Workplace Design Manager

Allscreens Nationwide Ltd; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Government Recruitment Service in Birmingham seeks a proactive Workplace Design Manager to oversee design governance across government workplace projects. You will ensure alignment with GPA standards, develop employer requirements, and engage with clients throughout CAT A & B RIBA stages.

You will collaborate with public sector experts and private partners, manage design changes, and support dissemination of guides and policies across the GPA community.

Responsibilities

• Advising the Head of Workplace Design on the status of their allocated project designs and monitoring overall progress; ensuring alignment with wider programme priorities.
• Overseeing compliance with standards and specifications in the GPA Design Guide, Employer Requirements and related documents.
• Developing the GPA’s Employers Requirements (ER) for each project’s design.
• Engaging with clients on design matters and keeping them updated throughout.
• Interpreting Design Guide and client requirements into briefing material for CAT A & B RIBA stages; minimising bespoke spaces.
• Ensuring client requirements are clear, credible, timely, and approved before progression.
• Providing design advice, assurance and acceptance in procurement processes; e.g., framework selection and tendering.
• Collaborating with public sector experts and private sector professionals in design-related areas.
• Acting as design point of contact for designers, contractors, and supply chains.
• Attending site inspections, design sign-offs or progress meetings as required.
• Managing governance around design change and required approvals across projects.
• Coordinating with stakeholders to develop and maintain guides, standards, and design policy.
• Communicating guides and policies to the GPA community and client groups.

Skills

Design management

Stakeholder engagement

RIBA stages

Project governance

Design standards

Job description

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with morethan £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work,leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbonemissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we arelooking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.

Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leadingsignificant transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme,Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme. We are also delivering cost-effective property services such as asset management, lifecycle replacement and workplaceservices.

Innovation and progress underpin our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning,where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. Our four core values are at the heartof everything we do. They shape our culture and guide how we work, lead and growtogether:

• Striving for excellence - We always aim to deliver great results
• Empowering through respect - We insist on fair treatment for all, always
• Acting with integrity - We consistently do the right thing
• Succeeding together - We rely on each other to achieve success

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.

To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth.

We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

The Workplace Design Manager (WDM) is responsible for ensuring the Government Workplace Design Guide and supporting handbooks are applied consistently across specific projects. They also provide day to day advice and guidance to the project team on design matters.

Acting as the tactical Intelligent Client on specific projects, the WDM interprets the Government Workplace Design Guide, GPA’s Employer Requirements and any client specialist requirements, informing design briefs for developers and GPA’s consulting design partners to produce designs for each RIBA stage.

The WDM provides assurance that all designs support the GPA’s commitment to create workplaces that are safe, inclusive and accessible and as flexible as possible to support smarter and hybrid working practices. This includes overseeing and being responsible for approving the design throughout each RIBA stage of a project’s life cycle, and offering advice and providing assurance on all aspects of design against both our standards and our client requirements.

The WDM will manage and develop our guides, standards and policies to ensure our projects are at the forefront of sustainable and inclusive workplace design. This will involve coordination with colleagues within the Workplace Design Team and the wider GPA to develop coordinated guidance for the development of high-quality workspace for a modern civil service.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of Workplace Design, the Workplace Design Manager will be responsible for:

• Advising the Head of Workplace Design on the status of their allocated projects design, ensuring it remains aligned with wider programme priorities. Regular monitoring and reporting on the overall design progress;
• Overseeing compliance with standards and specifications set out in the GPA Design Guide, Employer Requirements and associated documents;
• Developing the GPA’s Employers Requirements (ER) for each project’s design;
• Engaging effectively with the identified client/s on design related matters and ensuring that they are kept appropriately updated throughout;
• Interpreting Design Guide and Client specialist requirements into appropriate briefing material for designers to use during CAT A & B RIBA stages, minimising the need for bespoke spaces;
• Ensuring client specialist requirements are intelligible, credible, received at the right time and have been approved by an appropriate person in the department before being progressed;
• Providing advice, assurance and acceptance where necessary on designs and specifications, representing the interests of the client in the project procurement process, e.g. framework selection, individual project tender exercises and contract management;
• Working with public sector subject matter experts in design-related areas across government, and private sector professionals including the property industry.
• Acting as a design point of contact for the project designers, contractors, consultant partners and their supply chains;
• Attending site as required whether for formal site inspections, design sign offs or progress meetings;
• Managing the governance around design change across projects, including required approvals at the appropriate levels;
• Collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders on the development and maintenance of our guides, standards and design policy - ensuring these align with GPA’s wider business objectives;
• Support in the communication of these guides, standards and design policies to the wider GPA community, project teams, external stakeholders and client groups.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Workplace Design Manager

Company: Government Recruitment Service Salary: £58,478 - £64,743 Hours: Full-time Location: Birmingham Job type: Permanent Posting date: 24 Aug 2026 Closing date: 3 Sept 2026