Job Title:Head of Design and Engineering, England North

Job Description

Job title:Head of Design and Engineering, England North

Reference:SUS1761

Salary:Grade J

Hours:37.5 hours per week

Base:Manchester/Leeds/Newcastle

Note: this role will require the post-holder to travel and work at other locations as necessary to undertake projects on behalf of Sustrans.

Job purpose:

To perform the role of built environment expert for theNorth team, contributing to strategy and project development, including contributing towards bid writing.

To manage, plan and allocate the work of a team of urban designers, engineers and technicians, ensuring that their work achieves organisational quality standards and that they achieve their financial targets. To be part of a UK wide team able to direct resources, matching skills to contract delivery requirements.

Place in Organisational Structure:

The postholder reports to the England Director, North.

Key relationships:

Internal: England Director, North

PartnershipsManager

Head of Delivery, North
Head of Network, North

Head of Built Environment

Other Sustrans Engineering and Design teams

Health and Safety teams

External:Local authorities

Planning departments

Highways authorities

Regional partners engaged in design and construction of sustainable transport infrastructure.

Commissioners and funders

Community groups

Key responsibilities:

Leadership

To contribute to strategic direction of the North as a member of Sustrans’ Northmanagement team.
To support the development, implementation and tracking of annual work plans for the North.

Delivery of projects or services

To work with colleagues, clients and key partners to develop and deliver major walking, cycling and urban design projects in the North, including planning, design and project management of construction in urban areas.
To lead on providing the technical input to engineering and urban design projects and contracts in the North.
To oversee the delivery by the Engineering and Design team, of high quality design and engineering solutions that meet Sustrans’ standards and aspirations and fulfill client briefs.
To be a Sustrans-wide engineering and design resource, working on nationally and regionally significant projects, contributing expert advice across a wide range of urban projects and settings.

To ensure the team is maximizing itsutilisation rates, tracking progress via timesheets and minimizing over or under utilisations by effective forward planning.
To be responsible for adherence to the Project Management Framework

Business development

To work with the Partnership Manager to secure the inclusion of deliverable plans for sustainable active travel infrastructure in Strategic Economic Plans, Transport Plans, large scale development plans and urban design, cycling and walking strategies.
To liaise with local enterprise partnerships, councils, community groups, consultants and contractors to develop and secure opportunities for Sustrans to deliver improved cycling and walking infrastructure through consultation and funded projects.
To establish a reputation regionally and as part of a Sustrans wide team for innovative design and meeting and exceeding partner expectations.

To participate in bid writing for projects at the direction of own line manager.
To contribute toward the development of new ideas and innovative strategies for product development, marketing, branding, or business opportunities.

Communication and marketing:

To build a portfolio of engineering and design expertise that is used for internal communication and business development purposes.
To contribute towards raising the profile of Sustrans, by representing the charity at meetings, activities and events, as required.

People management

To lead the work of the Design and Engineering team for the North directing resources effectively and ensuring work is timetabled and delivered on time and on budget.
To manage, develop and coach the Design and Engineering team members by setting clear objectives and monitoring performance to maximise their potential.
To work with HR to ensure that training and development of staff is planned effectively and in line with business need.

Training and development

To represent the region on national engineering and design quality assurance and technical discussion groups and liaise with regional and national technical teams to share and adopt good practice and knowledge.
To develop the region’s capacity and expertise in technical and urban design, engineering and project management through team management, training and recruitment of specialist expertise, providing expert oversight of infrastructure work and support for the professional development of the team.
To lead training sessions for team and wider organisation on their own specialism.
To ensure own personal development by working to objectives set as part of the Charity’s appraisal process.
To attend essential Sustrans training as required by the Charity.
To encourage and support the mentoring of more junior members of the team to facilitate their career development.

Health & safety, safeguarding and equality, diversity & inclusion

To support and comply with the organisation’s policies for the management of Health & Safety.
To support and comply with the organisation’s policies for the management of safeguarding.
To oversee the management of Sustrans Health & Safety responsibilities for design and construction projects, including CDM requirements.
To support and comply with Sustrans policy and procedures relating to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and apply principles of best practice in own role.

Networks

This role may have additional responsibilities as a member of a network of colleagues working on Sustrans-wide oversight of network development.

Other

Any other duties consistent with the nature and grade of the role as agreed with the line manager.

Working conditions:

The postholderwill live close to the nominated office base although there may be opportunities to work from home at times.Overnight stays away from home may be necessary when participating in projects away from their designated base.Occasional weekend and late working may be required with time off in lieu.The postholder must be prepared to walk, cycle or use public transport for the majority of work journeys.

Special note:

This job description does not form part of the contract of employment, but indicates how that contract should be performed. The job description may be subject to amendment in the light of experience and in consultation with the jobholder.

Compiled by:England Director, North

Date:6 March 2016

Design and Engineering Manager (SUS1761)

Person specification

Criteria / Essential
Qualifications, education and training / Educated to degree level or equivalent
Experience / Experience of leading, managing, motivating and developing a team
A background and/or qualification in one or more of the following disciplines:
- urban design
- transport planning
- civil engineering
- traffic engineering
Substantial experience and proven track record in the design, development and delivery of infrastructure projects, including in urban settings
Substantial experience of project and programme management and delivery to time and budget
Substantial experience of successful building and maintaining of partnership relationships
Budget management experience
Experience of project monitoring
Experience of managing contracts/contractors
Skills and abilities / Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal including report and bid-writing skills
Ability to build and develop constructive working relationships with key contacts in partner and other relevant organisations
Excellent influencing, negotiation and presentation skills
Ability to lead, manage and develop a team and motivate others in a time of change
Ability to plan and prioritise own workload and work independently
Strong IT literacy
Knowledge / Detailed knowledge of infrastructure design, including in urban areas
Other / Committed Sustrans’ vision
Demonstrates a solutions-led approach to achieving change, with a commitment to creativity, innovation and the delivery of high quality products
Positive approach to influencing
Criteria / Desirable
Qualifications, education and training / Post-graduate and/or professional membership related to engineering or urban design
Experience / Experience of managing engineering/construction/urban realm improvement projects
Experience of site / land maintenance health & safety
Knowledge / Knowledge of cycling related standards, guidelines and best practice
Knowledge of risk assessment and site based health and safety requirements

Version 130 March 2016