Design Manager

Company: CTS Group

Location: Porto/Lisbon, Portugal

Reports To: Design Director

Type: Full-Time, On-Site

Role Overview

The Design Manager independently owns the design management process for a data centre or mission-critical construction project, or a major workstream on a larger campus. They manage the design programme, coordinate the multidisciplinary consultant team, and ensure the design is buildable, compliant, coordinated in BIM, and delivered on time and within budget.

The role is the key day-to-day interface between the client, the design consultants, and the construction delivery team, driving design packages from concept through detailed design and into construction support and handover, across CTS's EMEA project portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the design programme, aligning design deliverables with procurement and the construction sequence, and reporting progress against milestones.
• Manage and coordinate the multidisciplinary design consultant team (architectural, structural, civil, MEP, and specialist vendors), chairing design coordination meetings.
• Manage the design deliverables register and information release schedule to ensure timely, complete, and coordinated issuance for procurement and construction.
• Oversee BIM coordination and clash detection, ensuring models comply with the project's BIM Execution Plan and are construction-ready.
• Review designs for quality, code/standard compliance, alignment with CTS's and the client's technical requirements, and buildability.
• Lead value-engineering and design-optimisation initiatives, balancing cost, programme, redundancy/resilience, and operational requirements.
• Manage design risk and the design change process, maintaining logs and assessing programme/cost impact of changes.
• Liaise with clients, contractors, and planning/permitting authorities, including the câmara municipal, on licensing and approvals.
• Manage the design budget/fees and consultant scope, flagging commercial risks.
• Direct and review the work of Junior Design Managers.

Required Skills and Experience

• Degree in Architecture, Civil/Structural or MEP Engineering, or Construction Management.
• Proven engineering background (Mechanical or Electrical).
• 5–10 years of experience in design management or design coordination, with delivery experience across the full design lifecycle.
• Proven data centre experience, even if limited to the last three years.
• Demonstrable experience on data centre, mission-critical, industrial, or large-scale infrastructure projects; understanding of MEP systems, power/cooling topology, and redundancy concepts (N+1, 2N, Tier ratings) is highly valued.
• Ideally has worked for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 Design & Build Contractor, or a Design & Engineering Consultancy, in the data centre industry.
• Strong command of Revit, Navisworks, AutoCAD, and a common data environment (BIM 360 / ACC, Aconex).
• Proficiency in programme management with MS Project and/or Primavera P6.
• Good working knowledge of Portuguese/EU construction regulations.
• Membership of, or eligibility for, the Ordem dos Engenheiros or Ordem dos Arquitectos (or equivalent chartered status) is advantageous.
• Fluent Portuguese and strong English.
• Proven ability to manage consultants, resolve coordination conflicts, and drive a design to a fixed programme with limited supervision.
• Must be available to travel.
• Must be available to be potentially assigned to project sites.
• Must be available to be based, ideally at the CTS Design & Engineering HQ, or in the country with a justified project need.