Graduate Design Manager 2021

AECOM is built to deliver a better world. We design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets for governments, businesses and organizations in more than 150 countries. As a fully integrated firm, we connect knowledge and experience across our global network of experts to help clients solve their most complex challenges. From high-performance buildings and infrastructure, to resilient communities and environments, to stable and secure nations, our work is transformative, differentiated and vital. At AECOM we recognise that the management and coordination of the design of major, complex, multidisciplinary projects, presents a number of significant challenges.

About the Role

Our Design Management service, which is part of AECOM’s Asset Advisory business, is tailored specifically to meeting these challenges and enables the designers to focus on the design, whilst we establish and implement the systems and procedures that facilitate successful delivery. This includes ensuring that there is clear definition of scope, promoting good communication, driving coordination, monitoring design quality, actively managing the client and stakeholder approvals processes, monitoring progress and ultimately delivering reduced design risk, greater programme certainty and increased quality of service. You will be working alongside a Design Manager to provide support to AECOM Design Teams and external architects by providing assistance with the management of the design process in London, the UK and internationally.

Job Responsibilities

Managing Sub-consultants

• Prepare responsibility matrix to identify sub-consultant responsibility for each area of scope.
• Draft and distribute sub-consultant back-to-back contracts so that all scope is accounted for.
• Manage updates to sub-consultant contracts and prepare final documents.
• Prepare and update cash flow projections.
• Establish procedures for invoice submission for sub-consultants and monitor.
• Track and report on the progress of all sub-consultant invoices and prepare a monthly Financial Report.

Establish and Manage Design Procedures

• Establish and implement design procedures and protocols to be followed by the Design Team necessary for successful project delivery.
• Procedures shall be collated in a project handbook called ‘Design Team Procedures’. The Design Team Procedures document will include information such as organisation charts, Project Directory, communication routes etc. We propose that the document is issued to the Client team also.
• Management of any information exchange including monitoring of deliverables issued by sub-consultants to determine whether submittals are as per agreed scopes.
• Monitoring Design Schedule and Progress
• Produce an integrated design schedule following liaison with all Design Team members and including key milestones laid out by the Client. Internal milestones, co-ordination sequences and delivery dates will be shown.
• Monitor design progress and identify areas of risk/ concern that are approaching.
• Identification of design deliverables, who they will be prepared by and when they need to be delivered.

Documentation and Deliverables

• Prepare reports in the necessary format as required.
• Monitor and collate comments from the Client on design submission and manage responses from the Design Team.
• Track and monitor status of all comments affecting design stage and final close-out.
• Prepare and maintain drawing register.
• Manage project websites where necessary.
• Organising Project Meetings and the Decision Making Process
• Prepare and agree with the Architect a schedule for all project workshops and meetings, including a preliminary outline agenda, location etc.
• Prepare in advance a formal timetable and agenda for all project workshops and obtain all necessary input from the Design Team to ensure all key issues are addressed.
• Prepare and issue minutes of all major project workshops and meetings, circulate these minutes for comment before formal issue to the Client where applicable.
• Establish procedures and processes to assist in the briefing and information gathering process such as a Request for Information (RFI) system. Responsibilities and roles of decision making to be identified.
• The Graduate Design Manager will be mentored by a Design Manager and fully supported on a training and development programme.

The Quality Assurance/Quality Management System

• It is expected that the jobholder will contribute and participate positively in the Performance Review process, which underpins the firms approach to developing all staff. This will include taking ownership of agreed actions, including pursuing any training opportunities identified. Similarly, specific objectives will be agreed with the jobholder as part of the performance review process and they should assume responsibility for the delivery of these.

Requirements

Qualifications

•  Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (min 2.2 or equivalent) in Architecture or a relevant degree that that demonstrates an understanding of the design and construction process.

Skills

• Understanding of the design process
• Project and design programming skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Commercial awareness of projects

Training

Our Graduate Development Programme (GDP), along with our huge scope of projects across the globe, will challenge and inspire you to make a real difference to the world we live in. Our GDP forms a core part of our business strategy globally, designed to develop the best talent across numerous disciplines to lead our business into the future. We have over 750 graduates on our programmes across the UK & Ireland, from over 40 different disciplines, each and every one of them making a tangible difference to the environment we all live and work in.

We will provide you with all the tools and support you need to achieve your professional development ambitions, including Chartership with the relevant international professional institution – where we have graduates working towards over 30 professional institutions in the UK & Ireland. We will push you to achieve the highest standards and expect our graduates to pass their professional review first time. You will be assigned a mentor to support and guide your development, and undertake regular training modules throughout the programme. There will be on-the-job technical development and classroom training where required, and the opportunity to work on live client projects, with significant multidisciplinary exposure.