RIBA Part 3 Architect Director/Practice Director

Ambitious Dynamic RIBA Part 3 Architect Director/Practice Director Required For Residential Design Practice Undertaking Projects Throughout London and the South East

PLEASE NOTE: Due to our current marketing focus and client base you must be based in London/Kent.

Please confirm your address when submitting your CV.

About Us

We are an RIBA chartered practice currently experiencing exponential growth in the residential design sector throughout London. Based in Erith, Kent we will soon be one of the largest specialist home designers in the South East. We specialize in home extensions/conversions and new builds undertaking around 10-12 new projects per month ranging from £80k single storey extensions and loft conversions to £1mil double storey luxury extensions and new builds. This is set to increase further with the launch of our new luxury brand The Architects Of London which will focus on high end residential refurbishment, conversions and extensions to super prime properties in West London. Depending on the early success of this brand a likely office move next year to central London will allow us to add more west London properties to our portfolio.

We have an ambitious strategy for further growth across London and the South East for both the Bluelime and The Architects Of London brands and need to build our teams to facilitate this growth.

About You

We are looking for a particularly special kind of person to come on board with us at this early exponential growth stage. That person needs to have the aspiration and desire to go the extra mile where we can develop a role around their skill sets.

This is a permanent role where you will be based full time in our Head Office in Erith and can benefit from face to face dialogue and support from the rest of the design team and our resident full time Structural Engineer and Construction Director.

This is a client facing role. Customer focus and great service are key attributes that are absolutely fundamental to the role. You will have considerable customer contact therefore you must possess the confidence and ability to create and maintain a great working relationship with each of our clients. Much of our current success is down to the likability and trust factor. You must possess these abilities.

You will have a distinct advantage if you have current working relationships with Londons top end property owners/developers such as Cadogan Estates, Portland Estates etc. and if you are in a position to help grow our business with these potential clients and other high end west London developers.

If you are an aspiring, ambitious Architect/Architect Director/Practice Director looking for a break-through opportunity that will be interesting, varied and challenging then this is the role for you. This is your chance to shine and set your design creativity loose on some of the amazing residential properties we work on. It is also your opportunity to rise to the next level of progression in your career where you would be managing the operations of the Bluelime/The Architects Of London business.

If you have aspirations to excel in everything you do, progress within your career or are entrepreneurial in your thinking, you will have a distinct advantage. We are not looking for individuals who are happy with the status quo. We want people who are flexible, ambitious, and want to get on in life. The role is certainly demanding, there is a lot for you to do however the financial and personal rewards are there for anyone who puts in the work and goes the extra mile. For the highest performing Architect/Architect Director/Practice Director with the right management and leadership skills there will be an opportunity to develop your career. The opportunities to progress within our business for the right individual are significant.

In the first instance to join us as an Architect Director/Practice Director you will be undertaking the design function for residential conversions, extensions and refurbishment schemes ranging from £80k to £700k. This will involve you meeting our clients at their property and undertaking the full design process, immersing yourself in how we do things so you can work out where improvements can be made. You will also be required to quality check design functions carried out by others including other Designers and Structural Engineers. You will need to be pro-active in your management style by continually liaising with our service providers to ensure they are delivering a quality product by the agreed timescales promised to our clients. You should then move onto much larger west London schemes beyond the £1mil benchmark.

Your highest priority will be for you to be running the operation of the Bluelime Business profitably which will likely incorporate the operations of ‘The Architects of London’ brand asap. In reality that would mean limiting the amount of projects you are physically designing yourself allowing you time to look after the operational side of the business. There will be a period of time (probably 3 months) where you will need to undertake the entire design process on several projects so you obtain a full and thorough understanding of how we design and so you can identify where improvements can be made. But we will need you to quickly develop from here into the full managerial role so that the directors of the business can release time to grow the business and achieve the five year growth plan. You will be a strategic part of this growth plan and we will require your assistance in that regard. You will also be required to design and oversee some of our more challenging projects throughout London utilizing the resources we have in our business currently.

