Senior Lighting Designer

Join Buro Happold’s lighting team and help shape exceptional, sustainable environments that leave a lasting impact. From cultural landmarks to complex urban spaces, you’ll lead projects that blend creativity, science, and storytelling—pushing the boundaries of what light can do. This is your chance to take ownership, influence design at every stage, and bring bold ideas to life in a collaborative, forward-thinking environment.

The Role

• Lead lighting design projects from early concept through to final delivery.
• Be a trusted voice for clients, representing Buro Happold with confidence in meetings, workshops, and reviews.
• Craft imaginative, elegant, and technically robust lighting solutions across interiors, exteriors, and daylight strategies.
• Turn ideas into compelling outputs, producing clear reports, beautiful visuals, and precise Revit-based documentation.
• Take charge of project delivery, coordination, site visits, and commissioning stages.
• Champion sustainable design considering energy, ecology, and dark skies in every decision.
• Support and inspire junior designers, helping shape the next generation of talent.
• Contribute to the growth, reputation, and creative culture of the lighting team.

Your skills and experience

• Degree or Master’s in Lighting, Architecture, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Significant experience delivering exceptional lighting design projects within an engineering consultancy or specialist lighting design studio.
• A strong design sensibility paired with solid technical expertise and confidence in specification.
• Fluent in industry tools such as Dialux Evo, Relux, Revit, Adobe Creative Suite, and 3D modelling software.
• Comfortable leading projects, managing client relationships, and guiding teams to successful outcomes.
• Experience managing project delivery, performance, and client relationships.
• Strong knowledge of relevant standards, regulations, and best practice.
• A genuine passion for sustainability and the wider impact of light on people, place, and planet.
• Curiosity about innovation, including the use of automation and smart tools to enhance workflows and design thinking.
• Experience with Rhino, Grasshopper, Ladybug, Honeybee, or similar environmental tools is a plus.
• Commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

Please note you will need to evidence this through submitting a professional portfolio to accompany your CV. We’d love to see how you think, not just what you’ve delivered. Please include a portfolio showcasing:

• Hand sketches and creative exploration.
• Photoshop renders or visual storytelling.
• Concept development and design thinking.
• Technical drawings (CAD/Revit).

What we offer you

• Hybrid working arrangements.
• Attractive salary and benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance and income protection.
• Holiday entitlement of 25 days per annum (exclusive of bank holidays) and flexible holiday arrangements.
• Generous company pension scheme.
• Flexible benefits including cycle scheme, dental insurance, optical cover, travel insurance, season ticket loans, and corporate discounts.
• Enhanced parenthood leave policies.
• 3pm finish on the last Friday of the month.
• A strong commitment to your continuous development with learning and development programme.
• Entitlement to two memberships to professional bodies or subscriptions.
• A commitment to your wellbeing through a comprehensive employee assistance programme and wellbeing activities.
• A supportive and inclusive environment that will welcome you through social and outreach activities from the Young Employees Forum to mentoring.
• An international culture that wherever your career takes you at Buro Happold, you won’t be far from the exceptional.