Alderley Group is an award-winning and rapidly expanding UK development company specialising in the delivery of high-quality affordable housing, retirement living, and extra-care schemes. Our in-house construction team, Alderley Partnerships, is dedicated to the design, planning, and execution of innovative construction projects across England.
We are seeking an experienced and strategic Head of Design to lead our design function across the business. This is a senior leadership role responsible for driving design excellence, ensuring regulatory compliance, and overseeing the successful technical delivery of multiple residential developments.
About the Role
As Head of Design, you will take overall responsibility for the management and performance of the design team across all live and upcoming projects. You will lead the design strategy from land acquisition and pre-construction through to project completion, ensuring that developments are delivered efficiently, compliantly, and in alignment with programme and budget.
Working closely with the Commercial, Construction, Land, and Planning teams, you will provide strategic direction, technical leadership, and governance across all design disciplines. This role requires strong leadership capability, deep technical expertise, and the ability to manage multiple complex residential schemes simultaneously.
Key Responsibilities
* Leadership & Team Management: Lead, mentor, and develop the design management team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
* Design Strategy & Governance: Oversee the full design lifecycle across all projects, establishing clear processes, controls, and reporting structures to ensure consistency and compliance.
* Project Oversight: Provide senior-level oversight of design coordination across multiple developments, ensuring alignment with programme, budget, client requirements, and regulatory standards.
* Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management: Ensure full compliance with UK Building Regulations, planning conditions, structural warranty requirements, and statutory approvals. Proactively manage design-related risk.
* Stakeholder Engagement: Act as the senior design liaison with consultants, architects, engineers, local authorities, warranty providers, and funding partners.
* Value Engineering & Innovation: Drive innovation and value engineering initiatives, identifying opportunities to optimise buildability, cost efficiency, sustainability, and programme delivery.
* Budget & Resource Planning: Manage departmental resources effectively, supporting recruitment, workload allocation, and performance management.
What You’ll Need
* Experience: Minimum of 10 years’ experience within construction design management, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role overseeing residential developments.
* Technical Expertise: Strong understanding of UK Building Regulations, JCT Design & Build contracts, warranty provider requirements, and residential construction methodologies.
* Leadership Skills: Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and manage performance across multiple concurrent projects.
* Commercial Awareness: Strong understanding of cost control, value engineering, and programme management.
* Communication Skills: Excellent ability to communicate technical information clearly to internal and external stakeholders.
* Software Proficiency: Working knowledge of design platforms such as AutoCAD, Revit, and common document management systems.
Why Join Us?
* Company Pension – Benefit from our company pension scheme (Nest).
* Annual Leave – Enjoy 25 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays.
* Professional Growth – Access to ongoing training, leadership development, and career progression opportunities.
* Supportive Environment – Work within a collaborative and ambitious leadership team.
* Team Events & Days Out – Participate in regular team events and activities that strengthen our culture.
If you are an experienced design leader ready to shape and drive design excellence across a growing residential portfolio, we would love to hear from you.
We’re here to help, and your inquiries are important to us. Whether you have questions about our affordable housing developments, selling land or wish to explore partnership opportunities, please get in touch using our contact details or fill in the form.
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