Design Manager – Multidisciplinary Buildings Lead in Manchester

Location/s: Bristol, Leeds, Plymouth, Cambridge, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, London; UK

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices. We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual.

The Buildings Unit (BLD) has a major presence in Mott MacDonald's regional offices throughout the UK and mainland Europe, providing a wide range of diverse and transferable cross-sector skills across five key sectors: Advisory, Built Environment, Energy, Transportation, and Water. We also provide local services to customers and technical leadership to the rest of the Group in these sectors.

Overview of the role

The Design Manager is responsible for leading and coordinating the design process on multidisciplinary buildings projects, ensuring that design solutions are fully integrated, buildable, and aligned to programme, cost, and quality requirements. Working closely with Project Managers and technical discipline leads, the role focuses on design leadership, coordination, and technical assurance, particularly within Design & Build and contractor-led delivery environments. This role suits individuals with strong design management experience who are comfortable managing complex interfaces between designers, contractors, and clients, and who want to play a key role in delivering high-quality buildings projects.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Design leadership & coordination
  • Lead and coordinate multidisciplinary design teams across all project stages
  • Develop and manage the design brief, ensuring clarity on scope, interfaces, and deliverables
  • Coordinate design outputs across internal teams, contractors, and external consultants
• Design planning & integration
  • Develop and manage the design programme, aligned with overall project delivery plans
  • Support the integration of design, procurement, and construction activities
  • Work with Project Managers to ensure alignment between design progression and project milestones
• Technical assurance & compliance
  • Oversee design reviews, technical assurance processes, and quality checks
  • Ensure designs comply with relevant standards, codes, and client requirements
  • Monitor design risks and manage technical issues throughout the lifecycle
• Stakeholder engagement
  • Act as the primary point of coordination for design-related matters
  • Engage effectively with clients, contractors, and stakeholders to resolve design challenges
  • Support clear communication of design intent and changes across the project team
• Risk, value & commercial alignment
  • Identify and manage design and technical risks, supporting mitigation strategies
  • Support alignment of design solutions with project cost, programme, and commercial objectives
  • Work collaboratively with commercial and delivery teams to ensure design outputs are deliverable within agreed budgets
  • Contribute to value engineering and optimisation of design solutions
• Leadership & collaboration
  • Support and mentor design teams, promoting a collaborative and high-performing environment
  • Contribute to bid and early-stage project development activities where required

Candidate specification

Essential:

• Degree (or equivalent) in Architecture, Engineering or a related discipline
• Experience in design management within the buildings or built environment sector
• Experience working in multidisciplinary teams and managing design interfaces
• Experience in Design & Build and/or contractor-led delivery environments
• Good understanding of design coordination and integration, technical assurance and compliance, and project risk management
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills

Desirable:

• Experience working on large or complex buildings projects across sectors (e.g. defence, health, aviation, education)
• Experience on secure or regulated projects
• Chartered status (or working towards) in a relevant discipline
• Understanding of UK design standards and statutory requirements
• Security clearance (or eligibility to obtain clearance for project-specific roles)

Please be advised that offers for this role are conditional upon obtaining the appropriate level of Security Clearance.

Agile working

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

• Financial wellbeing
  • We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
  • Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
  • Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
  • Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• Employee Ownership
  • Our employee ownership model means no external investors, just us, creating a culture of shared success.
  • Our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, giving them a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses.
  • As your career grows, so does your stake, recognising your long-term impact and contribution.
  • Your voice matters, with the opportunity to connect directly with senior leadership through formal channels to help shape our future.
  • For our senior roles you will have a direct pathway towards ownership from day one.
• Health and wellbeing
  • Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
  • Health cash plan to support you with everyday health costs and treatments.
  • Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
  • A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
  • Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.
• Lifestyle
  • A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
  • Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years' service.
  • Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.
  • Enhanced family and carers leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
  • Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
  • Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.
• Learning and development
  • Primary annual professional institution subscription.
  • A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.
• Networks, communities, and social outcomes
  • Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
  • Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.