Design Lead

UK Power Networks is looking for an experienced Design Lead to join our Capital Programme team in Crawley. Reporting to the Design Manager SPN, you will provide technical leadership across major connections, taking projects from the design brief and conceptual stage through technical completion, assurance of as-built records and delivery of the health and safety file.

This is a permanent role offering a salary of £99,127 and a 3% bonus.

You will lead a team of civil and electrical designers, CAD technicians and design coordinators, while managing external designers and specialists. Working alongside other Design Leads, Design Managers, the protection team and delivery colleagues, you will support the successful delivery of the Capital Programme, including APP and Major Connections. You will also engage with teams across UK Power Networks and external customers such as National Grid, Transport for London, Network Rail, connection customers and major developers, agreeing requirements, deliverables and timescales.

You will manage the day-to-day performance of the electrical and civil design team, ensuring designs comply with standards, achieve Design Freeze through review, meet CDM requirements and support the DNO investment delivery team. You will define design scope and deliverables with Project Managers, agree programmes and costs, and remain accountable for delivering designs to the required time, quality and cost while maintaining effective reporting and tracking.

You will prepare resource plans for the relevant Capital Programme workstream, decide whether work should be delivered internally or outsourced, allocate specialist resources across workstreams and act as the technical point of reference for senior managers and sub-programme managers. You will challenge designs to ensure mandated outputs are achieved efficiently, oversee design estimates and assurance, promote value engineering and innovation, and help outperform the regulatory settlement or agreed connection quotation.

You will set individual performance targets, conduct appraisals, manage day-to-day people matters and authorise leave, timesheets and expenses for internal staff, while overseeing external designers assigned to the team. You will prepare works information for Professional Services Contracts, manage design-related Early Warnings, Compensation Events and change control, provide as-built information and the health and safety file, contribute to technical project closure, and discharge or nominate the Principal Designer duties under CDM 2015.

You will have mainstream engineering construction experience, including electrical networks and design coordination, together with experience managing engineering teams in a large capital programme environment. A relevant technical degree, strong analytical and decision-making skills, a sound safety ethos and a practical understanding of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations are essential. You must be able to work independently, set and manage targets, identify innovative cost-saving solutions, develop quality assurance procedures and design standards, and ensure policies are followed.

If you are ready to lead a multidisciplinary design function, make confident technical and resourcing decisions, and deliver safe, compliant and cost-effective designs that support a strategically important capital programme, apply by 11 August 2026