Building Safety Principal Designer

Location: Central Birmingham (office based)
Employment Type: Permanent

About the Practice

This is an exciting opportunity to join a well-established AJ100 architectural practice with their studio in Birmingham

The practice is recognised nationally for delivering complex, high-quality projects across higher education, research, healthcare, commercial workplace, and large-scale retrofit and regeneration.

The studio has a strong reputation for technical excellence, sustainability leadership and design quality, with award-winning projects including landmark higher education campuses, medical and life sciences facilities, specialist teaching buildings and city-centre workplace refurbishments across the UK.

The Role

The practice is seeking a qualified Architect to provide a strong emphasis on Quality Assurance, Principal Designer duties, and compliance with the Building Safety Act (BSA), CDM Regulations 2015 and Building Regulations.

This is a key role within the QA team, supporting delivery teams to ensure regulatory compliance, robust audit trails and high technical standards across the practice.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Assurance & Compliance

• Undertake QA reviews across projects practice-wide, supporting Project Architects and delivery teams
• Lead and support Building Regulations technical reviews, monitoring and following up compliance
• Monitor Common Data Environment (CDE) compliance, including naming conventions, workflows and version control
• Support checking and review of sub-consultant and subcontractor design packages

Building Safety Act & Principal Designer Duties

• Act in support of the Principal Designer role under the Building Safety Act
• Collate, maintain and quality check Golden Thread information in line with BSA requirements
• Manage Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR) processes and internal notifications
• Maintain Change Control Tracking and evidence logs
• Coordinate and maintain competency records for design team members
• Prepare and manage Design Risk Management schedules and supporting PD documentation

Technical & Design Support

• Integrate technical, statutory and regulatory requirements into design and production information
• Provide fire compliance support, reporting and compliance checking
• Mentor staff on technical detailing, QA and compliance processes
• Assist with and deliver internal CPD sessions related to QA and BSA

Collaboration & Practice Support

• Contribute to design reviews, QA committees and practice meetings
• Attend internal and external meetings, preparing agendas, minutes and action tracking
• Support project bids, including ITT responses and technical input with the Bid Manager

Person Specification

Essential

• RIBA Part 1 & Part 2 Architecture Degree & Diploma
• RIBA Part 3 Examination completed
• Strong understanding of Building Regulations, technical standards and health & safety frameworks
• Knowledge of CDM Regulations 2015
• Excellent organisational skills with outstanding attention to detail
• Experience using AutoCAD or similar
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Project)
• Experience with SharePoint and file-sharing platforms

Why Join

• Work on nationally recognised higher education, healthcare and research projects
• Strong QA culture with opportunities to shape best practice
• Supportive, collaborative studio environment across three UK offices

Do not hesitate and apply today