Design Manager – Rail

Salary: 65000
Location: Stratford
Regions: Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, London, Oxfordshire, South East, South West, Surrey

Our client are currently recruiting a Design Manager to lead a multi-disciplinary technical team providing safe, practical and economic designs for our CP6 Anglia Framework to a high standard of professional competence and in compliance with Company procedures.

They have been awarded the single contractor multi-disciplinary CP6 framework to maintain and renew the Anglia route for Network Rail. This is a significant step forward in meeting their ten year plan and will help build scale, fuel and resilience.

The Anglia route is the second busiest in the UK and covers 1,700 miles of track from London Liverpool Street to Norfolk. It takes 63.6 million passenger journeys a year. There are 3,177 services a day through 320 stations. The framework award is one of the most substantial of Network Rail’s CP6 contracts following the Office of Rail and Road’s final determination for £35bn of funding for rail maintenance and renewals.

This framework will include complex and challenging works covering all Renewals for the route, including Bridge Replacements/Refurbishments/Strengthening; Earthworks; Overhead Electrified Lines; Power Upgrades and Station Enhancements.

As the Design Manager you will be responsible for delivering high quality designs (GRIP stages 1-8) in accordance with the budget and programme.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of design packages and the interfaces with external or in house design teams with project values ranging from £0.5m to £30m +
• Managing a team of Assistant Designs Managers and Design Coordinators

• Represent the design department when necessary at internal and external meetings and, in the absence of the Lead Designer, to be the focal point of contact within the department
• Liaise with other departments and project teams within the Company with respect to design requirements
• Undertake site visits when appropriate
• Allocate design tasks to individuals within informal internal teams whilst maintaining responsibility for the team’s overall performance
• Ensure that the work in the department is carried out in accordance with Company procedures and that a high level of professionalism is maintained
• Ensure that chargeable work is identified and evaluated including the preparation of adequate records of time spent

• Ensure feedback on design work is collated and saved in accordance with procedures
• Carry out staff appraisals when required and identify appropriate development activities
• Manage the preparation of GRIP stage 1-4 design (concept through to single option approved in principle)
• Manage the preparation of GRIP stage 5-8 design (detailed design, construction phase design support, and project close out)
• Work collaboratively with the wider engineering team, in particular the CRE’s (Contractor’s Responsible Engineer’s) and CEM (Contractor’s Engineering Manager) to ensure all designs are produced in accordance with company procedures and Network Rail standard NR/L2/INI/02009
• Monitor and control cost and programme for the design phases

Skills and Experience

• Experienced in managing designs within the railway environment and able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of Network Rail’s standards and processes
• Management skills and confident when dealing with staff, clients, figures, design issues and programmes
• Computer literate with a good working knowledge of Microsoft packages, including Microsoft Project