Senior Development Manager

Willmott Dixon; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company pension scheme

Green company car allowance

Life assurance

Private medical cover

Incentive/bonus schemes

Employee trade discounts

Job summary

Willmott Dixon Developments invites applications for a Senior Development Manager to help grow our pipeline across the North of England. Based in Leeds or nearby, you will lead development and preconstruction efforts, manage delivery of the current project portfolio and identify new opportunities with public sector partners.

You will build strong relationships with customers, consultants and funders, lead bids and feasibilities, and work with regional teams to maximise margins.

Responsibilities

• Working with the existing development and preconstruction teams to manage, maintain and deliver the existing pipeline of development projects.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, consultants, funders and other stakeholders to deliver projects to site and successful outcomes for our customers.
• Establish and create development management services solutions for customers and deliver the service through to project completion.
• Identify and understand key alternative funding solutions and options.
• Create and maintain development appraisals on schemes, reporting internally and externally as required.
• Work closely with regional preconstruction teams to establish deliverable solutions which achieve relevant margin requirements.
• Manage relevant consultant relationships on projects.
• Identify and mitigate risks/opportunities and develop contingency plans to eliminate risk and optimise returns to ensure that projects evolve to meet and better the financial and programme requirements.
• Lead and manage development opportunity related bids and feasibilities to successful outcomes.
• Represent Willmott Dixon Developments publicly and encourage/develop new relationships to grow the team and our reputation.
• Collaborate with and support other regional development managers to grow their pipeline. Including supporting on business development, bids, tenders, attending events etc.
• Relationship management and key account management for regional development customers/ partners / frameworks.
• 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.
• 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.

Job description

Willmott Dixon Developments has an exciting new opportunity for a Senior Development Manager to join our team and expand capacity throughout the North of England.

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 business 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 continuing success in both delivery and expansion.

Ideally you will be based in Leeds/Yorkshire as we have already won work in this area but as the role evolves you could be working on other projects and therefore you should be prepared to undertake regular travel. Work life balance is important to us and as our team are national, hybrid working is key to allow you to split your time between home, our offices (Leeds, Oldham and Gateshead) and visiting sites/customers.

Willmott Dixon is driven by quality and customer service and to this day we remain family owned and take 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.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, consultants, funders and other stakeholders to deliver projects to site and successful outcomes for our customers.
• Establish and create development management services solutions for customers and deliver the service through to project completion.
• Identify and understand key alternative funding solutions and options.
• Create and maintain development appraisals on schemes, reporting internally and externally as required.
• Work closely with regional preconstruction teams to establish deliverable solutions which achieve relevant margin requirements.
• Manage relevant consultant relationships on projects.
• Identify and mitigate risks/opportunities and develop contingency plans to eliminate risk and optimise returns to ensure that projects evolve to meet and better the financial and programme requirements.

Growth

• Lead and manage development opportunity related bids and feasibilities to successful outcomes.
• Represent Willmott Dixon Developments publicly and encourage/develop new relationships to grow the team and our reputation.
• Collaborate with and support other regional development managers to grow their pipeline. Including supporting on business development, bids, tenders, attending events etc.
• Relationship management and key account management for regional development customers/ partners / frameworks.
• 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.
• 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.

Additional Information

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, who recognise and reward your achievements.

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