Development Manager in City of Westminster

Criterion Capital is a family-owned, entrepreneurial private property company. Due to expansion, the Architectural Department is seeking to recruit a Planning-focused Development Manager who will be a key part of the broader Architectural and Development team, supporting and leading planning and design processes across complex schemes, particularly within central London locations.

Job Purpose

To manage and lead the design and planning team’s activities from asset acquisition, concept development, and planning approval through to statutory compliance, ensuring programme and budget adherence with minimal supervision. The successful candidate will be coordinating and leading the Development Management process, taking schemes through complex planning applications, late design stages, and ultimately through to completion.

Role and Responsibilities

• Planning & Stakeholder Engagement
  • Lead complex planning applications within central London locations.
  • Oversee the planning process to secure permissions, working closely with planning consultants and statutory bodies.
  • Build and maintain effective relationships with local authorities, regulatory stakeholders, and industry partners.
  • Coordinate and lead the Development Management process through planning, detailed design, and delivery stages.
• Design & Development Management
  • Deliver design and statutory compliance approvals as per project-specific requirements.
  • Program and organise design activities to meet project timelines.
  • Arrange consultants' tender bids and manage their appointments within budget, monitoring performance and controlling fee expenditure against deliverables.
  • Organise Land/Planning handover meetings and validate the delivery phase brief, performing gap analyses to complete Employer Requirements (ER) and Brand Standards documents.
  • Lead and chair design team meetings, managing the design process through to planning approval and beyond.
  • Collaborate with hotel operations, construction teams, and consultants to develop and improve Criterion Capital's Employer Requirements and Brand Standards.
  • Monitor compliance with statutory and environmental obligations (Planning, S106, S278, Building Regulations, Insurance, CDM, BREEAM, Sustainability targets).
  • Ensure the design team produces a comprehensive ER (RIBA Stage 3 Report) in coordination with Client design and operations departments for construction phase handover.
  • Identify and manage design risks to ensure timely mitigation.
  • Perform value engineering and optimisation to enhance project value.
  • Ensure the design output addresses all project-specific challenges.
  • Support commercial and construction teams in achieving project goals.
  • Coordinate inputs from various departments to ensure efficient and coordinated design progression.
  • Conduct design validation, rationalisation, and package review meetings to assess alternative design proposals.
  • Manage the employer representative, change control, and sample approval processes.
  • Handle RFIs, NCRs, and technical submittals efficiently.
  • Adhere to the company’s Health & Safety, Quality, and Environmental policies and procedures.
  • Perform other duties as required by the line manager, in line with the role's level and scope.

Skills and Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading complex planning applications, ideally within central London boroughs.
• Preferably a background in planning consultancy or client-side property development.
• Proven experience in managing design and providing technical guidance for hospitality, residential, and commercial developments.
• Degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Planning, or related discipline.
• Strong knowledge of construction systems, RIBA Plan of Work, and statutory compliance requirements.
• Strong expertise in UK planning processes, development management, and stakeholder engagement.
• Good people management, negotiation, communication, and presentation skills.
• Proactive, problem-solving, with a 'thinking outside the box' mindset.
• Commercially aware and experienced in managing consultant appointments.
• Familiarity with key design principles (M&E design, disability, fire, and acoustic requirements).
• Understanding of contract management, contract law, and procurement types.
• Proficient in IT tools: MS Office, AutoCAD, Revit, Asta, Procore.