Design Manager - Leeds
Location: Leeds (onsite, five days a week, with some travel to other UK offices/sites)
Contract: Full-time, Permanent
Are you an experienced leader with a passion for managing design delivery in the civil engineering or infrastructure sector? We're looking for a Design Manager to head up our Leeds Design Office, overseeing multidisciplinary teams and ensuring high-quality, safe, and efficient design solutions across a wide range of projects.
The Role
As Design Manager, you will take ownership of the Leeds Design Office, driving operational performance, managing resources, and ensuring design outputs are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest standards. You will work closely with internal teams, external consultants, and site teams to provide buildable, compliant and cost-effective solutions.
This is a leadership role focused on project management and design coordination - while a strong technical understanding is required, you won't need to be a practising designer.
➡️ Please note: this role is based onsite in Leeds five days per week, except when attending project meetings or travelling to sites.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead and manage the Leeds Design Office, overseeing resources, processes, and delivery.
* Coordinate internal teams and external consultants to deliver integrated solutions.
* Establish and maintain robust design management procedures and programmes.
* Ensure compliance with standards, codes, and regulations (including CDM 2015).
* Oversee design budgets, forecasts, and earned value, ensuring cost-effective delivery.
* Support bids with design strategy, programme input, and deliverables.
* Build and lead a high-performing design team, promoting collaboration, safety by design, and innovation.
* Champion digital engineering and the effective use of BIM and common data environments.
About You
Essential:
* Strong background in project or business management, ideally with design management experience in civil engineering, infrastructure, or contractor environments.
* Proven experience managing multidisciplinary teams and external suppliers.
* Technical literacy and confidence to interrogate and challenge design outputs.
* Excellent planning, organisational, and communication skills.
* Strong commercial awareness (budgets, forecasting, change control, NEC/contract knowledge).
* Working knowledge of CDM 2015 and design risk management.
* Experience with common data environments and document control systems (e.g., ProjectWise, Aconex, MS Project, Primavera).
Desirable:
* Degree/HNC/HND in Civil/Structural Engineering, Construction Management, or similar.
* Professional accreditation (ICE/IStructE/APM) or working towards.
* Experience in temporary works coordination and managing supply chain designers.
* Familiarity with BIM/digital engineering processes.
What's on Offer
* A leadership role in shaping and growing a design office.
* The opportunity to work on diverse, challenging, and high-profile civil engineering projects.
* A collaborative culture that values innovation, continuous improvement, and professional development
ersg are an equal opportunities employer; we are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all job applicants. We do not discriminate against applicants on the basis of age, sex, race, disability, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or religious background; all decisions are based on merit.