Project Design Lead

Closing Date

2026-08-16

Job Title: Project Design Lead

Location: Hybrid working between Falmer (approximately 2 days pw) and home.

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: Our standard week is 37 hours Mon-Fri but we welcome applications from those seeking flexible working arrangements too.

Salary: Up to circa £65,000, commensurate to experience, qualifications and skills.

About the role

We’re looking for a Project Design Lead to join Southern Water, playing a key role in the technical assurance and delivery of engineering design across a broad portfolio of infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects.

This is not a purely hands-on design role. While you’ll bring strong technical engineering judgement, the real focus is on assuring a high volume of designs, providing authoritative input, challenging solutions, and making sure the right technical decisions are made at the right time. You’ll work across project, programme, operational, supply chain and engineering teams to ensure designs are robust, safe, sustainable, affordable and fit for purpose.

You’ll lead and coordinate design activity from early needs identification and optioneering through to outline design, detailed design, construction and commissioning. A key part of the role will be making sure that the lowest whole-life cost solution is selected, without compromising on safety, quality, environmental outcomes or long-term operational performance.

This is a great opportunity for an experienced engineering professional who enjoys working in complex, regulated environments and wants to influence the delivery of major water and wastewater investment programmes at scale.

What you’ll be responsible for:

• Providing authoritative technical input across the identification of needs, optioneering, design, construction and commissioning stages
• Assuring the quality of design deliverables across multiple projects, ensuring designs are technically robust, compliant and fit for purpose
• Leading in-house outline design and optioneering activity to support the selection of lowest whole-life cost, best-value solutions
• Managing and coordinating multi-disciplinary design teams, including Southern Water colleagues, suppliers and delivery partners
• Ensuring designs comply with Southern Water technical standards, health and safety requirements, environmental expectations and relevant regulations, including CDM
• Holding yourself and others to account for strong health, safety and environmental behaviours throughout the design process
• Driving consistency, rigour and efficiency across design delivery, including the use of standardisation, digital design concepts and best practice
• Managing design scope, cost, quality, resources and change control across your projects
• Preparing design plans, design cost estimates and monthly cost forecasts, working closely with Project Managers and Programme Design Managers
• Working with Asset Strategy & Planning, Operations and delivery teams to develop practical solutions for emerging needs, operational incidents and business planning activity
• Providing early warning of design risks, blockers, cost pressures or programme delays, and working with senior stakeholders to resolve them
• Supporting continuous improvement by challenging existing standards and ways of working where better, safer or more efficient solutions are possible
• Coaching and mentoring junior colleagues, helping create an environment where people feel able to challenge, innovate and learn
• Ensuring customer, regulatory and environmental expectations are properly reflected in design decisions and delivery outcomes

What you’ll bring to the role:

Essential

• Strong experience in an engineering design, design management or technical assurance role within a complex project delivery environment
• Experience supporting or assuring design across infrastructure and/or non-infrastructure projects, ideally within the water, wastewater, utilities or wider regulated sector
• Strong technical engineering judgement, with the ability to review, challenge and assure designs rather than simply produce them
• Experience coordinating multi-disciplinary design teams, including internal teams, suppliers, contractors and delivery partners
• Good understanding of project delivery, contract management, design governance and change control
• Strong awareness of health and safety standards, environmental requirements and CDM regulations
• Ability to assess technical options and support decisions based on safety, whole-life cost, deliverability, sustainability and operational performance
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to explain technical ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Good financial and commercial awareness, including the ability to monitor design costs, support budget decisions and understand value-based delivery
• Confidence working with ambiguity, balancing competing priorities and making timely, well-reasoned decisions
• A collaborative approach, with the ability to work effectively across project, programme, operations, asset strategy, supply chain and senior stakeholder groups
• MEng, BEng, BSc, HND or HNC in an Engineering, Environmental or numerate science-related subject
• Membership of an appropriate professional institute, either Chartered or working towards Chartership

Desirable

• Experience working in the water or wastewater industry
• Knowledge of water and wastewater regulations, including requirements linked to the DWI, Environment Agency, WINEP, WRMP or DWMP
• Understanding of risk and value processes, procurement strategy and working with framework contractors
• Experience using or promoting standardisation and digital design approaches
• APM Project Professional Qualification
• Managing Successful Programmes practitioner certification
• NEC for Project Managers
• Knowledge of Southern Water systems and procedures for the management of cost and programme

About Southern Water

Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed.

You will be joining at a time of significant change, working alongside a highly skilled leadership team with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where senior professionals can make a meaningful impact, influence major strategic decisions, and drive long-term value creation.

Our mission is to protect and enhance life through water and we need passionate people to help us achieve it. If you’re inspired by our purpose and believe you can contribute, apply today. You don’t need to meet every criterion; what matters most is your drive to make a difference.

If this role isn’t quite what you’re looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at Southern Water, you can register your details here: Introduce Yourself (myworkdaysite.com- Introduce Yourself)

Our Commitment to Diversity

We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.

Additional information

In line with Southern Water’s security requirements, successful candidates will be required to provide evidence of their identity, eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record check (DBS) and verification of their employment and/or education history for the past three years.

Appointment to this role is subject to the successful completion of all pre‑employment checks, including security vetting.

Please note that if a candidate does not meet the required security standards or fails to pass the vetting process, Southern Water reserves the right to withdraw the offer of employment. Some positions may also require higher levels of security vetting, which may involve providing additional documentation.