Associate Technical Director in Manchester

Associate Technical Director in Manchester

Manchester Full-Time No working from home possible
CONDUCTR

Lead the technical delivery of world-class entertainment and immersive experience projects, from cruise ship venues and attractions to complex integrated show systems. This is a hands-on technical leadership role for someone who thrives on solving engineering challenges and bringing ambitious experiences to life.

About us:

CONDUCTR is a dynamic collective of designers, technologists, media experts, producers & engineers. The vision is simple - fuse the creativity of a design studio, with the innovation of a tech lab, to create a one-stop shop for extraordinary guest-centric, 360 attraction experiences.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Delivery Leadership

  • Take ownership of the technical delivery of assigned projects throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Act as the primary day-to-day technical lead for assigned projects, coordinating technical activities across internal teams and external stakeholders.
  • Lead the development and integration of AVL, networking, media distribution, control systems, and associated technical infrastructure.
  • Ensure technical solutions align with creative intent, operational requirements, project budgets, programme constraints, and long-term maintainability objectives.
  • Identify, manage, and resolve technical risks throughout design and delivery phases.
  • Escalate significant technical, commercial, or programme risks to the Head of Show Systems & Engineering where appropriate.

Systems Design & Integration

  • Develop, review, and coordinate system architectures, equipment schedules, network topologies, signal flow documentation, and technical design packages.
  • Coordinate interfaces between show systems, facility systems, operational technology, specialist vendor packages, and third-party installations.
  • Support design reviews, technical workshops, and interdisciplinary coordination activities.
  • Ensure designs remain practical, maintainable, and appropriate for their operational environment, whether within cruise ships, themed attractions, museums, heritage sites, or other visitor-facing environments.
  • Support technical decision-making throughout project development and delivery.
  • Review engineering deliverables produced by internal teams, consultants, and suppliers to ensure technical consistency and quality.

Technical Governance & Cross-Discipline Coordination

  • Act as the technical representative within multidisciplinary project teams, ensuring technical considerations are appropriately integrated throughout project development and delivery.
  • Work closely with Creative, Software, Art & Media, R&D, Production, PMO, Commercial, Operations, and external stakeholders to ensure technical decisions support project objectives and remain deliverable.
  • Participate in project design reviews and governance activities, challenging proposals where necessary to ensure alignment with engineering standards, operational requirements, technical strategy, and project constraints.
  • Review technical solutions, system architectures, and engineering deliverables to ensure consistency with CDTR's standards, preferred methodologies, and long-term engineering direction.
  • Support technical decision making across project teams by providing clear assessment of technical feasibility, integration impacts, maintainability considerations, and delivery risks.
  • Ensure technical decisions appropriately balance creative intent, guest experience, operational requirements, maintainability, programme, and budget considerations.
  • Identify potential technical, operational, maintainability, and integration risks early and support the development of appropriate mitigation strategies.
  • Support the maintenance and continuous improvement of departmental engineering standards, design practices, documentation quality, and technical workflows.

Cruise Ship & Marine Project Delivery

  • Lead technical coordination activities on assigned cruise ship and marine entertainment projects.
  • Coordinate technical interfaces with cruise line stakeholders, shipyards, interior fit out contractors, marine consultants, integrators, and specialist vendors.
  • Ensure technical designs account for the operational, environmental, installation, and maintainability requirements associated with marine environments.
  • Support vessel refurbishment programmes, new-build projects, and entertainment venue upgrades through design, integration, commissioning, and handover phases.

Commissioning & Delivery Support

  • Support installation planning, testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and technical handover activities.
  • Develop and coordinate commissioning plans, testing procedures, and acceptance criteria where required.
  • Support issue resolution during integration and commissioning phases.
  • Participate in key project milestones, factory acceptance activities, site testing, and handover processes.

Project & Stakeholder Support

  • Support Producers and Project Managers on assigned projects through technical planning, scope coordination, interface management, risk identification, programme support, and delivery planning.
  • Participate in client meetings, design reviews, workshops, and technical presentations.
  • Support technical reviews of supplier proposals, subcontractor deliverables, and engineering submissions.
  • Provide technical input during bids, feasibility studies, and project planning activities.

Team Development & Continuous Improvement

  • Mentor junior engineers and support their technical development.
  • Promote engineering best practice and high-quality technical documentation.
  • Contribute to engineering standards, templates, workflows, and best practices.
  • Support knowledge sharing and continuous improvement across the Show Systems & Engineering team.

You Should Have:

  • Significant experience delivering complex AVL, show systems, systems integration, immersive experience, themed entertainment, or related technical projects.
  • Strong understanding of AV systems, IT networking, media distribution, and control system architectures.
  • Experience leading technical coordination across multidisciplinary project teams.
  • Experience producing and reviewing technical design documentation and engineering deliverables.
  • Experience supporting installation, testing, commissioning, and technical handover activities.
  • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple technical interfaces across complex projects.
  • Ability to evaluate technical proposals, challenge assumptions, and support informed project decision-making.
  • Willingness to travel internationally as required.

It would be great if you have:

  • Experience delivering technical design or systems integration projects within the cruise ship or marine sector.
  • Experience working with shipyards, cruise operators, marine consultants, or vessel refurbishment programmes.
  • Experience within themed entertainment, attractions, museums, heritage environments, visitor experiences, or location-based entertainment.
  • Familiarity with show control systems and integrated experience technology environments.
  • Understanding of technical delivery processes across design, integration, commissioning, and operational handover phases.
  • Understanding of RIBA Plan of Work principles, stage-gated design development, and multidisciplinary design coordination processes.
  • Experience working within consultancy, design-led, or multidisciplinary project environments where technical packages are developed through defined design and delivery stages.

Personal Attributes:

  • Strong systems thinking mindset.
  • Pragmatic and delivery focused.
  • Comfortable coordinating multiple stakeholders and technical disciplines.
  • Confident communicator capable of engaging with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Able to challenge constructively and influence decision-making across multidisciplinary teams.
  • Strong judgement when balancing creative ambition, technical feasibility, operational requirements, and delivery constraints.
  • Collaborative and solutions oriented.
  • Able to balance technical detail with project-level priorities.
  • Calm and effective under pressure.
  • Motivated to grow into broader technical leadership responsibilities over time.

What it's like working at CONDUCTR

CONDUCTR is proud to be recognised as a Great Place to Work®, officially certified for our outstanding workplace culture and employee satisfaction. We’ve also been named on the UK’s Best Workplaces™ 2026 list, recognised as a top 50 company to work for in the UK. We’re also honoured to be placed on UK’s Best Workplaces™ lists for: Wellbeing , Development , Women, and Tech, ranking highly among the top 100 companies for employee support, growth and career development - and we’re just getting started!

On top of that, we’re one of the UK’s fastest growing companies - recently ranked 5th nationwide - creating exciting opportunities for our team to grow as fast as the business.

Our 5 core values articulate this best, and we are looking for people who can demonstrate them:

  • We go above and #beyond
  • We work as a #team & make it fun
  • We creatively #kick-ass
  • We #do it efficiently, on time & on budget
  • We deliver work that makes us #proud

Does this sound like the job for you?

Apply via this post by sharing your LinkedIn profile & CV. If you sound like you are a good fit, we will reach out for an initial informal interview.

CONDUCTR

Contact Details:

CONDUCTR Recruitment Team