Senior Design Standards Manager - Central Government in London

Role: Senior Design Standards Manager

Contract Length: 12 months

Location: London - flexible working arrangements and travel to other sites around London as the role requires

IR35: Inside

Pay Rate to Intermediary: £550 per day

Security Clearance: SC requested

Responsibilities of the Senior Design Standards Manager

• Working as an individual within a team – Engage positively with all corporate and staff initiatives, the appraisal staff system and exhibit exemplary behaviours at all times.
• Take responsibility for self-development and work with line managers to identify learning opportunities, both internal and external, to develop personal and professional skills, and knowledge.
• Design standards (drafting) – Research, draft, develop and publish design standard documentation including the standards, guides, room data sheets, technical elements (and responses to stakeholder engagement) for approval through the formal governance process.
• The postholder will need to articulate complex concepts, technical information and explain risks and issues (to underpin the decision-making processes) in a concise, engaging and convincing written and verbal style.
• Design Standards Group – Act as the Deputy Chair of the Design Standards Group. Facilitate meeting governance, action tracking and take the lead in agreeing and presenting agenda items, record the meeting minutes and actions, issuing in good time; chair the Design Standards Group meetings as required.
• Project and Design Team liaison – take responsibility for responding to capital project and FM team queries, providing a formal interpretation of design standards in projects, involving the relevant subject matter expert as necessary, recording all such requests and the formal response for governance purposes.
• Quality control – undertake critical reviews of all standards proposals and drafts including editing them where necessary (this is not a hands-off role) to improve their readability, quality and focus, etc. Present drafts for approval and establish and maintain an approvals log and version control details on all documentation.
• Sharing knowledge – Extend contacts to like-minded organisations and bodies such as the wider Police family, the Civil Service and representative bodies, engaging in dialogue with them to establish the likely appetite for sharing standards development and best practice.
• Format – review and propose a new compact format for standards that will provide focussed information sets, reflect branding, are searchable, and clause driven with greater use of illustrations and imagery.
• Standards outcomes – undertake site visits unilaterally, and at the request of project leads and stakeholders, to review and record and act upon the lessons learned from the application of the standards in practice.
• Derogations – provide a central reference and recording point for the derogation process as they relate to the application of standards. Record trends for potential future adaptations to the standards and seek to include ideas for future revisions, as discussed with subject matter experts and stakeholders.
• Performance management - identify, plan, prioritise and report on progress within the standards workstream, accounting for the needs of the business, of projects, programmes and competing priorities. Also, develop a rolling 12-month programme for delivery of new and revised standards.
• Standards briefings - Chair and facilitate stakeholder workshops during the mobilisation of new supply chain contracts and frameworks and ahead of major project design stages.
• Developing and analysing - Develop and draft business cases, briefing papers, cost-benefit analyses and option appraisals relating to standards, for example to make the case for external funding and support for the development of standards with significant technical complexity, or due to work volumes.
• Digitisation and standards platform – To develop an in-house (or externally-provided) digital platform to facilitate the effective sharing of finalised standards to improve accessibility, auditability and the stakeholder experience. This will require collaboration with Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT), external research, peer comparisons with other security-focused organisations and consideration of procurement options.
• Tracking of issued standards – Develop, consult on and implement processes and policies to enable the tracking of the issue and updating of standards, ensuring that only current standards are available to stakeholders, with any new versions and amendments being brought to their prompt attention.
• Design Standards technical library – develop, seek funding approval, implement and manage a digital library for PSD to hold the original sources of information on which design standards and related policies and processes are based, for example British Standards, Loss Preventions Standards (LPS), HSE, RIBA, and ICE.
• Standards alignment and research – Through research, maintain awareness of developments which may influence standards and align them with external standards where this is beneficial (or a requirement).
• Accountability - Reporting and accountable to the Assistant Director, Security and Standards, an integral part of the PSD Estate Security and Standards team and a key part of the wider PSD team supporting FM, RED, HQ building managers; PSD colleagues and Appointed Persons (where building managers are not provided).
• Engagement and relationship management – Lead on developing and maintaining effective long-term relationships with stakeholders and subject matter experts. This will include groups which have bespoke standards supporting their environment, such as the Firearms Command and Mounted Branch, as well as policy and technology groups such as Human Resources and DDaT.
• Engagement with the two major change programmes (P10 Central Estates and P11 Transformation) requires very regular interaction with specific focus on managing timelines and conflicting priorities, outside of PSD.
• Contribute to presentations for supply chain leads.
• Management – There are currently no direct line management responsibilities but matrix management of specialists, consultants and other experts will be required to deliver the objectives of the role.
• Building and Facilities Management - Work closely and in partnership with Facilities Management and Building Management teams across the estate, ensuring that issues related to standards are addressed as part of the cycle of standards development and the general refinement of standards, responding urgently when required.

Skills/Experience of the Senior Design Standards Manager

• Technical knowledge of building components, systems and services.
• A formal built environment or design qualification such as a construction, engineering or other built environment HNC, HND or degree (or equivalent) or evidence that the qualification is being actively pursued.
• Highly effective written communication skills sufficient to develop and draft concise, clear technical standards and design documentation; reports; management papers and responses to internal and internal stakeholders.
• Highly effective oral communication skills with the ability to listen carefully to user needs, articulate and explain technical information to non-specialists, build relationships and create collaborative cross-disciplinary groups.
• Experience of effective stakeholder engagement and management, at all organisational levels.
• Experience of researching standards-related information, documentation, policies, initiatives and UK law.
• Excellent negotiation, influencing and inter-personal skills with the power to influence senior stakeholders.
• A good working knowledge of MS Office software (Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
• The ability to prioritise a varying and significant workload while working autonomously.
• Able to deliver high quality results to demanding deadlines, in a fast-paced environment.
• Able to analyse information and distil it to the minimum required to effectively brief experts and non-experts on design requirements.
• Knowledge of financial management, procurement, cost-benefit and value for money concepts and practice.
• Enthusiastic and energetic.
• Excellent communication and networking skills, particularly in writing (for drafting and policy).
• Focussed and professional.
• Highly organised, independent worker.
• Technically minded with excellent attention to detail.
• Reliable and diligent.
• Willing to actively share knowledge with others.
• Able to prioritise and be resilient in the face of competing demands.
• Prepared to see things through to completion.

We welcome all applications regardless of background, in line with our commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.