Lead Design Manager – New Hospital Programme (NHP)

Lead Design Manager – New Hospital Programme (NHP)

Shape the Future of UK Healthcare Infrastructure

We are proud to have been selected to be part of the UK Government’s £37bn New Hospital Programme (NHP) a landmark initiative delivering40 new hospitals across England by 2040.

The London & Home Counties region are seeking a Lead Design Manager to ensure design delivery for our allocated £250m project withMilton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with whom we have a long-standing relationship delivering successful projects.

This is a rare opportunity to take a Design leadership role on a project within one of the most significant public sector programmes in the UK.

The successful candidate will be part of a growing team of people who are passionate about what they do and enjoy the challenge and pace of working in a dynamic environment. No day will be the same and we challenge each other to deliver what’s right for The Trust and the NHP alliance.

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to take the next step in your career in the role of a ‘Lead Design Manager’, sitting between the Senior Design Manager role and Head of Design role, where you will lead a team of design managers allocated to the MKUH project, working within a collaborative alliance model alongside the NHS.

You will report to the Head of Design, and be responsible for driving design excellence, innovation, and coordination across all stages of delivery.

Building strong relationships with all project stakeholders within the Trust’s team, ensuring the design meets their requirements as well of those mandated by the NHP Alliance standards, HTM’s, HBN’s and all other relevant healthcare design standards.

There is a strong emphasis on industrialisation and MMC within the new framework, and experience of providing design advice of these forms of construction would be beneficial.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Leading design strategy and delivery across a major healthcare project
• Managing multidisciplinary design teams from receipt of RIBA Stage 3 through to project completion
• Acting as a key design interface with the NHS Trust, stakeholders, and alliance partners
• Driving collaboration within the NHP alliance to deliver shared outcomes
• Ensuring compliance with the relevant healthcare standards, regulations, NHP Technical standards, and the Building Safety Act
• Integrating design programmes with wider project delivery timelines
• Supporting innovation, modern methods of construction, and sustainable design solutions, and industrialisation
• Managing design risk, change control, and value engineering
• Ensuring the design passes through the relevant design gateways of the Building Safety Act for a ‘Higher Risk Building’.

About You

You may be an experienced Senior Design Manager or already in a similar role looking for your next career step leading a larger team of design managers and have a proven track record of delivering large, complex construction projects, ideally within the healthcare sector.

You’ll bring:

• Proven experience leading design on major projects or programmes
• Experience of line managing other design managers to ensure best performance.
• Experience of healthcare technical design standards (such as HTM’s and HBN’s).
• Ideally knowledge of delivery of ‘Higher Risk Building’ design compliance in line with the Building Safety Act
• Strong stakeholder management skills in complex, multi-partner environments
• A collaborative mindset suited to alliance working
• Commercial awareness and the ability to balance cost, quality, and programme
• A relevant qualification (Degree/HNC/HND) and professional membership (RIBA, CIOB or equivalent)
• A passion for delivering high-quality, coordinated design.

Why join the project?

• This is an opportunity for our people to be part of a once-in-a-generation national programme
• Play a key role in delivering critical healthcare infrastructure
• Work within a collaborative, forward-thinking alliance model
• Access opportunities for long-term career growth across a major programme

Apply Now

If you’re ready to take on a high-impact leadership role and help shape the future of healthcare in the UK, we’d love to hear from you.