The role will lead on integrating digital design into the workflow across and between the UK and ROI-based engineering disciplines. This might include engineering design, project control or business support functions, including marketing. This role is an essential part of delivering the company’s inter-disciplinary approach to project delivery. Good communication skills, both verbal and written, are important, as is leading company-wide knowledge sharing, best practice, and R&D activities. In particular, this will include conceiving, planning and implementing initiatives to improve the team’s workflows, operation and quality-of-life. The role will report to the director in London and may from time to time involve supporting our offices in Birmingham, Chennai, Dubai, Dublin, Glasgow, Hong Kong, Reading, and Singapore.

Primary Responsibilities

Design Support

• Facilitate knowledge transfer and training sessions for other teams, fostering a culture of continuous learning.
• Provide technical support to project teams, helping them leverage computational design tools and methodologies effectively.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify complex design challenges that can be supported by computational solutions.
• Lead the exploration and implementation of cutting-edge computational design methodologies to enhance project efficiency and quality.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies to ensure the continuous improvement of our design processes.
• Offer specialized consulting services to clients seeking standalone computational design solutions.
• Develop bespoke design algorithms and tools to address specific client challenges.
• Lead others to produce graphical representations of design information for inclusion in reports.
• Take account of new materials, technologies and techniques in design/engineering solutions and implement their application on projects where appropriate.
• Develop design proposals in conjunction with architects, consultants and contractors to establish detailed requirements and potential solutions.
• Collaborate with other disciplines within the built environment.
• Participate in and lead design team meetings and workshops as appropriate.
• Maintain an understanding of relevant health and safety legislation, policies and procedures.
• Adhere to the company’s health and safety protocols.

Technical

• Identify and highlight digital design needs that require additional or specialist resources.
• Produce, and lead others in producing, accurate and high-quality work.
• Maintain a working knowledge of current industry standards where they apply to digital design specifically.
• Attend training courses to develop technical knowledge, as agreed.
• Identify and highlight digital design training needs of members across disciplines.
• Understand and apply the principles of sustainable design.
• Participate in design review sessions as part of the company’s QA procedures.

Organisation

• Provide leadership and support to other project managers within the team.
• Provide day-to-day contact for digital design support, effectively resolving issues as they arise.
• Develop work plans allocating and leading required resources for digital design delivery.
• Assist project managers with work plans for complex projects with regard to digital design.
• Work to agreed timescales and deadlines.
• Manage digital design finances within budgeted parameters, provide required reporting and propose remedial measures to any emerging issues.
• Provide effective feedback on progress, highlight potential issues and propose solutions to associate directors and directors to maintain progress and standards.
• Provide and implement proactive suggestions to improve team processes and tools.
• Proactively take ownership of areas of responsibility for digital design and lead initiatives in those areas.

Interpersonal

• Act as a mentor to support engineers with digital design, as required.
• Provide targeted support to engineers who are working towards chartership, as appropriate.
• Develop and maintain communication skills to listen and effectively respond to colleagues, clients, architects and other members of professional teams.
• Demonstrate personal and social skills and awareness of diversity and inclusion issues.
• Attend design meetings, as appropriate, and communicate the outcome of technical analysis.
• Develop and maintain effective relationships with others in the business to share knowledge and leverage resource and expertise.
• Maintain presentation skills of technical issues to groups.

Business Development/Marketing

• Apply consistent branding guidelines to documentation.
• Attend industry events and conferences as requested to represent the business.
• Undertake bid and proposal production – preparing fee proposals from inception to completion.
• Develop client relationships to promote future new work opportunities.
• Contribute to the development of innovative proposals and pitches, showcasing the value of computational design in addressing client needs.
• Take ownership of business development areas as identified in the team business development plan.
• Develop and maintain relationships with other disciplines within Meinhardt, in particular within multi-disciplinary projects.

Key Skills/Experience

Essential

• A proactive approach to work and self-organisation including prioritising own work loads.
• Good IT skills and a willingness to develop further knowledge of new digital technology.
• A good level of competence with written and verbal English.
• A collaborative approach with good interpersonal and communication skills.
• An ability to work in a team, under pressure.
• High level of time management ability by prioritising tasks and managing multiple submissions at a time whilst delivering a high quality of work to deadlines.
• An appreciation of the need for the application of consistent standards and metrics.
• Attention to detail in graphic design and layout.
• Relevant undergraduate degree to engineering plus minimum eight years’ experience in a related role.
• Awareness of ethics requirements of their role. Undertake training as required when provided by the company or clients.

Desirable

• A strong interest in engineering and the built environment.
• Previous experience in working in a consulting engineering practice.
• Chartered Engineer with a relevant institution.
• Previous experience of working with parametric modelling and associated software.

Role Evolution

This role represents the continuing professional development of a digital design engineer’s career. The development of the role holder is anticipated along the following lines. The company will provide support to the role holder.

Development

• Develop and grow a digital design team of around two to three people.
• Effectively delegate delivery of technical design, graphics and project management tasks to engineers and technicians as required. Manage sub-consultants where applicable.
• Develop and document digital design working practices, methods and procedures.
• Produce scopes and fees for fee proposals. Prepare proposals from company templates and from first principles.
• Review and negotiate appointment contracts with clients.
• Take responsibility for the financial management of the team’s activities, including setting budgets and invoicing.
• Provide oversight over multiple digital design projects, delegating tasks and managing work and deliverables.
• Build relationships with existing clients. Bring in new project work through existing relationships.

Support

• External training is identified during professional reviews. Training may refer to technical or interpersonal skills.
• A mentor who will provide technical support and professional development over time including working towards chartered membership of a relevant institution.

Company benefits include

• Annual Leave of 20 days plus bank holidays.
• Three days of additional holiday at Christmas. This is non-contractual, the dates are set by the company and these three days are not counted in your annual leave allowance within your contract.
• Employers pension contribution.
• Life Assurance and Payment Protection Cover.
• Group Income Protection scheme, including access to Legal & General health and wellbeing services.
• Flexible working hours.
• Bupa Health Insurance.
• Four company socials per year.
• Chartership support.
• Professional membership cost covered (one per year at this level, two per year once associate level).

Interested? Please send your CV and portfolio to: careers(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)meinhardt.co.uk