Principal Project Manager/Design Manager

Location(s):

Calgary, AB, CA

Contract Type: Permanent

Work Pattern: Full Time

Market: Various

Discipline: Building services

Job Ref: 16097

Recruiter Contact: Katie Champoux

At Mott MacDonald, we trust our brilliant people to do brilliant things in engineering, management, and development services, supporting multisector project work in over 150 countries. As one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world, we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes through our network of 20,000+ talented consultants. With sustainability and innovation at the heart of all our sectors in North America, including, Buildings, Energy, Transportation, and Water.

We believe in empowering our people to excel, learn, and grow, offering diverse opportunities to contribute to career-defining work. Join us and be part of a collaborative environment where your ambitions are united with ours, and you can truly shape your story.

If you share that vision, even if you don’t meet every requirement listed, we’d still love to hear from you. We value potential and diverse perspectives as much as experience. Let’s explore how we can support your growth and help you take the next step in your career, while contributing to an exciting new chapter for Mott MacDonald in North America.

The Design Manager is a key member of the senior leadership team on a Design-Build or Major Project, responsible for ensuring the technical integrity, coordination, and successful delivery of complex multidisciplinary design solutions. Reporting to the Project Manager or Project Principal, the Design Manager works in close partnership with project leadership to deliver innovative, contract-compliant technical solutions that meet client and project objectives.

We are seeking candidates with proven experience delivering major multidisciplinary projects, ideally within the transit, station, and building sectors, where they have led diverse design teams through all phases of project development and delivery.

Key activities and responsibilities include:

Contributing to the design fee estimate and preliminary design schedule for proposals as required..

Responsible for technical coherence, design suitability, and appropriateness of solutions delivered across a multidisciplinary team.

Providing the design team with all contract materials, including the design scope and requirements, to deliver the project within budget and schedule.

Confirming that the design delivers the project’s aims, objectives and defined benefits.

Providing Discipline Leads with an internal interface, coordination matrix and facilitating clear accountability and responsibility for interdisciplinary interfaces.

Supporting the Project Manager in developing an effective Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS) and Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) to align design delivery with technical assurance and project milestones.

Monitoring the design budget and identifying emerging variances.

Enforcing quality processes and making sure that peer reviews are being carried out within each discipline.

Supporting Discipline Leads and Package Managers with resource planning, deployment and contributing to succession planning.

Leading multidisciplinary discussions to communicate technical issues, track actions, and drive resolutions that culminate in a coordinated design.

Preparing, managing, and distributing design standards and technical requirements.

Interfacing with the contractor’s Design Coordinator on technical and process matters and managing constructability input from construction staff and supply chain partners.

Interfacing with the Client Owner and Authority’s Having Jurisdiction on technical and design-process matters.

Maintaining consistent communication with project stakeholders to meet contractual and technical obligations.

Managing design variances from the standards register and securing approvals.

Managing the project Technical Requirements register.

Coordinating the integration of subconsultant and specialist inputs.

Confirming that design checking and approval processes are completed and maintaining associated records.

Coordinating completion, review, and issue of technical deliverables.

Supporting identification of design‑related changes and providing associated cost estimates.

Identifying and managing design risks and issues and implementing mitigation plans.

Leading Design Review Meetings and Interdisciplinary Design Reviews (IDRs).

Qualification include:

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related discipline.

Relevant Professional designation or eligibility for registration.

15+ years of experience delivering complex multidisciplinary infrastructure or major projects

Proven experience in a Design Manager, Engineering Manager, or Design Lead role.

Strong knowledge of design management, technical assurance, quality processes, and risk management.

Experience managing design budgets, schedules, resources, and consultant teams.

Familiarity with major project delivery models (Design-Build, P3, Alliance, etc.).

Strong stakeholder management, communication, and leadership skills.

Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and coordinate complex technical interfaces.

Proficiency with project management, design coordination, and document control systems.

At Mott MacDonald, our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, providing them with a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses.

Multiple factors such as qualifications, overall experience and position responsibilities will be used to determine the successful candidate's actual salary within the expected range.

The expected salary range for this position is from $163,000 - $200,000.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.

Collaboration at Our Core

At Mott MacDonald, we believe great ideas happen when we're together. Our hybrid approach centers on an in-office culture, with most of your time spent collaborating face-to-face and a minimum of three days per week in the office. We balance flexibility with connection, so you and your manager can choose how to meet client, team, and personal commitments.

We seek to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they have the opportunity to contribute.