Senior Design Manager

About the Role

Mott MacDonald is seeking a Senior Design Manager, Sports and Venues, to be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role involves leading multidisciplinary design delivery for major sports, entertainment, and venue projects across Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The Senior Design Manager will report to the Project Director Sports and Venues and will be responsible for managing design planning, coordination, and assurance within agreed project appointments and delegated authority.

Role Context and Objectives

The Senior Design Manager will coordinate Mott MacDonald’s discipline teams with clients, architects, specialist consultants, venue operators, and other stakeholders to deliver integrated design packages. These packages must align with project briefs, programmes, and budgets. The role focuses on complex venues where design decisions are informed by sports functionality, spectator experience, accessibility, safety, event operations, commercial objectives, sustainability, and long-term legacy. Technical design accountability remains with relevant discipline leads, with responsibility for other consultants depending on the specific appointment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate multidisciplinary design activities for complex sports and venue projects.
• Manage design delivery through appointed stages, including pre-concept, concept, schematic, detailed design, and tender, with construction-stage support as scoped. Establish clear responsibilities, interfaces, deliverables, and review requirements.
• Coordinate architectural, structural, building services, and specialist design inputs to achieve integrated project outcomes.
• Act as a primary interface between the client, design teams, project management teams, and specialist consultants.
• Establish and maintain the design management plan, design programme, responsibility matrix, deliverable register, interface register, and decision log.
• Lead design coordination meetings and facilitate the resolution of multidisciplinary design issues.
• Monitor design progress, resource requirements, and fee budgets with the Project Director against agreed scope and programme, escalating risks, constraints, and corrective actions promptly.
• Identify and document design and scope changes, assess implications for fees, resources, interfaces, and programme, and support change-control submissions and approvals.
• Coordinate interdisciplinary technical reviews, design assurance, stage-gate submissions, and review-comment close-out. Coordinate applicable authority approvals with discipline leads, ensuring technical approval responsibility rests with authorised specialists.
• Promote design solutions that consider the complete lifecycle of the venue, including operational requirements, adaptability, and long-term value.
• Work with specialists to integrate spectator safety, accessibility, movement, and operational considerations into the design.
• Coordinate specialist venue interfaces, including fields of play, seating bowls and sightlines, athlete facilities, event overlays, hospitality, back-of-house and servicing, media, broadcasting, and technology, as applicable.
• Engage with clients, venue operators, user groups, and commercial stakeholders to establish an agreed design brief and track the incorporation of operational and sports-specific requirements through design development.
• Collaborate with digital and BIM teams to support effective multidisciplinary design coordination and information management.
• Promote sustainable, efficient, and resilient design outcomes. Coordinate buildability reviews and procurement and construction interfaces where appointed, and mentor design managers and coordinators across local and international teams.

Experience and Qualifications

Candidates should possess 5-10 years of relevant experience in design management, particularly within sports and venue projects. Specific qualifications were not provided, but a strong background in leading complex multidisciplinary design efforts is expected.

Benefits and Professional Development

Mott MacDonald offers a range of benefits, including annual leave competitive within the local market, maternity leave exceeding local provisions, and paternity leave where applicable. The company supports professional membership and institution subscriptions. Medical and life insurance are provided as per local plans, with coverage varying by country and policy. Employees benefit from learning and career development opportunities through diverse projects, technical networks, and structured development programmes. Mott MacDonald fosters an inclusive culture committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion. As an employee-owned company, success is shared through annual bonus opportunities and long-term participation as careers grow, subject to local plan, eligibility, and business performance.