Ambue
BR PD Architect: Lead Compliance in the Future of Retrofitting in Social Housing
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Architect with Building Regulations Principal Designer experience
Join Ambue Ltd: lead compliance in the future of retrofitting in social housing
At Ambue Ltd, we are more than a retrofit consultancy. We are a RIBA Chartered Practice with a multi-disciplinary team, using technology and innovation to help combat climate change and fuel poverty. Our mission is to streamline and automate the delivery of retrofit projects at scale across the UK social housing sector. We support our clients in retrofitting thousands of existing homes across the UK, from single houses and small blocks of low-rise flats to higher-risk buildings. Every home we help to retrofit becomes a home that offers a higher standard of living for the people in it.
Our Professional Services Offer
We provide architectural design, retrofit design, retrofit coordination, retrofit assessment, domestic energy assessment, and sustainability consultancy. Principal Designer input, in accordance with the Building Regulations and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (BR and CDM), runs through several parts of our service where clients need broader compliance support.
Our expertise extends to the complexities of heritage properties and higher-risk buildings. We are steadily evolving and streamlining how we deliver this service, alongside our PAS 2035 retrofit, design, and wider consultancy work.
This is where you come in
We are a small practice, so this is a discipline leadership role. You will hold our Building Regulations Principal Designer standard, lead the project team in delivering to it, and produce the design work yourself. In a firm our size, setting the standard and doing the work are the same job, and you will do both.
We are looking for an ARB registered Architect, a CIAT Chartered Architectural Technologist (MCIAT), or a comparably UK-accredited building professional, who is motivated to support our team through the challenges of net zero and to deliver healthy social homes across the UK. You will lead by example on Building Regulations Principal Designer duties, guiding and advising colleagues across the discipline, and ideally the CDM Principal Designer duties as well.
If you are curious, eager to learn and adapt to new technologies and ways of working, and want to make a difference to thousands of people's everyday lives, we want to hear from you.
Your role will be to lead and continue the development of our Principal Designer services, ideally combining BR and CDM, threading compliance requirements through our end-to-end retrofit process and leading the project team in discharging Ambue's Principal Designer duties.
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As a key member of the project team, you will influence the design process and make sure the BR and CDM Principal Designer duties are carried out. You will work with Project Architects, Project Managers, and the senior leadership team.
You will demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the relevant regulations and wider guidance, ethical practice, client management, and leadership. You will have excellent construction knowledge and know how to validate products and systems as compliant in specific scenarios. You will understand the importance of design responsibility and be able to evidence how you have achieved consensus on compliance among different designers, including clients, consultants, and contractors. You must be able to demonstrate your competence with examples of previous experience.
Your work will inform the continued development of the Ambue software platform, leading to the compilation of the Golden Thread and BIM data, as we scope and develop the tools and processes to automate and manage the BR and CDM Principal Designer duties efficiently.
Most of our work is in street properties and low-rise multi-occupancy buildings, and that is where the role sits day to day. From time to time a higher-risk building comes along. If you are keen to move into higher-risk building work, this is an opportunity to take that on with support and build regulated HRB experience alongside our team.
Although the ideal candidate would be experienced in delivering both BR and CDM Principal Designer services, we recognise the historically split nature of these roles. Please do not be put off applying if you can demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the BR Principal Designer role alone. We would still like to hear from you.
Join our remote-first team
Ambue is a remote-first business. Our UK-based professionals live and work across the country, supported by an international team of software developers across Europe and the Far East.
Essential experience and qualifications
- ARB registered Architect, CIAT Chartered Architectural Technologist (MCIAT), or a comparably UK-accredited building professional, with around three to five years' post-qualification experience, including refurbishment projects.
- Evidence of specific training for, or significant experience in, the role of Building Regulations Principal Designer.
- A sound understanding of the Building Regulations and their implementation.
- Proven experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in the design and delivery of architectural projects.
- Proficiency in technical design, detailing, quality control, and the management of each stage of the RIBA Plan of Work.
- The ability to plan, manage, and monitor the design, and the work of others.
- Confidence in working with, guiding, and advising contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers, clients, and colleagues, with the ability to analyse, conclude, and communicate the critical aspects of a project to recorded, safe, and compliant outcomes.
- An understanding of the Golden Thread and the technical requirements to deliver suitable outcomes.
- Strong team leadership skills.
- Contract management experience and excellent record keeping.
- A well-rounded approach to project delivery.
- The ability to produce, and more often to lead others to produce, all required design outputs and correspondence.
- Experience leading projects for commercial clients, ideally in the social landlord sector.
- Proficiency in project programming using common project management software.
- Microsoft Office proficiency.
- A valid full UK driving licence.
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Desirable experience and qualifications
- An appetite to develop into higher-risk building work, with support, as those projects arise.
- CDM Principal Designer experience.
- Awareness of retrofit standards, including PAS 2035, PAS 2030, MCS, and TrustMark.
- Familiarity with BS EN ISO 19650.
- BIM and CAD familiarity. This role does not primarily involve CAD drawing work. Ambue uses ArchiCad, and some interaction with the software may be required.
Attributes
We are looking for a highly motivated, self-directing, inquisitive, and technology-minded professional, with the collaborative drive to tackle the climate emergency while holding firm to compliance. You will be adaptable, quick to learn, well read in your field, and keen to put new ideas into practice.
What Ambue offers
In addition to the salary range shown, we offer flexible working, an excellent work/life balance as a remote-first business, and typical industry benefits.
How to apply
Please submit a covering letter setting out your relevant experience and your interest in the role, together with your CV and short examples of your project work.
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