Head of Design and Technical Office

About the Role

Al Lujain Group is seeking a Head of Design and Technical Office to join their team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time position reports directly to the Executive Director and is responsible for overseeing a comprehensive range of design and technical services, from initial concept to project closeout, ensuring buildability and adherence to established standards.

Departmental Scope

The Design and Technical Office delivers various services essential to project execution. These services ensure that all design aspects are meticulously planned and documented for successful implementation.

• Concept and schematic interior design, including space planning and zoning.
• Design development, encompassing layouts, ceilings, elevations, finishes, joinery, and furniture.
• Mechanical, electrical, and low-current design and coordination for fit-out scopes.
• Preparation of construction, shop, joinery, and production drawings for the company's factory.
• Material and finish specification and scheduling.
• Three-dimensional visualization and client presentation materials.
• Technical support to site teams during construction phases.
• As-built records at project closeout.

Key Accountabilities

The Head of Design and Technical Office holds primary responsibility for the efficient and compliant operation of the department, ensuring all deliverables meet company standards and project requirements.

• Department Management: Oversee resourcing, workload distribution, adherence to standards, and team competence. Appoint a named design lead for each project in writing before design commencement.
• Design Program: Agree on the design program with project managers for every project and ensure adherence. Document in writing any instances where the brief, budget, and schedule cannot all be met before work proceeds.
• Review and Issue: Review and sign all drawings, schedules, and specifications before they are issued from the department. Ensure every design is independently checked by a person other than the original producer.
• Buildability: Verify that designs are feasible for construction by Al Lujain. Any detail exceeding the factory's or site's capabilities must be agreed upon with the factory and project manager prior to issue.
• Standards: Maintain a single set of departmental standards for drawing coding, title blocks, layering, finish codes, and drawing levels across all projects.
• External Designers: Appoint, brief, and review external designers to ensure their work aligns with internal standards. The appointment of external services does not transfer responsibility for issued work.
• Cost Management: Design within budget constraints and lead value engineering efforts when pricing exceeds targets, while safeguarding the design intent.
• Change Control: Implement changes only upon written instruction. All changes must be recorded, priced if they incur cost or time implications, and re-issued under a new revision.
• Site Support: Respond to technical queries and RFIs within agreed timeframes and manage as-built records at project closeout.
• People Management: Assess departmental members against the capability register, documenting specific actions and dates for addressing any identified gaps.

Authority and Decision-Making

The appointee is empowered to make critical decisions regarding design quality and compliance, ensuring that all outputs meet the required standards, even under tight deadlines.

• Hold an issue, reject a drawing, or require a re-check if it does not meet the design policy, irrespective of project deadlines.
• Prevent a design from being issued to the Client or site if it does not meet established standards.
• Appoint the design lead for each project and allocate departmental resources accordingly.
• Recommend the appointment of external design consultants and reject their output if it fails to meet expectations.

Should holding an issue impact a commitment made to a Client, the appointee is required to escalate the matter to the Executive Director on the same day.

Qualifications and Experience

Candidates for this role should possess extensive experience in design and technical office management within a relevant industry.

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in design and technical office functions.
• Demonstrated leadership and management capabilities in overseeing design teams and processes.
• Strong understanding of design principles, construction methods, and industry standards.

Work Type

This is a full-time position based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.