Senior Client-Side Design Manager

eir business talent; Athlone; On-site; EUR 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

eirbusinesstalent seeks a Senior Client-Side Design Manager in Athlone, Ireland for a 12-month contract to lead and coordinate a major OSD facility retrofit. The role involves managing a multi-disciplinary design team, ensuring GMP compliance, and delivering design packages from concept through handover.

The candidate should have 15+ years in pharma capital projects, strong leadership, and proven experience with EPCM interfaces to drive on-time, within-budget delivery.

Qualifications

• Degree in Engineering or related discipline and 15+ years' pharma capital design experience.
• Proven management of EPCM partners and client-side teams.
• GMP/regulatory knowledge and ability to align design with budget and schedule.

Responsibilities

• Lead client-side management of the design phase for a major OSD facility capital project.
• Coordinate architectural, process, mechanical, electrical, automation, civil, structural, and clean utility design activities.
• Manage external engineering consultants, EPCM partners, and specialist vendors.
• Lead procurement and tendering alongside EPCM partner, package owner, internal procurement team and construction manager up to point of award.
• Ensure project scope aligns with business case, manufacturing strategy, and operational requirements.
• Provide regular progress reporting and governance communications.

Skills

Pharma design leadership

Multidisciplinary teams

Project governance

Stakeholder management

GMP knowledge

Education

Engineering degree

Job description

Senior Client-Side Design Manager

Location: Athlone, Ireland
Role Type: Contract
Duration: 12 months initially with intent to extend – long-term portfolio

Overview

• Our client is undertaking a major expansion program to support the retrofit of a brownfield site to produce oral medicines. This role is part of the expansion team and will support the delivery of capacity expansion projects on site – specifically leading and coordinating our design & team activities.
• Acting as the Owner’s Representative of a major retrofit of an OSD pharmaceutical facility, the role is responsible for managing multidisciplinary design consultants, ensuring alignment with business objectives, GMP compliance, operational requirements, schedule, budget, and project governance standards. The role is also responsible for bringing packages from design
• Lead and coordinate the client-side management of procurement and tendering activities for project work packages, ensuring efficient progression from design completion through tendering, evaluation, and contract award. Act as the central interface between the EPCM partner, internal procurement team, legal, technical package owners, and construction management to drive alignment, timely decision-making, and successful delivery of procurement milestones.
• Candidates must have a minimum of 15 years’ experience in major pharma capital projects, proven management of EPCM partners, and experience in the management of a client-side team of multi-discipline package owners.
• The successful candidate will oversee all design-phase activities from concept through detailed design, construction, and handover, ensuring the facility is fit for purpose, compliant with global pharmaceutical regulations, and optimized for operational excellence, maintainability, safety, sustainability, and future flexibility.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead client-side management of the design phase for a major OSD facility capital project,
• Coordinate architectural, process, mechanical, electrical, automation, civil, structural, and clean utility design activities, including leadership and coordination of an internal team of work package owners, SMEs, and engineering.
• Manage external engineering consultants, EPCM partners, and specialist vendors.
• Lead procurement and tendering alongside EPCM partner, package owner, internal procurement team and construction manager up to point of award. Ensure timely progression of design packages from design completion through market engagement, tender issuance, bid evaluation, negotiation, and contract award.
• Ensure project scope aligns with business case, manufacturing strategy, and operational requirements.
• Responsible for design schedule and ensuring milestone delivery to support overall project schedules.
• Ensuring design aligns with capital budget and management of project costs during design phase.
• Support capital budget development and cost control activities.
• Monitor design progress against scope, budget, and timeline.
• Identify project risks and implement mitigation plans.
• Manage design change control processes and scope deviations.
• Drive integrated design reviews and technical decision-making across all disciplines.
• Establish and maintain project governance, reporting structures, and design controls.
• Monitor procurement schedules and maintain visibility of critical path tender activities across all packages.
• Manage interfaces between the design team, construction, CQV (Commissioning, Qualification & Validation), and operations to ensure critical schedules are met and designs are constructible, and collaborate on the development of project execution strategies.
• Facilitate design workshops with internal teams, vendors and EPCM partner.
• Align stakeholders on project priorities, decisions, and change impacts.
• Ensure integration between process equipment and facility infrastructure.
• Coordinate long-lead equipment requirements with procurement strategy.
• Provide regular progress reporting (schedule, budget, risks, quality, HSE) and stakeholder communications to the Senior Project Manager/Director and project governance forums.

Essential Requirements

• Degree qualification in Engineering or related discipline
• 15+ years' experience in design of pharma or life science projects

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of GMP-regulated environments and pharmaceutical engineering standards.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary design teams on large-scale capital projects.
• Knowledge of EPCM project delivery models.
• Demonstrated ability to manage interfaces with construction teams and CQV/validation teams.
• Experience planning and delivering complex programmes with multiple work packages and discipline leads.
• Strong risk management experience.
• Excellent stakeholder management and reporting skills; able to present to senior leadership and governance forums.
• Professional certifications (PMP, Prince2, NEBOSH, or equivalent) desirable.
• OSD Manufacturing facility design
• Brownfield projects

Key Competencies

• Leadership of client teams
• Strong problem solving and decision-making under programme pressure.
• Strong communication skills across various levels of the organisation

Candidates should hold appropriate RTWs for Ireland i.e. Stamp1G Dependant, Stamp 4, Irish/British/EU passport.

Candidates must be eligible to work full time and long term in the location specified or currently hold a valid appropriate long term work Visa to apply.

eirbusinesstalent, eir business and our clients are equal opportunity employers who seeks to recruit and appoint the best available person for a job regardless of marital / civil partnership status, sex (including pregnancy), age, religion, belief, race, nationality and ethnic or national origin, colour, sexual orientation or disability. eirbusiness talent, eirbusiness and our clients apply all relevant Data Protection laws when processing your Personal Data.