Why Join Grucon? Grucon is a specialist consultancy providing project, commercial, and cost management services across the digital infrastructure sector.Our team brings deep technical expertise, strategic insight, and executional excellence to the most complex and capital-intensive projects globally.We operate as a trusted advisor at the most critical stages of project delivery, providing project and program management, owner's representation, and commercial advisory on some of the most technically demanding data centre developments in the world. Our approach is deliberately hands-on, with senior involvement throughout, ensuring clarity, control, and consistently high standards of execution.We are building a team of experienced professionals who value ownership, quality, and straight-talking delivery, and who want to be part of a growing consultancy helping to deliver the future of digital infrastructure.Overview: As Design Manager at Grucon, you will take a senior role representing a confidential strategic client in the delivery of a major hyperscale data centre programme in the Alentejo Litoral region of Portugal. Acting as an extension of the developer's organisation, on Europe's largest AI facility, you will oversee the design function on behalf of the client, providing the oversight and governance typically expected from a developer's in-house design function, while informing and supporting the client's decision-making team.You will oversee the contractor's design team, the client's internal design team and the PMO's design function, ensuring design outputs meet the developer's technical, commercial and programme objectives. The role requires a strong multi-discipline technical foundation across CSA and MEP, combined with the ability to manage large, multi-party design teams and report clearly upstream to client executive stakeholders.This is a hands-on, high-ownership position for a senior design professional who is comfortable operating at the client-side table, holding consultants and contractors to account, and driving design quality, coordination and progress throughout the project lifecycle.About the Role: Act as the senior design representative on behalf of the developer, providing owner's representation across all design matters on the programme. Coordinate the PMO team to oversee the performance of the contractor's design team, the client's design team and the PMO's design role, to enable alignment with the developer's design intent, technical standards and programme objectives. Assist in defining and implementing the developer's design governance, technical standards and reporting frameworks to protect the client's position throughout delivery. Oversee multi-discipline design coordination across CSA and MEP packages, ensuring interface management, constructability, and compliance with the employer's requirements. Assist in the design review, approval and change management process, ensuring technical integrity is maintained while protecting cost, programme and quality outcomes. Oversee design inputs to procurement and tendering activity across CSA and MEP packages, supporting technical evaluation of bids, clarification workshops and award recommendations. Oversee and direct the wider design team, consultants and technical specialists supporting the programme, ensuring consistency, quality and pace of delivery. Provide clear, timely technical and design reporting to enable senior client decision-making, translating complex engineering detail into concise upstream communication. Maintain strong design control and technical discipline across all contractors and consultants, proactively managing design risk, RFIs, clarifications and technical disputes. Build and maintain trusted relationships with the client's executive team, design consultants, contractors and supply chain partners.Skills and Experience: 7+ years' experience in design management/design team management, engineering or architectural delivery across major capital projects, with a demonstrable track record at senior level. Data centre experience isessential— ideally across hyperscale or AI-ready developments. Proven experience operating client-side or on behalf of a developer, with the gravitas and judgement to represent the client at executive level. Strong multi-discipline technical knowledge spanning CSA and MEP, with the ability to interrogate design submissions across all packages. Proven track record managing large, multi-party design teams across contractor, client and PMO organisations. Strong reporting and communication skills, with a demonstrable ability to distil technical complexity into clear upstream reporting for executive audiences. Degree in Architecture, Engineering or related discipline (or equivalent experience). Chartered status (CEng, MRIBA or equivalent) is desirable. Fluent English is required; working proficiency in Portuguese an advantage. A collaborative, team-focused approach with the ability to influence at all levels. A proactive, delivery-focused mindset with the confidence to set technical direction and hold others to account.Location & Working Arrangements: Full-time role based predominantly in the client's Lisbon head office, with site visits to the programme in the Alentejo Litoral region as required. Lisbon-based candidates are preferred; FIFO (fly-in / fly-out) on a weekly rotation may be considered for the right candidate.What We Offer: A senior client-side role on one of the most significant data centre programmes in Iberia. Real ownership, influence and visibility at executive level from day one. A collaborative and supportive team environment with senior-led delivery. Exposure to complex, fast-paced projects with leading clients shaping the future of digital infrastructure.Pay and Compensation Package: Competitive salary and benefits package.What We Offer: We are committed to diversity and inclusivity in our hiring practices and workplace culture.