Pharma Design & Technical Oversight Lead (Owner-Side)

AtkinsRéalis; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

AtkinsRéalis seeks a Design Services & Technical Oversight Lead to join our Pharmaceutical Manufacturing practice in the United States. You will act as Owner's Representative technical authority, overseeing engineering and design across major capital programs, ensuring GMP alignment and rapid, safe startup.

You will collaborate with client stakeholders, EPC firms, and operations teams to validate solutions, identify risks, and drive constructability and commissioning strategies on a greenfield

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related technical discipline; advanced degree preferred.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license preferred.
• 20+ years of experience in engineering, design management, technical program leadership, EPC project delivery, or owner-side engineering oversight.

Responsibilities

• Manage and lead owner-side technical oversight activities across multiple projects and workstreams.
• Serve as the independent technical authority for design quality, governance, and engineering assurance.
• Review engineering deliverables to ensure GMP compliance and operational readiness.
• Facilitate multidisciplinary design reviews with engineering, operations, manufacturing, quality, validation, and commissioning teams.
• Evaluate design maturity and readiness for gates, funding, procurement, and construction.
• Provide independent assessments to improve operability, maintainability, reliability, safety and schedule performance.
• Review facility layouts, process flows, utilities, infrastructure, and interfaces.
• Lead GMP-focused design reviews to align with regulatory expectations and quality objectives.
• Identify technical risks, gaps, interface issues, and scope conflicts affecting cost, schedule, or startup milestones.
• Support evaluation of contractor proposals, value engineering, and scope changes.
• Coordinate alignment between client teams, EPC contractors, consultants, vendors, and operations.

Skills

Owner-side oversight

GMP knowledge

Engineering leadership

Regulatory compliance

Stakeholder management

EPC collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

PE license preferred

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

AtkinsRéalis seeks a Design Services & Technical Oversight Lead to join our Pharmaceutical Manufacturing practice in the United States. You will act as Owner's Representative technical authority, overseeing engineering and design across major capital programs, ensuring GMP alignment and rapid, safe startup.

You will collaborate with client stakeholders, EPC firms, and operations teams to validate solutions, identify risks, and drive constructability and commissioning strategies on a greenfield