AI Construction Optimisation Lead
Location: UK (Dartford, Manchester, Birmingham, Worksop – other locations considered)
Company: Akordi, a Laing O'Rourke company
Step into a role where your curiosity, creativity, and technical insight can shape how the UK delivers its most ambitious infrastructure projects. At Akordi, we're building a supportive, forward‑thinking team that blends digital innovation with hands‑on construction understanding — and we're looking for someone who enjoys bringing people together around better ways of working.
If you're passionate about helping teams plan smarter, build safer, and deliver with confidence, this could be the ideal next step in your journey.
About Akordi
Akordi provides digitally‑enabled decision intelligence services for major infrastructure programmes across transport, energy, utilities and complex capital projects. As we continue to grow, we're nurturing a culture grounded in collaboration, creativity, inclusion and continuous learning.
We believe diverse experiences lead to stronger outcomes — and we welcome people who bring fresh perspectives, alternative pathways, or non‑traditional career routes.
What You'll Do
In this role, you'll help project teams see possibilities they may not have imagined yet. Your work will support earlier, clearer and more confident decisions by:
Using 4D simulation and digital tools to explore construction options, uncover efficiencies, and highlight opportunities to simplify delivery.
Interrogating BIM models to understand buildability, identify constraints, and open up smarter sequencing and methodology choices.
Guiding conversations with clients and delivery teams, helping them navigate complex challenges with calm, clarity and confidence.
Turning detailed technical insight into accessible visuals, narratives and recommendations that resonate with people from all backgrounds.
Offering a balanced blend of curiosity, engineering judgement and practical thinking to test assumptions and support better outcomes.
Contributing to a small, high‑performing team that shares ideas openly, values every voice, and works together to improve how we deliver major projects.
Helping shape Akordi's evolving approach, frameworks and best‑practice standards as our services continue to grow.
What You Bring
We're interested in people with construction, engineering, design or digital delivery experience, but we're open to where that experience comes from.
You may have worked as a Construction Manager, Project Engineer, Architect, Design Manager, Planner — or followed a different but equally relevant path.
What Matters Most Is That You
Understand how projects come together on the ground and enjoy improving how things are built.
Are comfortable exploring digital tools such as 4D simulation or BIM model interrogation — or excited to grow these skills with our support.
Can translate technical detail into simple, engaging messages.
Feel confident leading discussions, workshops or presentations with a range of stakeholders.
Are thoughtful, organised and able to navigate competing priorities with care.
Enjoy working collaboratively and building trusted relationships.
Appreciate the value of design for manufacture, early constructability thinking and practical optimisation.
Bring a mindset that is inclusive, open, and hungry to learn.
If you're not sure you meet every point, we'd still love to hear from you — many of our most successful team members came to Akordi from unexpected routes.
About Us
Laing O'Rourke are an international engineering and construction company delivering state-of-the-art infrastructure and buildings projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia.
Certainty, reliability, quality – this is what our clients want. And at Laing O'Rourke, we have more than 150 years of experience delivering it. Laing O'Rourke's story is one of energy, passion, ambition, people and teamwork. We harness the power of our experience, stretching back over a century and a half to deliver certainty for our clients.
As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we would like to enable access to candidates with long term conditions and disabilities through the 'Offer an interview scheme'. This supports applicants that meet the essential criteria by offering an interview for the advertised position. Please let us know if you would like to opt in to this scheme and let us know if you require any adjustments for the interview process.
We want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible to all. If you need the application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please email