Design Manager – New build schools (DofE Framework)
About the company
A well-established, privately owned UK construction and development group with a strong reputation for delivering high-quality education projects, including primary, secondary, and further education facilities.
Operating through a regional structure, the business delivers both new-build and refurbishment schemes, with a strong focus on safe, efficient delivery in live school environments. Design is central to project success, requiring close coordination to ensure compliance, functionality, and minimal disruption to staff and students.
With a strong pipeline of repeat work and long-term client relationships, the company offers a stable and collaborative environment, valuing proactive design management, attention to detail, and a commitment to delivering high-quality learning spaces.
The role
As a Design Manager, you will be working on an £80M new build school project and be responsible for managing the design intent through detailed review, coordination, and leadership of the design process across the full project lifecycle. This includes ensuring compliance with the Building Safety Act, CDM Regulations, statutory approvals, and internal governance procedures.
You will work collaboratively with clients, consultants, specialist subcontractors, and internal teams to ensure design quality, programme certainty, and buildability, while embedding health and safety and digital innovation throughout. You will play a key role in ensuring information flows effectively between all project stakeholders, contributing to the delivery of well-coordinated, high-quality outcomes.
The successful candidate will demonstrate exceptional leadership, a robust understanding of delivering in a main contracting environment, and the ability to work collaboratively with key project stakeholders. A relentless focus on safe delivery, programme certainty, stakeholder engagement, and quality assurance is essential.
40 hours per week over 5 days.
Duties and responsibilities
* Fulfil the role of BRPD under the Building Safety Act to coordinate designs and designers corporately and individually where appointed ‘Designated Individual’ BRPD
* Ensure designs are compliant with Building regulations and all relevant standards, including recording and reviewing change management.
* Effective review of compliance and design information from any previous BRPD
* Accurately assign and record design responsibilities for each project including CDP
* Manage design development and change control during pre-construction and construction.
* Sign off compliance statements relating to design for the project Completion Certificate
* Record evidence of competence and design compliance from individual designers Review interfaces / dependency between designs
* Manage change control during construction to ensure ongoing compliance.
* Ensure critical information for construction is included in construction issue drawings and inspection and test plans
* Apply the ERIC principles to design risks to health and safety.
* Ensure designs are ‘buildable’ with health and safety risks assessed and control measures identified.
* Ensure health and safety risks are evaluated for ‘in service’ and maintenance activities.
* Travel to head office in Derby once or twice per week.
You will be site based and report to the Senior Design Manager
Software used:
Design responsibility matrix + information relief schedules + master information delivery plan (midp) + master information release schedule (mirs)
Ideal candidate
Our client is seeking an individual with experience in new build schools who is familiar with the DofE framework
Salary, benefits/package
Up to £64,000
£6,000 car allowance
Paid travel expenses to derby office
Overnight stays covered when/if necessary
Salary description
£58000.00 - £64000.00 per year