Project Director/Design Manager

Project Director/Design Manager - ( 184009 )

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we work to weave diversity, equity, and inclusion into our work and foster a sense of belonging throughout the company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

About You

We are looking for someone who is a personable self-starter with the ability to project a positive 'can do' professional attitude at all times while maintaining good working relationships. Someone who enjoys working collaboratively across disciplines and can establish excellent working rapport within the team, business, and with clients, with the ability to work under pressure, handle a varied workload, and keep to tight deadlines whilst maintaining the highest level of technical excellence.

Primary Objective

To manage effectively large-scale multidisciplinary teams on mission-critical projects in the role of Project Director, carry out sales and business development activities actively to support business growth, and ensure projects are delivered technically correct and on time while maintaining the target profit level. Promote cross-selling amongst the disciplines and liaise with other Senior Directors.

Responsibilities

Project / Design Management As Design Manager, you will be responsible for the successful delivery of the project to agreed targets, e.g. programme, budget, and quality.

• Identifying and agreeing project objectives with the Project Director and developing a strategy for achieving these.
• Identifying, escalating, and managing any matters that could pose a potential contractual/commercial risk to the Project Director (PD) at the earliest opportunity.
• Leading the project team - building, motivating, maintaining, coaching, guiding, and developing the team; including providing regular feedback to all team members.
• Ensuring safety is prioritized throughout delivery.
• Facilitating communication, coordination, and information flow with the Client and within the project team, including any subcontractors and partners.
• Assembling and owning the project delivery programme and delivery plans.
• Closing out the project on completion, updating market information, ensuring that lessons learnt are captured and disseminated internally, and ensuring that a Client Satisfaction survey is initiated.

As a Design Manager, you will;

• Be responsible for providing a safe working culture within project teams and promoting safety.
• Be key in delivering our client's requirements.
• Deliver complex projects successfully within budget and on schedule.
• Foster a culture of knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.
• Be committed to supporting your team to ensure a high-quality service in delivery.
• Show leadership of your team of diverse individuals, actively encouraging new ways of thinking to provide an agile delivery environment.
• Understand your clients' requirements and the impact of your projects' success factors, then developing a schedule and delivery plan to ensure success.
• Provide a proactive risk identification and mitigation environment that allows for innovation and creative agile delivery.

Sales Management/Business Development

• Agree deliverables directly with the Client and any policy decisions.
• Lead design for new projects and coordinate all other disciplines and sub-consultants.
• Carry out after-sales and Client reviews.
• Develop new areas of activities for the Practice.
• Assist in Marketing and Corporate events.
• Assist other Directors in Sales & Marketing as required.
• Pursue sales leads generated by the Business Development Dept.

General Duties

• Facilitating and leading any discussions in Design Team Meetings (DTMs), taking clear and concise minutes and ensuring timely completion of actions by the design team.
• Ensuring project management processes are consistently improved and implemented, e.g. change control. Coordinating relevant disciplines through target-led workshops, enabling critical design issues to be resolved in a timely manner.
• Dealing with RFIs, early warnings, and general communications to reduce project risk and ensure a successful project delivery.
• Analysing, processing, and responding to design transmittals consisting of drawings, specifications, reports, and other project-related documents.
• Reviewing and evaluating quotations to ensure they align with the project's scope, budget, and client requirements.
• Managing changes and delays that have affected the project and ensuring these are resolved or mitigated accordingly.
• Keeping track of meeting discussions. Through making notes, ensuring accurate documentation of discussions, decisions, and actions for future reference.
• Updating the design delivery programme, resource, and instructions. Have a thorough understanding of project scope and design responsibility.
• Itemising scope of services, client briefing schedules, documentation, and regular assessment against industry standards to help ensure a better set of deliverables.
• Instigate efficiency, appropriate use of innovation, buildability whilst factoring the different design stages with the wider design team.
• Understanding of the design process, roles and responsibilities and be able to coordinate across all disciplines internal and external, ensuring quality and add overall value to the project.
• Multiple package delivery responsibility and team management, reporting to the Lead Design Delivery Manager.
• Ensure technical compliance and quality production of all deliverables.
• Record any changes of scope, which may affect fee basis and advise KAH.
• Post contract completion reviews with client.
• To ensure that all project design responsibilities are effectively undertaken.
• Structure training and succession of the teams to enhance performance and ensure future engineering expertise in Practice.
• Support the Management Team in running the Practice and assist in Quality Management Systems execution.
• Support the management of the practice taking on duties as agreed with the Managing / Office Principal and Project Directors.
• Review and sign off all direct reports' timecards and expenses.
• Authorise Holiday requests of direct reports.
• Maintain register and carry out technical audits on projects as required.
• Ensure Quality Management System ISO 9001 and 14001.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Degree in relevant design, engineering, or management discipline (such as project or construction management, architecture, science, building, or quantity surveying).
• Contract management experience and/or accreditations would be an advantage.
• Experience of working in major projects with proven Client-side project delivery (design or construction).
• Excellent presentation and communication skills.
• Extensive experience, especially in designing and managing large scale projects, minimum 10 years' experience within a design consultancy working on datacentre/mission critical/complex technology projects.
• Experience of monitoring third-party appointments would be desirable.
• Experience in the same or similar position is desired.
• Competency in MS Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint.
• The ability to project a positive and professional attitude at all times.
• Educational qualifications to a degree level, higher or equivalent.
• Incorporated Status in chosen discipline preferred and ongoing pursuit of Chartered status and business qualifications if not already achieved.
• Ability to develop and manage customer and stakeholder relationships, through effective listening and influencing skills.
• Naturally curious, solution-focused, and responsive to client problems.
• Experience of delivering value-plus/cross selling of services.
• Good knowledge and use of appropriate project and design analysis software.
• Personable and a 'can do' attitude with resource management experience.
• Able to establish rapport and good working relationships within the project team and Clients.
• Strong leadership and people management skills and experience.
• To be able to work as part of a team and collaboratively and cooperatively.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering
• 10 years related experience
• A minimum of 5 years project management experience
• Professional Engineer (PE) license
• MS Office and MS Project experience (Access experience would be a plus)
• Demonstrated leadership, business development, and strategic planning skills
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant in our employee-owned culture is a must.

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust, and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment

As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected, and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

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