To excel in the role your sales ability, understanding of what is possible and how best to achieve what our clients want when extending or converting their homes is important.

You will also be required to ensure all projects and tasks carried out by you or our Designers, Engineers, Builders etc. are completed within agreed deadlines and to exacting standards. You will speak with and manage our service providers regularly. You will continually liaise with and meet with our clients to ensure they are well informed at all times. You will also have to chase up the various authorities for approvals and generally be proactive in managing the processes to deliver the excellent service we currently provide to our clients. You must be able to demonstrate good communication and interpersonal skills. As you will be liaising with our clients regularly, a good command of the English language is essential.

To do all this and as a minimum you must be proficient in AutoCAD Revit. You will possess a minimum of 3 years working experience of UK Building Regulations and Planning Regulations. Technical/construction drawing ability will also be important as well as high-end visual design.

Preferably you will be RIBA Part 3 qualified. We will also consider very experienced and capable RIBA Part 2 candidates.

We will give you all the necessary training and support you need to help you to be successful.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leading the business and team forward as head of operations
• Office operational management
• Strategic planning to ensure business success
• Process improvement
• Motivate the team to achieve business goals
• Chair weekly coordination/planning meetings with the team to ensure everyone is aligned to achieve business goals and to use this forum to take on board team ideas and concerns they may have.
• Grow our business in the west London luxury residential sector by assisting our sales and marketing teams and using your property owner/developer contacts
• Complete designs for residential properties throughout the London using AutoCAD Revit
• Plan ahead and coordinate other designers, assistants and service providers
• Manage Designers and consultants including the critiquing of their surveys/designs to deliver all Bluelime/The Architects Of London projects to agreed time lines and quality and in line with all RIBA stage 1-7
• Manage the practice/business meeting profit and revenue expectations
• Client liaison delivering excellent customer service. Every client must be communicated with at least fortnightly.
• Meeting with clients and contractors on site as necessary.
• Producing fee quotes to secure future work
• Help the Sales and Marketing team grow both the Bluelime and The Architects of London brands
• Helping the rest of the team upskill on Revit and assist with library creation.
• Advising and instructing designers and sub contract designers when queries arise beyond their ability
• Responsibilities as set out under RIBA rules and regulations allowing us to maintain the RIBA chartered practice designation.
• Review our processes and design standards and implement improvements where necessary
• Meet with clients and go through the design brief line by line, mark up any changes/further detail as necessary
• Sketch out ideas with clients there and then if necessary
• All options to have budget build costs
• There is no limit on the amount of options to be produced as required by a client. However most involve no more than 6 options
• Design development with clients to achieve final design
• Submission of planning applications
• Production of construction drawings with full electrical and mechanical layouts, door and ironmongery schedules
• Coordination of Structural Designs provided by Engineer

Key attributes: 

• Strong at Sales with good, well established relationships with Londons larger property owners/developers
• Good practice/business management skills
• Proficient in AutoCAD Revit
• Good presentation skills of designs to clients both face to face and by email
• Excellent communicator happy to communicate verbally with clients every 7 days minimum
• Planning and coordination skills of other designers and consultants involved in your projects.
• Knowledge of structural design aspects so you can instruct and understand information provided by our Structural Engineer
• Problem solving on yours and others projects.
• Understanding of construction costs.
• Effective team player and people manager
• Proficient with all aspects of MS Office programs including Word, Outlook and Excel.
• A working knowledge of UK Building Regulations and Planning restrictions would be advantageous.
• Strong telephone, email and face-to-face communication skills.
• Must possess the ability to build rapport quickly.
• Must demonstrate the drive and ambition to beat targets on a month by month basis.
• Must be able to get yourself to our offices in Erith at own cost

After successfully completing your 3 month probationary period  you will be permanently employed attracting a salary between £40000 - £50000 depending on experience.

If you are interested please get in touch and email us your CV.

fresh@bluelimeprojects.com

You can find out more about us by visiting

www.bluelimeprojects.com

www.thearchitectsoflondon.co.uk