Senior design manager

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Job Description

PURPOSE

The Senior Design Manager role sits within the wider EMEA - Design, Engineering & Construction function and is responsible for project set-up and delivery control, technical coordination of consultant teams and implementation of both the company's Design Engineering Guidelines (DEG's) and standardised design for data centre projects within the UK, mainland Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The role requires a technical background, ideally from design consultancy, in any of the CSA and or MEPH disciplines with a level of construction management experience, hence adept at managing the production of complex deliverables against project expectations of: technical excellence; budget; milestone schedule objectives; and safe build techniques. Candidates will be expected to operate strategically and predominately under their own initiative and to think laterally and innovatively.

The DE&C Group's driver is to deliver a quality service and product to both our internal EMEA standards and customers expectations in line with project goals by working with the professional team applying DRT's systems, procedures and culture. Additionally, to support the Portfolio Management, Pre-con, Construction and Sales teams in the resolution of design related issues in a timely manner to avoid impact to either the construction programme or project budgets.

JOB MAGNITUDE

Latitude - internal stakeholder relationship management - the role sits within the wider EMEA DE&C group of Design Managers with a requirement for the candidate to regularly collaborate and coordinate with internal DRT organisational stakeholders, including but not limited to:

EMEA Managing Directors;

Portfolio Management Group;

Land Acquisitions Group;

Global DE&C representatives inclusive of the Group CTO;

Solutions Engineering Team;

Implementation Services Team;

Pre-construction, Construction & Construction Accounting teams;

DC Operations team;

Other internal support functions such as: Legal; HR; Finance; etc.

Latitude - external stakeholder relationship management - the candidate will also be required to interact with multiple external stakeholders ranging from Customers to Vendors, again including but not limited to:

Red Carpet Customers;

Local Government and Regional officials to facilitate the planning/building permit process;

Key plant and equipment Vendors inclusive of the latest innovations;

Key DRT Consultant organisations;

Tier 1 General Contractors (GC's) and Tier 2 sub-contractors;

Utility providers within each specific project location;

Other specialist suppliers/consultants as required.

Level of Impact - in conjunction with the Construction Manager, the Design Manager is jointly responsible for the tender, selection, appointment and management of design Consultants as well as the drafting and presentation of standard DRT gating deliverables such as project BTT's/PID's (budgets) and Level 1/2/3 schedules.

Budget - in conjunction with the Construction Manager, the candidate will collaborate with other Design, Construction, Portfolio Management and Project Management colleagues to determine the magnitude of project Consultancy fees and other required budgets for incorporation into the DRT Investment Committee funding process.

RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

Project Technical Coordination

The selection and management of AE consultants within ongoing projects;

Managing and collaborating with all internal and external stakeholders;

Collating and presentation of project Basis of Design (BoD), baseline project standards and other design requirements to the wider Project Team;

Ensuring design compliance to both DEG standards and DRT's EMEA design standard;

Review of the Basis of Design (BoD) and subsequent drawing/document issues;

Management of the design schedule in conjunction with the project PM to align with the construction Tender Event Schedule (TES) requirements;

Working with external Governance parties such as: Insurance; permitting; planning; fire; etc;

Coordination of page-turn reviews with subsequent input/incorporation of internal stakeholder comments;

Alignment of Project Teams input into the DRT gating process;

Alignment on scope demarcation (with the Construction team) between appointed parties within the different design stages to align with the procurement strategy;

To ensure that design deviations are consistency recorded, tracked and approved against BoD and baseline project standards;

To engage with the Project Management and Quantity Surveyor teams to ensure full visibility via the design change order process (DCOR) assessing impacting against the approved project budget (BTT);

Communicating ad hoc project technical details to internal stakeholders as required.

Project Cost & Schedule Control & Reporting

Creating the Project Information Document (PID);

Chairing the G0, G1 and other DRT gating calls;

Compilation of project monthly reports;

Monitoring the project budget including any cost implications of the design process;

Reviewing construction Requests for Information (RFI's) during the PCSA and construction phases;

Project technical submittals - ensure these are closed out by the Project Team in a timely manner, providing point of contact for escalation and/or clarification for the Project Team;

Co-managing the commissioning process and owning the Integrated Systems Test (IST);

Participating in the lessons learnt/continuous improvement process;

Communicating, championing and reporting on project milestone delivery and process requirements to align project teams to DRT standard process;

Manage the reporting of project information into DRT's Insurance process;

Summarising and reporting project metrics to ensure up-to-date and accurate corporate pipeline reporting.

ADDITIONAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

EMEA Standards Alignment, Evolution & Process

Assisting in the creation of an EMEA suite of building designs that align with DRT's Global standards;

Assist in the update of EMEA design engineering guides (DEGs) and hyperscale standardised design;

Manage and communicate cost/schedule benefit impact appraisal of power and cooling options, technical due diligence and decision-making process preceding any EMEA DEG/hyperscale (SSD) updates;

Management of standards, DEG/DER management and procurement input to include:

Overseeing the implementation of new design systems and tools e.g. REVIT / BIM / BIM 360;

Agree all standard project designs at key design milestones G0 to G2;

Lead cross functional project and standards design reviews to implement standardisation;

Ensure lessons learnt are factored into current and future standards and project designs;

Involvement with/support the Global R&D team to help evolve DRT standards;

Assist in the implementation of clear strategy for 'offsite manufacture/on-site assembly pre-fabrication';

If required, collate/record/action updates of EMEA DEGs/hyperscale (SSD) documentation and associated cost models based on:

Feedback from the Operations Team;

Gaps/inconsistencies etc. identified throughout project implementation;

Ongoing market developments in projects, new market requirements, etc.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE

A minimum of 3 to 10 years mission critical building delivery experience ideally in a multi-disciplinary design environment;

Data centre design experience is preferred or experience of highly serviced building designs;

Familiarity of gating processes/change control within an Owner Operator Development organisation;

An awareness of contractual responsibilities and internal/external interfaces;

Familiarity of multi-disciplinary subject matters within the Group to cover the key technical areas relevant to the data centre industry inclusive of all CSA and MEPH disciplines.

COMPETENCIES

Ability to clearly explain complex technical issues while driving solutions in a multi-stakeholder environment;

Confidence to defend design decisions taken to key senior internal and external stakeholders;

Experience of ensuring that the design process is followed inclusive of required change control;

An ability to succinctly and confidently communicate complex technical challenges at a range of levels of detail to a range of technical and non-technical audiences;

Able to interactively work proactively with the project team, contractors and other specialists;

Ability to navigate competing complex pressures to direct project teams, contractors and specialists with clear solution options mapped and impacts assessed against project risks, costs and schedule;

To bring a pragmatic yet structured approach to developing and appraising technical solutions;

An ability to recognise key points of complex technical topics outside of any single area of technical expertise;

Able to compare proposals against requirements/standards/presidents and interrogate pros and cons;

Able to persuade and negotiate disagreements between internal/external stakeholders to resolution;

An organised individual operating within a process orientated framework inclusive of process improvement;

Familiar with full project life-cycle from: planning; design; permitting; construction and commissioning to IST;

An ability to identify high priority issues within a high volume of communication based on an awareness of project pressures including: cost; risk; schedule; and quality;

To operate in a fast-paced and high-pressure environment providing the capacity and direction required to respond to current pressures/ongoing project developments;

A keen awareness of project programme financial status with associated potential project impact.

QUALIFICATIONS

Typically a Bachelor's degree in one of the CS/MEPH engineering disciplines or Architecture - equivalent experience in a related engineering, architecture or other discipline field will be considered;

Ideally Chartered in the relevant area or discipline expertise.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

EMEA Operations Technical Support:

If required, provide and/or coordinate technical support to DRT Operations - and in particular for diagnostics in the case of any major incident/outages;

Provide assistance with supplier/Vendor relationship management and the DRT OFCI VMI process;

If required, provide input as the business looks to continually innovate and improve process noting the ability to flex to suit ongoing initiatives and or other activities is important;

Likely areas of ad-hoc focus shall include, but not be limited to:

sustainability improvements;

design/construction standards;

design process improvements;

master planning support;

due diligence and pipeline activities;

ongoing industry body engagement.

Similarly provide support to HR and Finance in their dealings with the wider DE&C Group;

As required, provide and/or coordinate technical support for Sales Engineering when Customer requirements have the potential for significant engineering changes and or infrastructure impacts;

Provide and/or coordinate impact assessments/feasibility assessments of Customer solutions presented and provide assistance with technical information for ongoing costing/buildability purposes.

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