Education Design Management Lead
Building a sustainable tomorrow
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BAM UK&I are recruiting a Design Management Lead to join our National Education Sector. Reporting to the Regional Director you will support our regional education teams and framework team. You will oversee the design management discipline supported by our digital team. You will be part of a national team tasked with overseeing design delivery across multiple projects within a framework agreement, ensuring compliance with client requirements, design standards, and governance processes. This role bridges strategic design leadership and operational coordination, driving consistency, innovation, and efficiency across all design outputs.
Making Possible
• Demonstrate design management leadership qualities in a team environment and ability to manage the design processes in construction frameworks.
• Work with BAM’s digital team to champion our digital platform solution to transform the quality, time and cost of the educational sector with a main focus on DFE schools delivered by BAM UK&I.. Take a leading role in how we share and host the platform information both with our teams and with our consultants (our Yellow Book)
• Embrace and promote the use of DFMA and MMC to support the design and delivery of BAM’s schools kit of parts/standardised approach.
• Develop and maintain design management plans aligned with framework objectives.
• Support the development and introduction of a Framework/Design Panel for the procurement of our design partners. Develop relationships with our partners and promote the use of them across our regional business units. Take the lead on agreeing T&Cs and fee levels, as well as undertaking ongoing performance reviews. Drive repeatability through the Framework/Design Panel to ensure consistency and a standard approach across our projects. Be clear about what we expect back from our Framework/Panel members.
• Implement design assurance processes and quality checks across the framework.
• Skilled in risk management, contract derogations, adding value, and continuous improvement
• Identifying opportunities to improve the design by considering how to improve safety, incorporate buildability, improve quality, reduce defects, and provide best value compliant solutions. Capture these opportunities in the ongoing development of our PITT and ITT responses.
• Working with regional project teams to support early engagement and pre-construction activities. Have the experience to lead the development of a design from RIBA 2, Support them to develop Contractor's Proposals whilst ensuring that designs are compliant in line with the DFE output requirements, BAM’s standardised response to the requirements meeting all strategic objectives and broader contract requirements.
• Support the digital team to embed the BAM Platform (kit of parts/standardised approach to digital groups and families) to ensure compliance with the latest design standards, ISO 19650 and DFE’s DEIR’s. Support the development of a standard performance specification and carbon strategy in line with the framework and BAM’s requirements.
• Drive innovation and continuous improvement into the standardised design solutions. Act as the guardian for our platform approach, ensuring that it is consistently adopted across the regions. For example developing the roadmap to meet the future embodied carbon targets, as well as responding to feedback and issues on site and in operation.
• Support the Project teams, to develop a consistent approach to the likes of design programmes and information deliverables such as DRM’s and MIDP etc ensuring they fully co-ordinated with the framework deliverables.
• Building Safety Act, Principle Designer for Building Regulations and CDM 2015. Support the regional teams to implement the BAM process and procedures across the regional business units.
• Support and mentor project design managers and multidisciplinary design teams.
• Support our regional teams Act as a design interface with client representatives, stakeholders, and delivery partners.
• Maintain a professional approach with clients and their professional teams, sub-contractors and suppliers.
Your team
To be based from any UK office on a hybrid basis.
What’s in it for you?
Competitive salary
A wide range of family friendly policies
8 % matched pension contributions
Private healthcare
Life assurance
26 days holiday
2 wellbeing days
1 volunteering day
Personal and professional development
What do you bring to the role?
• Someone with demonstrable experience of working on schools and with the DFE as a client.
• Strong leadership and management skills, with a “can-do” and collaborative approach.
• Ability to lead large, dispersed design teams and influence senior stakeholders.
• Enthusiastic team player, able to listen, understand, engage and motivate, and with confidence to make decisions when required.
• A desire to constantly learn, improve and share knowledge and experience.
• A thorough understanding of both the design and construction processes, and the interface between them.
• A good commercial understanding of contracts, procurement routes and risk management.
• Good collaborative planning skills.
• Thorough understanding of digital techniques, with a desire to drive improvements and benefits through embracing digital construction.
• Excellent communication skills, both at the personal level and more formal reporting level.
• Recognised degree qualification or equivalent and CIOB, RIBA or equivalent professional membership is preferable.
About BAM
Building a sustainable tomorrow. That’s our mission and our promise at BAM. It’s how we engineer vital infrastructure and construct high-quality buildings as one of the largest construction companies in Europe.
We strive to create an environment where everybody feels welcome and valued. We’re on an exciting journey to employ the best talent to join us regardless of social background, race, colour, religion, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability or other characteristics.
The application process
BAM is committed to ensuring a fully inclusive recruitment and onboarding process, so if at any time you feel you may need any reasonable adjustments, do not hesitate to speak with one of our team, and we will do our best to support you. "Join us in Making Possible"
For more information or an informal conversation about this opportunity, please contact Paul Howes, Recruitment Manager: paul.howes@bam.com
Closing date 24th January 2026
