Senior M&E Design Manager
Senior M&E Design Manager
£120,000 – £140,000 + car allowance + bonus | Building Services | Commercial, Healthcare, Mission-Critical
We’re recruiting a Senior M&E Design Manager to take ownership of design delivery across a building services-led principal contractor. You’ll lead design management from bid and pre-con through detailed design, coordination, technical assurance and design handover support, ensuring each scheme is compliant, coordinated, buildable and commercially aligned. Working closely with clients, consultants, supply chain, preconstruction and delivery teams, you’ll shape design programmes, drive quality, manage risk, and help teams deliver right-first-time outcomes on complex projects.
What you’ll be delivering
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End-to-end MEP design management across multiple projects, ensuring design intent is delivered safely, compliantly and buildably.
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Strong briefs, feasibility studies, option appraisals and design strategies that align with programme and cost.
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Fully coordinated MEP designs from concept through technical design, driving clash-free solutions and clear design responsibilities.
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Effective management of consultant and specialist designer appointments — scope, deliverables, design responsibility, fees and programme.
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Proactive design risk identification with mitigation plans and clear compliance pathways.
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Value-led outcomes through value engineering, buildability reviews and whole-life thinking without compromising performance.
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Smooth technical support into delivery: RFIs, design queries, technical submittals, commissioning readiness and handover documentation.
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Clear stakeholder management with clients, PSDP/CDM interfaces (where relevant), delivery teams and the supply chain.
What you’ll run day to day
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Own the design programme and deliverables schedule across RIBA Stages 1–6.
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Chair and drive design workshops, coordination meetings and technical reviews.
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Manage design change control to protect cost, programme and compliance.
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Lead consultant performance: ensure outputs are on time, to spec, and properly coordinated.
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Coordinate specialist packages (e.g. power, cooling, BMS, life safety, containment) and manage interface risk.
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Ensure readiness for testing, commissioning, IST (where applicable) and handover, including O&Ms, as-builts and compliance evidence.
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Support bids and new work by contributing to design approach, methodology, risk registers and technical narratives.
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Mentor design engineers/managers and support team development.
What you’ll need strong knowledge in
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MEP design and delivery across commercial, healthcare and mission-critical projects.
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UK standards including Building Regulations, CIBSE, relevant British Standards, HTMs, SFG20, and water hygiene.
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Design management best practice through RIBA stages, including multi-discipline coordination.
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Procurement and engagement of MEP consultants, commissioning/IST partners, and specialist subcontractors.
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Risk management, value engineering, and lifecycle/whole-life costing principles.
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Design-side understanding of testing, commissioning, IST and handover requirements for complex systems.
What you’ll need proven experience in
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Senior MEP design role (e.g. Senior Design Manager / Lead Design Manager / Design Lead / Design Delivery Manager) within a contractor, consultant or developer environment.
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Leading multi-disciplinary design teams and managing multiple concurrent design packages and stakeholders.
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Writing and managing scopes, deliverables, programme and fees with consultants and specialist partners.
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Strong coordination capability with delivery teams — translating design into buildable, sequenced installation.
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Commercial awareness: understanding how design choices impact cost, programme, risk and delivery outcomes.
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Confident communicator who can influence senior stakeholders and drive accountability through the design chain.
Interested? Send your CV in confidence and we’ll walk you through the role, team structure and progression in detail