Design manager

Design Manager

Location: Devonport, Plymouth, GB, PL1 4SG

Onsite or Hybrid

Your Role

Provides team management and leadership to deliver engineering activities to required technical scope and quality for low complexity engineering multi‑discipline projects or a single medium complexity engineering project. Ensures the application of engineering processes, resources, and tools in line with Babcock policy to achieve the project or program technical outcomes. May have allocation of a Technical Independent role for another project and/or product/service.

The role

As a Design Manager, you’ll be responsible for the technical delivery of design projects, acting as the Technical Authority throughout the project lifecycle. You will ensure that design solutions are developed, validated and delivered in line with safety, quality, time and cost requirements. Day-to-day, you’ll coordinate resources, maintain robust design processes, and support the delivery of complex solutions within a safety‑critical environment. Your work will directly contribute to vital defence programmes, giving you the opportunity to make a real difference while developing your leadership capability and technical expertise.

• Acting as the Technical Authority, ensuring designs are developed, verified and delivered across the project lifecycle
• Managing the technical delivery of design projects, ensuring alignment with safety, quality, time and cost requirements
• Coordinating resources to support effective and efficient design delivery
• Maintaining structured and compliant design processes, ensuring governance and regulatory standards are consistently met
• Supporting the delivery of complex, safety‑critical solutions through validation, planning, and stakeholder collaboration

This role is full time, 35 hours per week and is based on site at Devonport Royal Dockyard.

Essential experience

• Demonstrable experience managing technical delivery within design‑led projects
• Strong understanding of design processes, lifecycle management, and governance
• Experience working within regulated, safety‑critical environments such as defence, marine, nuclear, or aerospace
• Proven ability to lead teams and coordinate multi‑disciplinary resources
• Experience managing design assurance, risk, and compliance requirements

Qualifications

• Degree qualified in a relevant discipline or equivalent experience
• Chartered status (or working towards) with a recognised professional institution – desirable

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must be a sole UK National who is able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role. Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

What we offer

• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee share scheme
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
• Holiday trading – ability to buy additional leave or sell up to one working week of annual leave from their entitlement
• Be Kind Day – one working day's paid leave a year for volunteering with a chosen charity
• Excellent development opportunities and benefits package including an employee assistance programme supporting physical, mental and financial wellbeing

EEO Statement

We are a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email careers@babcockinternational.com with the subject header “Reasonable adjustments requirement”. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone’s free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working – please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.