Design Manager - Office - Porto/Lisbon (Portugal)

CTS Group; Porto; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

CTS Group is seeking a Design Manager (Office) to lead end-to-end design delivery for data centre projects from our Porto/Lisbon offices. You will coordinate across Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Architectural teams and external consultants, ensuring buildable, compliant designs aligned with programme and construction priorities.

The role requires 7+ years in multidisciplinary design, strong BIM skills, and fluent English. Office-based with travel to sites as needed.

Qualifications

• 7+ years' experience managing multidisciplinary design delivery.
• Experience with data centres or mission-critical facilities.
• Knowledge of RJUE, câmara municipal licensing, and Eurocodes.
• Fluent English mandatory; Portuguese advantageous.
• Office-based role in Porto/Lisbon with site travel.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the project design programme across disciplines.
• Coordinate design activities across Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, and Architectural teams.
• Manage design consultants, scope, and deliverables to quality and cost targets.
• Maintain design deliverables register and information release schedule.
• Coordinate BIM and digital design to deliver clash-free packages.
• Support design reviews for compliance, constructability, and programme.

Skills

Multidisciplinary coordination

BIM / digital coordination

English fluency

Stakeholder management

Project prioritization

Education

Mechanical or Electrical Engineering degree

Civil/Structural Engineering or Architecture

Tools

Revit

Navisworks

BIM 360 / ACC

Job description

Role Title: Design Manager - Office

Company: CTS Group

Location: Porto / Lisbon, Portugal

Reports To: Design Director

Type: Full-Time, Office-Based (5 days per week)

About CTS Group

CTS Group is a fast-growing international design and build company specialising in data centre development across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). We combine engineering excellence, innovation, and digital transformation to deliver high-performance, sustainable, and future-ready data centre solutions.

With over 40 nationalities represented across our teams, CTS fosters a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance culture where innovation and technical precision drive every project. Beyond construction, CTS develops digital systems and standardised modular data centre units to meet the evolving needs of hyperscalers, colocation providers, and enterprise clients.

Our proven track record and strong partnerships have established CTS as a trusted industry leader delivering large-scale, complex data centre facilities with speed, efficiency, and excellence.

Role Overview

The Design Manager (Office) is responsible for the end-to-end management and coordination of design delivery for data centre projects or major project workstreams, working full-time from the CTS Porto / Lisbon office.

Working across engineering disciplines, specialist consultants, vendors and CTS's Execution teams, the role ensures that design solutions are technically coordinated, buildable, compliant with project and local regulatory requirements, and delivered in line with programme, procurement and construction priorities.

The Design Manager acts as a key interface between the client, Design & Engineering teams and the project delivery organisation, driving design from concept and detailed engineering through construction support, commissioning and handover, and working closely with the site-based Design Managers deployed on CTS projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the project design programme, aligning engineering deliverables with procurement, manufacturing and construction requirements.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary design activities across Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Structural, Architectural and specialist disciplines.
• Manage design consultants and specialist engineering partners, ensuring clear scope, deliverables, quality and performance.
• Maintain the design deliverables register and information release schedule.
• Coordinate BIM and digital design activities to ensure integrated, clash-free and construction-ready design packages.
• Drive design reviews focused on technical compliance, constructability, operability, programme and project requirements.
• Coordinate design interfaces with CTS Execution, Manufacturing, Procurement and other relevant teams.
• Act as the office-based escalation point for site-based Design Managers, resolving escalated RFIs and technical queries and approving design changes.
• Support value engineering and design optimisation while protecting technical performance, resilience and client requirements.
• Manage design risks, changes and technical interfaces, assessing potential programme and cost impacts.
• Support permitting, regulatory approvals and engagement with câmara municipal and national regulators.
• Manage consultant scope, design fees and associated commercial risks.
• Ensure CTS engineering standards, processes and lessons learned are consistently applied.

Required Skills and Experience

• Degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering strongly preferred; alternatively Civil/Structural Engineering, Architecture or another relevant technical discipline.
• 7+ years' relevant experience, including significant experience managing multidisciplinary design delivery.
• Demonstrable experience within data centres, mission-critical facilities or comparable technically complex infrastructure projects.
• Strong understanding of Mechanical and Electrical systems and their interfaces within mission-critical environments, including resilience topology and Uptime Institute Tier standards.
• Experience across the design lifecycle from concept through detailed design, construction support and commissioning.
• Experience within a Design & Engineering consultancy, EPC/design-build contractor or comparable project environment.
• Strong understanding of BIM/digital coordination and common data environments (Revit, Navisworks, BIM 360 / ACC).
• Knowledge of Portuguese and EU regulations, including the RJUE permitting regime, câmara municipal licensing, SCIE fire safety regulations and Eurocodes (Portuguese National Annexes).
• Ability to manage consultants, technical stakeholders and competing project priorities.
• Fluent English (mandatory); Portuguese advantageous.
• Must be available to work full-time from the CTS Porto / Lisbon office, with travel to project sites and other CTS offices as required.