Associate Director or Director

Associate Director or Director.

Cambridge.

Our Hoare Lea office has been established in Cambridge since 2011 on the back of some significant schemes we undertook with the University of Cambridge. Now we are embedded in this historic city and part of the construction industry fabric. We enjoy a unique position in the community as the only consultant in the city of any scale able to undertake the whole range of projects; from those which are smaller and historically important, to large and complex science and research facilities. It gives us kudos and makes life here fun.

We have built the office based on our culture and our people. We are now c.60 strong from a mix of disciplines with a fairly young office. We have recently refurbished our ground floor space in Botanic House into a vibrant office which is regularly full – a rare thing in this post-Covid world!

The Cambridge office forms part of the wider Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge (OMC) area of the business, with many shared ideas and resources. We are about 120 people overall with a real sense of team and are growing in every sense of the word – including our offer to the local market and our need for good people.

Now, we need to reinforce our local senior leadership team with a someone who wants to be part of the next exciting phase of our office as the current senior team members are getting involved with firm wide objectives. We are looking for a driven L9 Associate Director, or L10 Director to be a part of the senior team and progress in their career and help continue the growth and success of the office.

About us

Hoare Lea is an award-winning engineering consultancy with a creative team of engineers, designers and technical specialists. We provide innovative solutions to complex engineering and design challenges for buildings.

Irrespective of the scale or complexity of a project, we provide a full range of MEP, environmental and sustainability services, bringing buildings to life and ensuring that they perform in operation as well as they look.

Hoare Lea has joined Tetra Tech’s High-Performance Buildings Group, a global alliance of MEP firms.

Why work for us?

You’ll collaborate with the industry’s best, working with a wide range of built-environment specialists.

You’ll be part of progressive and exciting projects, able to experience innovative schemes across all sectors.

You’ll advance your career, your way, thanks to our structured Career Paths framework.

What we are looking for

We are looking for someone who can inspire, with strong direction and communication skills to help drive the office forward, contribute to strategy and continue to build on the culture and sense of team created. Discipline is irrelevant as we are looking for the right person and a team player.

As an Associate Director or Director, you will be responsible for helping run the office, leading by example and continuing to deliver excellence in project leadership.You will work with an integrated team here in the office and support staff delivering a consistent high-quality service for clients, ensuring that repeat and new business opportunities are developed, and profitability is achieved. We have a high volume of high-quality repeat work with established clients and an un-rivalled reputation in the local market. Your job will be to help us maintain this.

We are an office which celebrates diversity in its true sense and so we are looking for someone who can bring that through their skill set (not just technical!) or culture and influence the direction of the office. We pride ourselves in positioning people in a place where they can play to their strengths as part of our team and really contribute to something which is great.

The location of the office is in the heart of the Cambridge business district, next to the Central Station and a short work into the historic University City. The vast majority of our work is in Cambridge and spans from historic college refurbishments to complex £250M S&R schemes. This diversity of project mix, with the clients that goes with it, provides great and varied opportunities. Life in Cambridge is never dull!

The role

The role has three strands. Project leadership, team leadership and work wining. Team leadership may come immediately, although this is a role to grow in to as someone settles in the office. Strengthening our leadership in these three areas is a key need in our succussion plan and will lead to further career opportunities.

As a Director, you will be responsible for helping win, supporting and delivering designs for a range of project types and sizes. You will work within a team of engineers and support staff delivering a consistent high-quality service for clients, ensuring that repeat and new business opportunities are developed, and profitability is achieved. The role is instrumental in helping to continue to grow and develop a team of technically competent engineers within high performing sectors, as well as seeking new opportunities to develop the business.

What you’ll be doing

• You will be in a Client facing role, attending project meetings and disseminating the brief within the project team. You will need to be of personable nature and a good communicator.
• You will lead the development of initial strategic concepts for projects ensuring solutions are appropriate for the brief and regulatory standards.
• Providing a lead role in an integrated project design team with other construction professionals.
• Taking responsibility for solid technical delivery in your work either alone or part of a team.
• Engage with junior support staff in their day to day activities and offer advice and guidance to ensure that they develop their skills and we get the best out of our people.
• You will be financially astute and work with the team leader to help monitor fee expenditure, resource and work delivered.
• Looking at new ways of working and taking time out for innovation and research ensuring we keep abreast of our competitors.
• Creating and maintaining a high reputation within the industry, and to ensure adherence to QM and risk control procedures is also a very important part of the role.

About you

You should have a relevant degree in Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent qualification and must have, or ideally be working towards chartered status. Having Membership of CIBSE/IMECHE or industry recognised institution is an advantage.

You should have excellent technical knowledge in your primary discipline and a thorough understanding of Building Services Engineering and interdisciplinary design through all stages of the design process.

You should have an in-depth understanding of modern technical delivery methods, particularly in relation to BIM, and should be competent in ideally designing and reviewing information by others in such environments.

You will have experience working in a multi-disciplinary environment, leading, motivating, and supervising junior/senior engineers.

With excellent interpersonal and communication skills you will have proven ability in negotiating positive outcomes, resource planning, motivation and management.

With previous industry experience, you will appreciate the importance of complementary specialisms such as acoustics, fire engineering and computer modelling in the design of buildings and be adept at analysing and interpreting their impact on your work.

Our benefits

To reward your hard work and commitment we offer both core and flexible benefits, a competitive salary and industry-leading training and development to support you throughout your career.

Core benefits

Private medical scheme

Life Assurance

Income protection

Travel Allowance – electric car scheme

Profit and performance-related bonus (Director)

25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 with length of service

Contributory pension scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Enhanced Paternity, Maternity & Shared Parental Leave

Season Ticket Loans

Professional membership subscription

Flexitime

Flexible benefits

• 9-day fortnight – the firm offers all employees the option to work a 9-day fortnight
• Hybrid Working – activity-based approach
• Employee stock purchase plan – a voluntary program which allows eligible employees to purchase Tetra Tech common stock at a 15% discount
• Holiday buy & sell up to 5 days
• Study Assistance
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Referral Scheme
• Sabbatical Leave
• Other flexible benefits include gym and retail discounts, travel & dental insurance and GAYE (Give as you Earn)
• Flexible working

Diversity, equity and inclusion

We are committed to being a place where underrepresented individuals and communities are not just included, but where marginalised knowledge and experience is valued, amplified, and harnessed. So, we strongly encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, including women, people of the Global Majority, LGBTQ+ individuals, disabled people, neurodivergent people, and those from all other underrepresented or marginalised groups. To learn more about our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion, see our DEI strategy.

Adjustments and accommodations

If there are adjustments or accommodations that we can put in place to ensure you can participate and give your best at any stage of the recruitment process (whether relating to disability, neurodivergence, or anything else) please let us know.

Flexible working

We are committed to enabling a healthy work-life balance for all employees. So, we welcome applications from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements to suit their particular needs and lifestyle, including part-time, term-time-only, and remote working.