Design Director - Utility Compounds
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Key skills for this role
About the Role
Parsons Corporation seeks a Design Director to lead design delivery for utility compounds, focusing on project and process management. Requires 20+ years of experience and expertise in design governance, multi-disciplinary coordination, and stakeholder management.
Key Skills for This Role
Responsibilities
- Define and implement the design management strategy, plans, and procedures for utility compound projects
- Develop and own the integrated design schedule in coordination with planning and project controls teams
- Lead coordination of all design contributors across civil, structural, architectural, MEP, power systems, and other disciplines
- Establish and manage a formal design change control process
- Maintain a design risk register and facilitate risk identification and mitigation
- Ensure design activities follow agreed review, verification, and approval processes
- Act as senior point of contact for design management matters with clients and stakeholders
- Oversee implementation of BIM and digital engineering processes
- Work closely with construction, procurement, commissioning, and operations teams
- Lead and mentor design managers, coordinators, and project engineers
Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or related field (implied by role)
- 20+ years of experience in design management for large infrastructure projects
- Experience in utility compound design (substations, switching/control compounds, utility hubs)
- Proven ability to manage design schedules, budgets, and resources
- Strong leadership and mentoring skills
- Excellent communication and presentation skills
- Experience with BIM and digital engineering processes
Full Job Posting
Position Summary
- The Design Director Utility Compounds is responsible for directing and managing the overall design delivery process for utility compounds (substations, switching/control compounds, utility hubs, and associated buildings and infrastructure).
- The role is focused on project and process management rather than performing detailed design.
- Ensures that all design activities are properly planned, coordinated, and controlled so that scope, schedule, cost, quality, and stakeholder requirements are achieved and effectively interfaced with construction, commercial, HSE, and operations objectives.
Key Responsibilities
- Define and implement the design management strategy, plans, and procedures for utility compound projects and programs.
- Establish the overall design delivery roadmap, including stage gates, key milestones, and approval processes.
- Set up and maintain the design responsibility matrix, clarifying scope boundaries, interfaces, and deliverables for all parties.
- Ensure consistent application of company and client design management standards across all utility compound projects.
- Develop and own the integrated design schedule in coordination with planning and project controls teams.
- Monitor progress of design deliverables against agreed baselines; identify deviations and lead recovery planning.
- Coordinate with commercial and finance teams to set and manage design budgets, consultancy fees, and internal resource allocations.
- Track and report design productivity, progress curves, and cost versus budget for design activities.
- Lead coordination of all design contributors (internal teams and external consultants) across civil, structural, architectural, MEP, power systems, protection & control, SCADA, and site infrastructure.
- Chair regular design coordination and progress meetings; ensure actions, decisions, and interfaces are clearly recorded and closed.
- Ensure design outputs are aligned with construction sequences, procurement plans, and commissioning strategies.
- Drive alignment between compound designs and external networks (transmission/distribution, access roads, external utilities).
Design Change & Risk Management
- Establish and manage a formal design change control process, including impact assessments on scope, schedule, cost, quality, and risk.
- Maintain a design risk register; facilitate risk identification, ownership, and mitigation with design and project teams.
- Ensure that approved changes are properly documented, communicated, and incorporated into design deliverables, contracts, and schedules.
Quality, Compliance & Assurance
- Ensure that design activities follow agreed review, verification, and approval processes, including peer reviews and stage gate approvals led by technical authorities.
- Coordinate technical and constructability reviews, HAZID/HAZOP, operability and maintainability assessments with discipline leads and HSE.
- Oversee compliance with relevant codes, standards, client requirements, and regulatory approvals from a process and documentation standpoint.
- Ensure robust document control for all design deliverables, including revision control, transmittals, and traceability.
Stakeholder, Client & Authority Management
- Act as the senior point of contact for all design management matters with the client, utility owners, third party stakeholders, and authorities.
- Lead design related workshops, presentations, and coordination meetings, clearly articulating status, issues, and decisions.
- Coordinate and track responses to client comments, authority review comments, and utility standards requirements.
- Support planning, permitting, and approvals by ensuring timely, coordinated design submissions and responses.
Digital Engineering & Information Management
- Oversee implementation of BIM and digital engineering processes in collaboration with BIM managers and design teams.
- Ensure that models, drawings, and data are produced, exchanged, and approved in line with project information management plans and CDE protocols.
- Promote consistent data structures to support downstream construction, commissioning, and asset management needs.
Interface with Construction, Commercial & Operations
- Work closely with construction, procurement, commissioning, and operations teams to ensure that design deliverables meet practical implementation and operational requirements.
- Align release of IFC packages with procurement and construction priorities; manage batch issuance strategies.
- Capture and incorporate lessons learned and feedback from site and operations into current and future design processes.
Leadership of Design Management Team
- Lead and mentor design managers, coordinators, and project engineers involved in design delivery.
- Manage external design consultants from a performance, scope, and schedule perspective, in collaboration with the commercial team.
- Allocate design management resources effectively across projects and phases, ensuring adequate coverage for critical milestones.
- Promote a collaborative, solution oriented culture among design, construction, and client teams.
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