Senior Design Consultant

QCIC; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 700,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

QCIC in Cape Town seeks a Senior Design Consultant to lead security strategy design for high-security commercial projects, including financial institutions and cash centres. You will head design input, manage projects, control scope, programme, and budget, and mentor junior staff within multidisciplinary teams.

This role requires strong communication, client presentation, and ability to generate technical and financial proposals, while aligning with standards and legislation.

Qualifications

• Formal design qualifications in security are desirable.
• Experience developing security strategy and detailed designs across core physical security systems.
• Experience working on commercial developments, ideally including financial institutions and cash centres.
• Awareness of hostile vehicle mitigation design and its integration with security strategy.

Responsibilities

• Provide security strategy design services to clients on projects.
• Lead security design input on commercial developments for high-security occupier environments.
• Act as project manager, ensuring scope, programme, quality and budget are controlled.
• Take ownership of project commercial performance, including budget management and variances.
• Lead and manage junior staff and project teams with mentoring and performance support.
• Coordinate with architects, MEP, fire, and specialist consultants in multidisciplinary teams.
• Communicate with clients, lead meetings, present design proposals and represent the business.
• Prepare technical and financial proposals for new work where necessary.
• Develop security concepts from preliminary design to detailed design.
• Set up and manage administrative systems, plan resourcing and monitor expenditure.
• Keep senior management informed of decisions and align with client/company objectives.
• Represent the company at client meetings and with suppliers.
• Ensure practices and policies adhere to legislation, standards and codes of practice.
• Convene site progress meetings, record minutes and decisions.
• Carry out site inspections and progress checks, record observations and contractor performance.
• Produce accurate estimates of costs arising from contract instructions.
• Monitor expenditure against job cost allocations and budget.

Skills

Security design

Project management

Client communication

Budget management

Team leadership

Site inspections

Technical reporting

Education

Formalised Security design qualification

Job description

Senior Design Consultant

Location: Cape Town, SA

Salary: Competitive

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time

What You Will Do

• Provide a professional security strategy design service to clients on projects.
• Lead security design input on commercial developments, with particular focus on financial institutions, cash centres, and other high-security occupier environments.
• Act as project manager for assigned projects, ensuring scope, programme, quality and budget are controlled throughput delivery.
• Take ownership of project commercial performance, including budget management, forecasting, actuals tracking, and identifying variances early.
• Lead and manage junior staff and project teams directly, including delegation, review, mentoring, and performance support where required.
• Work independently and collaboratively within multidisciplinary design teams, coordinating with architects, MEP, fire, and specialist consultants.
• Communicate directly with clients, lead meetings, present design proposals and represent the business in technical and commercial discussions.
• Prepare technical and financial proposals for new work where necessary.
• Develop concept and preliminary security strategies through to detailed design.
• Set up and manage job/project administrative systems, including planning and monitoring job resourcing/expenditure (adjusting these as necessary).
• Ensure the senior management team are kept informed of important and relevant service/design decisions and the objectives of the client and the company are achieved.
• Represent the Company at meetings with the client, other professionals and suppliers.
• Continually ensuring that practices, policies, strategy and services represent the client’s and the Company’s best interests and that Company policy is in keeping with current legislation, Standards and Codes of Practice etc.
• Check the scope of professional services agreed with the client for continued presence of the design team members as members of the project team.
• Convene and chair site progress meetings or attend progress meetings chaired by the contractor. Keep accurate minutes of meetings, and record discussions, progress statements and decisions.
• Carry out site inspections and progress checks, recording observations and tracking contractor performance.
• Produce accurate estimates of costs arising from contract administrator’s instructions, including variations.
• Check expenditure against the job cost allocation for all design stages and monitor fee income against budget.

Business Development

• Support business development through contributions to bids, capability statements, project case studies, and targeted marketing material.
• Maintain an up-to-date CV and project experience profile for use in submissions and client engagement.
• Contribute thought leadership content and sector-facing articles where relevant.
• Support networking and client relationship development where requested by senior management.

Commercial

• Prepare fee proposals, terms and conditions for approval.
• Define delivery methodology for new projects, including programme, resource assumptions, and commercial risks.
• Manage project finances on a monthly basis.

What We Are Looking For

• Formalised Security design qualification is desirable.
• Experience developing security strategy and detailed designs across core physical security systems in the commercial sector.
• Experience working on commercial developments, ideally including financial institutions and cash centre projects.
• Awareness of hostile vehicle mitigation design and how it integrates with wider physical security strategy.
• Experienced in design risk management methodology.
• Experience producing clear technical reports, design notes, and client facing documentation.
• Previous experience in a security consultancy.
• Ability to identify and meet project deadlines and deliverables to support other disciplines.
• Demonstrable commercial awareness, including ownership of project budgets, tracking budget vs actuals, and supporting fee control.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills are a must.