).
• A network of customer and consultant contacts.

In return we offer:

A competitive salary in addition to a comprehensive benefits package* including a company pension scheme, green company car allowance, life assurance, private medical cover, incentive/bonus schemes, employee trade discounts, and many more. We offer you a bright future, one where you will have the opportunity to develop your career. We are a supportive, growing team in an exciting area supported by a larger forward‑thinking company that recognises and rewards your achievements.

Additional Information

We’re an open‑minded team and business and we embrace diversity in the workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds. Even if you don’t feel like you meet 100% of our requirements we encourage you to get in touch. We value our people and are building a team who share our values. Your skills, experience and background may be just what we need. As an equal‑opportunity employer, we do not discriminate and are committed to creating an inclusive and successful team which values our people as our biggest attribute.

About Us

With over 170 years of rich history, Willmott Dixon’s purpose is beyond profit; delivering brilliant buildings, transforming lives, strengthening communities and enhancing the environment so our world is fit for future generations. Ensuring that we add lasting value to the neighbourhoods we work in, our values, people, innovation, partnerships and focus on sustainability has allowed us to build a successful and solid privately‑owned business where our people can thrive.

Willmott Dixon was recognised by The Sunday Times as one of the Top 10 "Big" Companies to Work For in 2025, named among the Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality in 2024, and ranked in the Top Five of Europe’s 1,000 best workplaces by the Financial Times in 2025. Willmott Dixon is also the first major contractor and developer to win a King’s Award for Enterprise in the category of sustainable development.