Senior Landscape Manager

Charlton Recruitment; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 84,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading recruitment firm is seeking a Senior Landscape Design Manager to oversee strategic landscape projects for the HS2 programme. This role requires significant experience in large-scale landscape design and public realm projects, providing technical leadership and verification across multiple contracts. The ideal candidate will have a degree in Landscape Architecture and a proven track record of managing complex infrastructure projects. This is a strategic position with long-term career prospects in landscape design and asset management.

Benefits

12% Pension

Career opportunities in landscape design and asset management

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in landscape design and public realm projects.
• Proven leadership in complex infrastructure projects.
• Ability to challenge contractors and represent client interests.

Responsibilities

• Act as the Landscape Design Subject Matter Expert (SME).
• Provide technical leadership and guidance on multiple contracts.
• Oversee landscape works verification and long-term maintenance.

Skills

Leadership in landscape design

Technical landscape expertise

Influencing and verification skills

Understanding of large-scale infrastructure

Education

Degree in Landscape Architecture

Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute

Job description

Senior Landscape Design Manager

Location: Birmingham or London (Hybrid 3 days in office/Site)

Multiple Site offices along line of route between London to Birmingham

Salary: £70 77,500 & up to £83,672 in London + 12% Pension

We are recruiting a Senior Landscape Design Manager to join the delivery team working on the High Speed Two programme. This is a rare opportunity to lead high-impact landscape and public realm design right across the HS2 programme where you will be part of a project delivering 3,500 hectares of landscape and ecology mitigation, including planting 8 million trees and 400,000 meters of hedgerows.

This is your chance to join the largest landscape project of its kind in Europe. As a Senior Landscape Design Manager, you will play a critical client-side role in shaping a lasting green legacy for the UK. Your work will be essential to HS2’s long-term vision aims to leave a positive environmental legacy by conserving and enhancing habitats, even as it builds a major new railway.

Reporting to the Head of Landscape, you will join a small, expert team as the third senior manager at this level. This is a strategic role focused on oversight and assurance, not hands-on design. You will be the client's "strong voice in the room," ensuring the project's landscape commitments are met to the highest standard. The Green Assets and main works civils are in Construction delivery & detailed design stage so looking for someone who can provide oversight and assurance on landscape design and also have site delivery experience on large landscaping projects parks, highways, rail, large construction sites, regeneration projects etc

With 10 years remaining on the HS2 programme this role offers career opportunities both in the Landscape Design and Asset Management teams.

The Role

• Act as the Landscape Design Subject Matter Expert (SME), setting strategic objectives and assuring design & Construction delivery quality across multiple contracts.
• Provide specialist technical leadership, guidance, and verification to ensure compliant, value-for-money landscape design solutions.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary delivery teams, Main Contractors, Construction Managers, NEC Supervisors, Environment and Planning teams, and site staff to meet programme milestones.
• Oversee on-site verification of landscape works, long-term maintenance/monitoring, and delivery of landscape mitigation outcomes.
• Support handover and transition activities, including verification of green assets.

Requirements

• Degree in Landscape Architecture (or equivalent) and ideally Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute.
• Proven leadership as a subject matter expert in landscape and or public realm design.
• Experience managing or overseeing landscape delivery on large, complex infrastructure projects.
• Strong understanding of design assurance, delivery stages, cost, schedule, and multidisciplinary dependencies.
• Ability to influence, challenge, and verify landscape schemes through design, delivery, and handover stages.
• Significant experience in large-scale infrastructure projects. HS2 experience would be hugely beneficial.
• The confidence to challenge contractors and act as a decisive client representative.
• Holding contractors to account using contractual tools to drive performance.