Senior Director - FLS Design Assurance (RD 4)

Job Summary

Lead Fire and Life Safety design assurance for City Operations, ensuring designs, construction activities and proposed changes are systematically reviewed for compliance, operability and alignment with approved FLS requirements. Provide independent technical assurance through design reviews, change reviews, construction monitoring and contractor oversight from design development through completion.

Key Responsibilities

Core responsibilities

• Lead FLS design assurance across relevant City Operations assets, projects and modifications.
• Establish the governance, review criteria and assurance processes for FLS design, construction activities and technical changes.
• Review fire strategy, life-safety design, calculations, drawings, specifications, material submissions and technical proposals for compliance and operational suitability.
• Lead FLS review of design changes, substitutions, value-engineering proposals, deviations and contractor requests.
• Monitor construction activities to verify alignment with approved FLS designs, specifications and agreed corrective actions.
• Provide technical direction to designers, consultants, contractors and internal stakeholders on FLS requirements and assurance findings.
• Maintain clear design-review comments, decision records, risk acceptances and closure evidence.
• Identify and escalate material design or construction risks that could affect compliance, asset readiness or safe operation.
• Coordinate interfaces between design assurance, handover and commissioning, operational compliance, FM and the Fire and Rescue Service.

Specific Responsibilities
• Develop and maintain FLS design-assurance procedures, review checklists, comment registers and reporting dashboards.
• Plan and prioritize reviews based on asset criticality, project stage and risk.
• Chair or support technical design-review and change-control meetings.
• Conduct targeted site inspections and construction monitoring of FLS-critical systems and passive fire-protection elements.
• Verify closure of design and construction comments before recommending progression to subsequent project or handover stages.
• Capture lessons learned and recurring design issues to improve future standards and specifications.

Generic Responsibilities

• Contribute to annual business planning, workforce planning and budget management for the function.
• Lead, coach and develop assigned teams and specialist service providers.
• Promote a culture of accountability, prevention, continual improvement and evidence-based decision-making.
• Maintain accurate records and provide timely reports, presentations and recommendations to City Operations leadership.
• Perform other related duties consistent with the role and business requirements.

Key Internal Interactions

• City Operations leadership and FLS & HSWW teams
• Asset Management, FM and Operational Readiness
• Projects, Development, Engineering and Design teams
• Governance, Risk & Controls
• Contracts & Procurement
• CCU, Operational Resilience and Fire and Rescue Service stakeholders

Key External Interactions

• Design consultants and FLS specialists
• Main contractors and specialist subcontractors
• Testing, inspection and certification bodies
• Civil Defence and other relevant authorities
• Developers, delivery partners and technical advisors
• Fire-system manufacturers and suppliers

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Fire Engineering, Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Architecture or a closely related discipline.
• Master’s degree in Fire Engineering or a related field is desirable.

Professional Certifications

• Chartered Engineer, Professional Engineer or equivalent professional registration is desirable.
• Relevant fire engineering, fire protection, code consultancy or auditing certification is desirable.

Skills

• Expert knowledge of fire engineering, life-safety design, fire protection systems, passive fire protection and relevant codes and standards.
• Strong design-review, technical-assurance, construction-monitoring and change-control capability.
• Ability to evaluate complex technical submissions and communicate clear, risk-based decisions.
• Strong leadership, stakeholder management, reporting and contractor-management skills.
• Ability to manage multidisciplinary interfaces across design, construction and operations.