P&C Drawing Office Manager

About the role

Balfour Beatty Power T&D arwe looking for a P&C Drawing Office Manager to join their successful team in Newcastle.

Role purpose:

The P&C Drawing Office Manager is responsible for leading and developing the Protection and Control drawing office function, comprising CAD Technicians and Designers across multiple locations.

The role will ensure that the business has a competent, appropriately resourced and flexible team capable of supporting substation projects across all clients.

The Drawing Office Manager will be accountable for resource planning, team capability, drawing quality, procedural improvement and the consistent delivery of P&C design documentation.

The individual will also be part of the Substation Leadership team that shapes and influences department strategy and wider initiatives.

What you'll be doing

Key Accountabilities:

• Set strategy for the P&C drawing office and contribute to wider Substations strategy.
• P&C drawing office resourcing, management and people / team development, including but not limited to ensuring enough and competent staff for delivering the current and future workload.
• Managing the discipline's workload across the interface locations (UK, GCC, SL) in collaboration with the local Team Leads.
• The team's productivity and performance ensuring the timely and quality delivery of drawings to a high quality standard which are compliant with the required Client and national technical standards (BS/Eurocodes/ENA).
• Continuous improvement via development and maintenance of drawing office procedures, standards and working practices.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and manage the P&C drawing office resource pool across all locations. Note line management must remain in territory (GCC / SL).
• Integration of GCC and SL based resources into drawing office to foster a one-team approach encouraging collaboration, people development and remove the transactional nature.
• Plan and allocate resources across projects in line with workload, competence and programme requirements.
• Maintain visibility of current and forecast resource demand, identifying capacity and competence gaps.
• Develop team capability through training, mentoring, competence assessment and succession planning.
• Ensure the consistent and timely delivery of accurate, compliant and high quality P&C drawings and documentation, promoting a right first time approach to design delivery.
• Develop and maintain drawing office procedures, templates, standards and working practices.
• Ensuring relevant review, check and approval process is consistently adhered to.
• Work closely with Engineering Managers, Lead Designers and project teams to resolve resource, programme and quality issues.
• Support tendering and project planning through resource estimates, programme inputs and identification of delivery risks.
• Recruitment, induction, performance management and professional development for P&C drawing office
• Capture and communicate lessons learned and good practice across the team.

Who we're looking for

Skills Required:

• HNC, HND or equivalent qualification in Electrical Engineering, Design Engineering or a related discipline.
• Significant experience in the production, checking or management of P&C drawings for transmission substation projects.
• Previous experience of leading or coordinating a drawing office or engineering design team.
• Experience of managing resources and competing priorities across multiple projects.
• Knowledge of National Grid and/or SSE technical and procedural requirements.
• Experience of developing procedures, technical standards and quality controls.
• Experience of auditing design outputs and implementing corrective improvements.
• A strong understanding of AutoCAD software.
• Experience or knowledge of electrical automation software such as E3 or Elecdes would be advantageous
• IT Literate (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel).
• Attention to detail and an awareness of the quality standards required.
• Highly organised
• Familiarity with protection system components
• Familiarity with substation auxiliary system components (LVAC, batteries etc.)
• Strong commitment to quality, consistency and continuous improvement.
• Excellent communication, collaboration and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to lead and develop a geographically dispersed team.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK's most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn't rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You'll have the freedom to shape the package that's right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

- Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.

- 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)

- Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave

- Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more

About us

Balfour Beatty's Power Transmission & Distribution teams work with regional, national and international electricity network owners and operators to provide technical engineering solutions across the full spectrum of the electricity grid, including overhead lines, cabling, substations and distribution networks.

From scoping and feasibility, to design, construction and on-going maintenance, our in-house experts, flexible resources and industry-leading innovations support customers in the development of some of the UK's most ambitious power transmission and distribution projects.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit

We are a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long-term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. For more info, visit: