Senior Design Manager

Senior Design Manager - Permanent - The Brentford Project (Hounslow)

Ballymore is an independently-minded property developer with a multi award-winning portfolio of some of Europe’s largest urban development projects.

As the scale and ambition of our work grows, we never forget the importance of working to the highest standards on every individual element of every development, creating places in which people, business, culture and society can thrive.

We’re powered by our people – it’s what makes Ballymore, Ballymore. This ethos is only possible because of our people, who work as one team to constantly and consistently deliver developments to which we are proud to put our name.

Key Responsibilities

• Project-wide design integrity and coordination
• Design risk management and mitigation
• Compliance with statutory and regulatory obligations
• Alignment of design with cost plan and construction programme
• Leadership and performance of the Design Management team

The SDM ensures that all design information is technically robust, commercially aligned, compliant and delivered in accordance with Ballymore quality standards.

Strategic Design Leadership

• Lead the overall design strategy from Stage 4 through to completion and handover.
• Maintain oversight of the project’s design risk profile and implement mitigation strategies.
• Ensure design intent, procurement strategy and construction methodology are fully aligned.
• Provide technical leadership to the wider project team.

Building Safety Act & Regulatory Governance

• Oversee preparation, coordination and quality assurance of Gateway 2 submissions prior to construction commencement.
• Ensure project readiness for Gateway 3 and occupation certification.
• Maintain overall compliance with the Building Safety Act 2022 and Building Regulations 2023.
• Lead and control formal change management procedures for safety-critical design changes.

Design Governance & Information Control

• Direct and manage the internal Design Management team.
• Allocate responsibilities across Base Build and Interiors scopes.
• Chair senior design coordination meetings and drive resolution of technical issues.
• Oversee preparation and collation of Golden Thread and handover documentation.

Commercial & Change Management

• Monitor design development against approved cost plan in close liaison with the Commercial Team.
• Manage consultant scopes of service and fee expenditure.
• Assess value engineering opportunities without compromising safety, compliance or quality.

Programme & Delivery Interface

• Align design deliverables with construction programme milestones.
• Identify potential programme risks arising from design development.
• Ensure readiness for Practical Completion and certification processes.

Leadership & Development

• Lead, mentor and develop Design Managers and Assistant Design Managers.
• Establish clear accountability and performance expectations within the team.
• Support enhancement of Ballymore design management systems and governance processes.

Skills, Experience & Qualifications

Education & Experience:

• 8–12+ years’ experience in residential or mixed-use development projects.
• Demonstrable experience leading multi-disciplinary consultant teams.
• Experience managing design risk and change on complex schemes.
• Strong understanding of procurement sequencing and construction delivery.
• Experience managing and developing design management teams.

Technical Knowledge

• Strong working knowledge of Building Regulations, NHBC Standards and associated legislation.
• Sound understanding of Building Safety Act 2022 and Gateway processes.
• Knowledge of fire strategy integration, structural compliance and energy strategy.
• Strong awareness of planning compliance and statutory approval processes.
• Understanding of Health & Safety legislation and design risk management duties.

Skills

• Strong leadership and team management capability.
• Clear and confident communication skills.
• Commercial awareness and cost sensitivity.
• Structured and methodical approach to governance and compliance.

Ballymore operates as an equal opportunities employer.