Senior Project Manager - Design

About the Role

The Senior Project Manager - Design will oversee the comprehensive management of large-scale, interdisciplinary design projects from initial mobilization to design development, tender, and final closeout. This position demands robust leadership skills for client engagement, technical coordination across diverse disciplines, commercial oversight, and consistent drive toward meeting schedule, budget, and quality objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary design projects ensuring alignment with contract scope, timelines, budgets, quality standards, and client expectations.
• Serve as the primary liaison for clients, managing their expectations, priorities, decisions, and the interface throughout project phases.
• Coordinate various design teams including architecture, structural, MEP, infrastructure, landscape, BIM, and specialty consultants.
• Prepare and maintain essential project documents such as the Project Management Plan, design schedules, deliverables matrix, risk registers, and reporting frameworks.
• Track design progress relative to the established baseline schedule and implement corrective actions if deviations occur.
• Organize and chair progress meetings with internal teams and clients, ensuring resolution of action items, technical issues, and decisions in a timely manner.
• Manage project resources, workloads, and team performance in collaboration with discipline leads.
• Oversee financial aspects including budget management, man-hours tracking, profitability analysis, invoicing, and control of variations and change orders.
• Identify opportunities for additional services and lead the preparation and administration of variation requests.
• Ensure compliance with quality assurance/control, BIM processes, document control procedures, and client standards.
• Interface with governmental and regulatory authorities, securing necessary approvals, permits, and no-objection certificates.
• Recognize and mitigate risks related to design, commercial factors, contracts, scheduling, and project delivery.
• Support tender stage activities by addressing bidder queries, providing design clarifications, and contributing to technical evaluations.
• Facilitate project closeout by ensuring all deliverables are finalized and outstanding comments are resolved promptly.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, or a related field.
• A postgraduate degree in Project Management, Engineering, or Architecture considered advantageous.
• Possession of PMP or another recognized project management certification preferred.
• Total professional experience spanning 15 to 20 years, with at least 12 years focused on managing design projects in similar roles.
• Demonstrated experience managing large, complex, multidisciplinary design projects in consultancy settings, covering concept through detailed design, tendering, and closeout phases.
• Experience within Saudi Arabia or the GCC region, with good knowledge of local clients, governmental bodies, and approval processes highly preferred.
• Excellent leadership capabilities for design project management, client handling, and stakeholder coordination.
• Strong commercial acumen related to budgeting, man-hour allocation, profitability, and variation/change management.
• Proficient in programme management tools like Primavera P6 and MS Project.
• Skilled in multidisciplinary coordination, technical problem resolution, and risk management.
• Familiarity with BIM-based project delivery, Aconex or similar electronic document management systems, document controls, reporting, and QA/QC protocols.
• Fluent in English with excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, negotiation, and decision-making skills.