Design Delivery Manager Multi Utilities - warrington in England

About the role

Balfour Beatty are currently recruiting a Design Delivery Manager to join the Multi Utilities team within their Power T&D business. The role will be based in Warrington (hybrid working). The Design Delivery Manager will lead and manage the Water and Wastewater Design Delivery Teams, acting as the discipline specialist while also providing leadership across the wider Multi Utilities Design Team as required. The role is accountable for overseeing the end‑to‑end delivery of utility design for schemes — from early opportunity identification through to completion of construction. They will drive business development and work‑winning activity across the Multi Utilities portfolio, including supporting the growth of cabling and other utility disciplines. A key responsibility is ensuring that all engineering design outputs are of high quality, efficient, compliant, and delivered on time and to budget. The role includes the management and development of Design Engineers, ensuring clarity of scope and enabling teams to deliver robust, coordinated designs that meet project and client requirements. The Design Delivery Manager will build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring proactive engagement, clear communication, and effective management of expectations. A champion for innovation, the role will support initiatives that reduce construction‑stage activity and drive continuous improvement.

Balfour Beatty welcomes applications from both full‑time and part‑time candidates, including those interested in job‑sharing arrangements. Additionally, the company offers a flexible working policy to support a healthy work‑life balance.

What you’ll be doing

• Customer engagement and support with work winning and project delivery.
• Setting and managing the budget for designated schemes.
• Ensuring that the scope of works to be undertaken in delivering schemes is clear and understood and that due consideration is given to Safety by Design, including identification, documentation and the mitigation, as far as reasonably practical, of risk in both the construction and operation and maintenance phases.
• Take responsibility for the management of cost of design delivery for the schemes.
• Working with the Resource Manager and the Professional Excellence Manager, ensuring that the design delivery teams are suitably skilled and experienced to deliver design.
• Ensuring that the Design team are communicating efficiently, including the Operations team, third parties, client and each other during the design delivery.
• Working with the Professional Excellence Managers, ensure that the design for the proposed construction is of suitable quality, constructible and cost efficient. Also considers environmental and sustainability impacts and that mitigation measures are included, where possible and appropriate.
• Encourage design innovation and value engineering during the design process.
• Supporting the Professional Excellence Managers in preparation and review of the Processes and Procedures used to manage the Design and ensuring that these are followed by the design teams during the scheme development.
• Ensuring all work is undertaken by the design team is in line with Client’s and Balfour Beatty Processes, Procedures/Specifications.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess the impact of any one project Engineering / Design requirement on other concurrent projects and support allocation of resources as necessary to achieve optimum performance and negotiate the release of these resources.
• Act as the senior focal point for all Water and Wastewater design and engineering activities, while also providing leadership and oversight across other Multi Utility disciplines as required.
• Lead engagement on identified design works and tenders, representing the Multi Utilities Design Team and ensuring technical excellence, coordinated submissions, and effective bid strategy input.
• Develop new business opportunities across the full Multi Utilities portfolio, leading from a water and wastewater specialist perspective but actively supporting work winning in other areas, including power, gas, and telecoms.
• Work collaboratively with business development teams to secure new contracts, framework renewals, and strategic growth opportunities for the Multi Utilities Engineering Design business.
• Provide expert guidance to internal and external stakeholders on multi‑discipline design requirements, promoting integrated solutions and ensuring alignment with client expectations.
• Support mobilisation phase for projects as required and ensure Engineering / Design accountability for project delivery.
• Maintain a watching brief over Engineering / design projects to ensure successful delivery.
• Monitor performance of in Design / Engineering projects against budget to help maintain forecast profit margins and aid the reporting back on a regular basis.
• Liaise with other Specialist Services colleagues to leverage efficiencies, cost savings and maximise margin improvement opportunities.
• Define Engineering / Design project stages, the objectives and project costs associated with the gated lifecycle process help maintain and update the project plan as work progresses in order to provide a ‘Right First Time’ culture.

Who we’re looking for

• Significant experience of managing Engineering / Design contracts and operational delivery within a construction/ engineering environment.
• Significant experience within the project management construction / engineering sector at management level.
• Experience of business development and managing tender processes.
• Previous experience of resource planning, management and mobilisation.
• Experience of client and stakeholder management.
• Understand the Utilities market and analyse opportunities to make informed business decisions.
• Engineering qualification at degree level minimum or equivalent.
• Firm understanding of and belief to drive health & safety principles in line with Balfour Beatty’s Zero Harm philosophy.
• Sound operational knowledge of the way the Utilities industry operates.
• Experience of managing budgets on multiple projects at any one time.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities. As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life.

• Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
• 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata).
• Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave.
• Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more…

About us

Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission & Distribution teams work with regional, national and international electricity network owners and operators to provide technical engineering solutions across the full spectrum of the electricity grid, including overhead lines, cabling, substations and distribution networks. From scoping and feasibility, to design, construction and on‑going maintenance, our in‑house experts, flexible resources and industry‑leading innovations support customers in the development of some of the UK’s most ambitious power transmission and distribution projects.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background.

We are a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.

Disability Confident Employer

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long‑term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role.