Design Manager

Design Manager
We are working with a consultancy in the water space who is seeking a Design Manager to provide strategic technical leadership across major water infrastructure projects in Sydney. This role is ideal for a senior engineering professional with a strong background in multidisciplinary collaboration and a passion for delivering high-quality, constructible, and regulator-compliant design solutions.

Role Overview
The position will play a pivotal role in integrating design, procurement, and delivery functions—ensuring engineering outputs meet the highest technical standards while supporting broader project goals related to cost, schedule, constructability, and stakeholder engagement.
This is a key leadership opportunity within a Design & Construct (D&C) environment, offering the chance to influence the successful delivery of critical water infrastructure across Greater Sydney.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of integrated engineering solutions across civil, mechanical, structural, electrical, and process disciplines.
• Establish and uphold engineering governance frameworks to ensure compliance with regulatory, environmental, and safety standards.
• Promote technical excellence through peer reviews, design validation, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee the delivery of design outputs aligned with project schedules, procurement timelines, and critical milestones.
• Develop and manage design delivery plans, including resource allocation and review checkpoints.
• Serve as the technical liaison for clients (including major water authorities in Sydney), consultants, suppliers, and contractors.
• Translate client requirements into actionable design scopes and deliverables.
• Collaborate with suppliers to ensure alignment between design and manufacturing constraints.
• Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary engineering team, including internal staff and external consultants.
• Manage resource planning and recruitment in line with project pipelines.
• Foster a collaborative and accountable team culture.
• Ensure design solutions are practical, constructible, and tailored to site conditions.
• Support early procurement through design sequencing and long-lead item identification.
• Facilitate constructability reviews and engage with delivery teams to de-risk early phases.
• Identify and mitigate engineering risks across design and delivery interfaces.
• Ensure all design outputs meet relevant codes, standards, and authority approvals.
• Implement robust QA/QC processes and coordinate technical audits as needed.
• Maintain clear reporting on design progress, risks, and actions.
• Provide regular updates to senior leadership on technical issues and team performance.
• Drive continuous improvement through feedback and project closeout reviews.

Success Measures

• Timely delivery of compliant, constructible design packages.
• Minimal design-related rework or construction delays.
• Strong client satisfaction with technical leadership and outcomes.
• Effective team development and resource utilisation.
• Proactive risk management and issue resolution.
• Integration of sustainability, safety, and quality in all engineering outputs.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering
• Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)
• Extensive experience delivering complex water infrastructure projects for government authorities and principal contractors—ideally in the Sydney region.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams across the full project lifecycle.
• In-depth knowledge of Australian water and wastewater regulatory frameworks.
• Experience with collaborative D&C models (e.g. ECI, Alliance, IPD) is desirable.
• Proficiency with tools such as MS Project, Navisworks, BIM 360, and digital engineering platforms.

If this sounds like an opportunity that you are interested in pursuing. Apply below or send your resume and cover letter to blake.taylor@nesfircroft.com, alternatively call Blake Taylor on 0407 856 550 for a confidential discussion. Please not only successful candidates will be contacted.

With over 90 years' combined experience, NES Fircroft (NES) is proud to be the world's leading engineering staffing provider spanning the Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables, Chemicals, Construction & Infrastructure, Life Sciences, Mining and Manufacturing sectors worldwide. With more than 80 offices in 45 countries, we are able to provide our clients with the engineering and technical expertise they need, wherever and whenever it is needed. We offer contractors far more than a traditional recruitment service, supporting with everything from securing visas and work permits, to providing market-leading benefits packages and accommodation, ensuring they are safely and compliantly able to support our clients.