Design Manager

Wates Design Manager – Wales

Wates are looking for a Design Manager to join our Wales team, delivering high‑quality new homes for local communities. If you’re passionate about great design, enjoy working collaboratively, and have strong technical capability, this is an opportunity to challenge the norm, bring fresh ideas, and progress your career within a leading construction business.

This role offers a chance to develop professionally as part of a talented, diverse and supportive team.

Our Design Managers are a valuable part of our business, driving quality outcomes, enhancing buildability and fostering innovation. Design Managers work collaboratively with our industry specialists and in‑house technical experts to ensure that the design develops in accordance with the brief with a firm focus on added value, compliance, commercial viability and best practice.

• Collaborate with all relevant internal and external stakeholders to produce and manage a realistic design programme and information requirements schedule that supports design, procurement, and construction activities.
• Support the delivery of Continuous Improvement initiatives and drive innovation across projects.
• Ensure designs are robustly reviewed and verified to achieve compliance and mitigate Health & Safety, design, and buildability risks prior to construction.
• Identify and manage key risks and opportunities at each stage of the design and delivery process.
• Promote quality, coordination, and buildability from concept through to delivery.

• Competitive salary and profit‑share scheme
• Flexible working
• Car allowance / company car (subject to role/grade)
• Travel covered to any of our sites (subject to HMRC advisory rates)
• Extensive corporate benefits including private medical, pension 8% employer contribution, health and wellness programme, 26 days holiday + bank holidays and much more
• One of the best learning and development programmes, customizable to support your career progression goals (c.7000 training sessions delivered year to date across the WATES Group)
• Industry‑leading family leave benefits: 26 weeks fully paid maternity, 12 weeks fully paid paternity

Wates is one of the UK’s leading family‑owned development, building and property maintenance companies, founded over 125 years ago. We are driven by our purpose, “reimagining places for people to thrive”, and our three promises: thriving places, thriving planet and thriving people. We are proud to be recognised as Gold Investors in People and as a Disability Confident employer. We ensure that our recruitment processes do not treat anyone less favourably due to an offending background.

We celebrate difference and welcome diversity, creating opportunities and relationships so that everyone who works for and with us feels included, invested in, and treated with care. As a responsible and inclusive employer, we are committed to equality. The Wates Group is committed to three ambitious environmental targets for 2025:
Zero Waste, Zero Carbon and Positive Nature Enhancement, and we are pushing to take a leading role in reducing our industry’s environmental impact.