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Job Title: Senior Project Design Lead – Water

Location: Falmer (Brighton) (Hybrid)

Contract Type: Full Time, Perm

Salary: Up to £66,800 Depending on skills and experience

Job Overview

As a Senior Project Design Lead, you will be pivotal in managing the technical input for projects, coordinating and uniting contributions from multiple engineering disciplines, and leading a cross-functional team. Your responsibility will be to ensure that all aspects of the project are aligned, focusing on delivering the right technical solution that meets business objectives and project requirements.

You will act as a key liaison between various departments at Southern Water, including Operations, Environmental Enabling, and the Engineering and Construction teams, ensuring that all factors—such as operational impact, environmental considerations, and technical needs—are thoroughly considered in every design.

Responsibilities will include:

Key Responsibilities:

Safety & Environment

Ensure compliance with health, safety, environmental, and quality standards, including CDM regulations.

Develop and maintain health and safety strategies and risk assessments for projects.

Promote sustainable solutions and ensure the team follows health and safety practices.

Design & Technical Leadership

Lead design teams to deliver cost-effective, long-term solutions

Oversee design quality, cost, and timelines, ensuring adherence to Southern Water's technical standards.

Coordinate design resources, managing suppliers and contractors.

Drive design efficiency, focusing on standardisation and innovative approaches.

Innovation

Challenge existing practices and adopt industry best practices for continuous improvement.

Promote digital design concepts and collaborate with supply chain partners to improve efficiency.

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Financial & Commercial

Ensure the delivery of cost-effective solutions that meet project budgets.

Work with Project and Programme Managers to manage financial performance and provide design cost forecasts.

Influence stakeholders to ensure cost-effective design plans.

Programme Delivery

Ensure design programmes are realistic and monitor progress to meet deadlines.

Identify delays early and effectively manage project timelines.

Customer & Stakeholder Engagement

Ensure designs meet customer and regulatory expectations.

Represent Southern Water at conferences and events, promoting the company’s work through presentations and papers.

About You

* MEng/BEng/BSc or HND/HNC in Engineering, Environmental Science, or related field.

* Membership of an appropriate professional institute (Chartered or working towards).

* Knowledge of project management, H&S standards and Engineering within the Water Industry

* Project Management Experience

Package

This role will be full-time Monday to Friday 37 hours a week.

Southern Water operates a hybrid approach between our office and home.

We are offering a salary up to £66,800 per annum depending on skills and experience as well as other benefits including:

• Company and performance-related bonus

• Generous pension up to 11% company contribution

• 25 days annual leave

• Life assurance equal to 4x salary

• Salary sacrifice electric car scheme (after 6 months service)

• Health Cash Plan

• Full funded eye tests

• Two paid volunteering days a year

• Occupational health service

• Discounts with over 800 popular retailers

• Digital GP service

• Study support may be available for job-related qualifications

• Competitive maternity leave and flexible return to work options

• Cycle to work scheme

Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position