Senior Construction Assurance Manager

Construction Assurance, Health & Safety and Digital Delivery

The opportunity

We are recruiting a Senior Construction Manager to help shape a progressive capital-delivery model within the UK water industry.

This is not a traditional Construction Manager position focused on managing the daily activity of a single construction site. It requires a modern construction professional who combines practical delivery credibility with strong health and safety leadership, construction assurance, digital capability and data-led decision-making.

You will lead a team of four to five Construction Assurance Engineers, working across a portfolio of capital projects and supporting designated Lead Project Managers. Your team will provide confidence that projects are being delivered safely, consistently and in accordance with the required construction and quality standards.

A central part of the role will be acting as a senior custodian of health and safety protocols. You will improve standards internally and ensure that expectations cascade effectively through Tier 2 contractors, subcontractors and external personnel working across operational sites.

You will also use Power BI and wider digitalisation tools to analyse assurance data, identify trends, target areas of greatest risk and provide project and senior leadership teams with clear visibility of construction performance.

During your first 12 months, you will develop and implement a contractor-capability strategy that establishes consistent standards, improves delivery maturity and embeds modern construction practices across the supply chain.

Key responsibilities

Leadership and functional support

Lead, coach and develop a team of four to five Construction Assurance Engineers.

Allocate resources and assurance activity across the portfolio according to project priorities and levels of risk.

Establish clear objectives and hold regular one-to-ones, progress reviews and performance discussions.

Lead daily and weekly communication cells and progress meetings, maintaining visibility of delivery health, safety performance and emerging issues.

Provide construction leadership, direction and technical guidance across the function.

Work collaboratively with designated Lead Project Managers, providing assurance insight and practical support throughout project delivery.

Health, safety and construction assurance

Act as a visible custodian of construction health and safety protocols.

Promote consistently high standards across internal teams, Tier 2 contractors, subcontractors and external site personnel.

Ensure effective first-line construction assurance across the capital programme.

Monitor compliance with CDM 2015, safe systems of work, RAMS, temporary-works requirements, ITPs and agreed construction-quality standards.

Review site conditions and intervene where practices, controls or behaviours fall below the required standard.

Improve site housekeeping, documentation quality, readiness to commence work and temporary-works controls.

Provide Lead Project Managers with informed advice on construction risks, sequencing, constructability and contractor performance.

Give senior leadership confidence through robust oversight, clear escalation and evidence-led reporting.

Lead or support investigations into safety, quality and delivery failures, ensuring root causes are understood and corrective actions are completed.

Capture and embed lessons learned across projects, contractors and the wider function.

Digitalisation and data-led performance

Develop and maintain Power BI dashboards covering construction assurance, health and safety, site housekeeping, temporary works, documentation quality and leading performance indicators.

Analyse data to identify trends, recurring issues, systemic risks and opportunities for improvement.

Use performance data to prioritise assurance activity and deploy the team where intervention will have the greatest impact.

Translate complex construction and safety information into clear reports, recommendations and actions.

Promote the effective use of digital construction, assurance and project-delivery tools.

Implement new systems, processes and digital solutions that improve visibility, consistency and delivery confidence.

Support the standardisation and automation of reporting wherever practical.

Contractor development and delivery integration

Develop and implement a structured contractor-capability and improvement strategy.

Work with Tier 2 contractor leadership teams to improve behaviours, systems, planning discipline and construction maturity.

Establish clear and consistent expectations for safety, quality, assurance and site performance.

Challenge poor performance constructively and ensure agreed improvement actions are implemented.

Build strong relationships across Project Management, Engineering, Health and Safety, Quality, Operations and the external supply chain.

Ensure that construction-assurance findings translate into meaningful project-delivery actions.

Promote lean construction, consistency, standardisation and continuous improvement across the portfolio.

Support commissioning readiness, defect management, handover and project closeout.

About you

You will be a forward-thinking construction professional who understands how strong health and safety leadership, intelligent assurance and digital technology can improve project outcomes.

You will offer:

Significant experience within major construction, civil engineering, infrastructure, utilities or another regulated delivery environment.

Strong practical knowledge of construction health and safety, CDM 2015, RAMS, ITPs, temporary works and site controls.

Proven experience improving health and safety standards across employees, contractors and wider supply chains.

Experience leading, coaching and developing construction or assurance professionals.

The confidence and credibility to challenge contractors and intervene when standards are not being met.

Strong construction-assurance, governance and risk-management capability.

Practical experience using Power BI to develop dashboards, analyse performance and support decision-making.

Experience using digital construction, assurance or project-delivery suites.

The ability to interpret data, identify trends and translate findings into targeted improvement activity.

Experience improving contractor capability and delivery maturity.

Strong stakeholder-management and influencing skills across complex programmes.

The ability to support multiple projects and Lead Project Managers simultaneously.

Excellent planning, organisational, communication and problem-solving skills.

A strong commitment to continuous improvement, innovation and modern construction practice.

Qualifications

Degree, HNC or HND in Construction, Civil Engineering, Health and Safety or a related discipline.

SMSTS, IOSH Managing Safely or an equivalent health and safety qualification.

Temporary Works Coordinator or Temporary Works Supervisor qualification is desirable.

A NEBOSH construction or general certificate would be advantageous.

NEC accreditation or strong practical NEC experience is desirable.

Professional membership of an appropriate institution, such as CIOB, ICE or IOSH, would be advantageous.

Full UK driving licence.

Why consider this opportunity?

This is an opportunity to influence construction delivery across an entire capital programme rather than manage one individual project.