Harmony Fire
Head Of Design
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Department: Building Fabric - Pre-construction
Location: London
Description
Harmony is on a mission to be the best life safety partner to work with and for. Rated an ‘Outstanding Employer’ by Best Companies in 2025, we are only getting bigger and stronger — and we’re looking for A-players to help us get there.
We are passionate about making a difference and obsessed with quality. Our goal is to build a world where every resident can sleep safely at night, knowing their home is 100% safe.
We are looking for a Head of Design to lead and own Harmony’s design function within our Building Fabric Pre-Construction team in London. This is a newly created senior role that sits at the heart of how we win and deliver work — responsible for the technical quality of our designs, specifications, and scopes across passive fire, fire doors, firestopping, and wider building fabric works.
As we scale, the quality and credibility of our design output is a key differentiator. You will build the design function from the ground up, set the technical standard, lead a growing team of designers and surveyors, and work hand in hand with our pre-construction, procurement, and delivery teams to ensure what we design is buildable, compliant, and priced to win.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and lead Harmony’s design function across the Building Fabric division — setting the technical standard for how we design, specify, and scope passive fire and building fabric works.
- Lead the production of technical designs, drawings, specifications, and scope of works documents across live tenders and pre-construction activity.
- Ensure all design outputs comply with relevant British Standards, Approved Documents, the Building Safety Act, and client requirements — and that compliance is documented and defensible.
- Work closely with the estimating and pre-construction teams to ensure designs are accurately costed, fully scoped, and competitively priced.
- Build, develop, and lead the design team — recruiting, mentoring, and setting the standard for technical quality across the function.
- Act as Harmony’s senior technical design authority — reviewing and signing off designs, specifications, and scopes before submission.
- Develop and maintain Harmony’s design methodology, tools, templates, and standard details — building a scalable, repeatable design process that supports growth.
- Engage with clients, consultants, and specifiers at a senior level — providing technical design advice, reviewing specifications, and representing Harmony’s capability in pre-contract conversations.
- Monitor changes in standards, legislation, and technical guidance and ensure Harmony’s design approach evolves accordingly.
- Support the delivery teams with design queries, RFIs, and technical issues arising on live projects.
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Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
- An A-player mindset — high standards, extreme ownership and the drive to do things properly, the first time.
- Proven track record leading a design function or holding a senior design authority role within passive fire protection, building fabric, fire doors, or a closely related construction discipline.
- Deep technical knowledge of passive fire systems — firestopping, fire doors, compartmentation — and the standards and regulatory framework that governs them (including BS 9999, Approved Document B, the Building Safety Act, and related guidance).
- Strong experience producing and reviewing technical designs, specifications, and scope of works documents across complex building fabric projects.
- Proven leadership skills — experience building, managing, and developing a technical team.
- Commercially aware — able to work closely with estimating and pre-construction teams to ensure designs are buildable and priced to win.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills — credible and articulate at the highest client and consultant level.
- Degree in building surveying, civil or structural engineering, architecture, fire engineering, or a related discipline.
- Chartered membership of a relevant professional body (RICS, CIOB, IFE, or equivalent).
- London-based and available full time.
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Nice to Have
- Experience working across social housing, residential high-rise, or large-scale remediation programmes.
- Knowledge of EWS1, FRAEW, and fire risk assessment frameworks.
- Experience using AutoCAD, Revit, or similar design software.
Job Benefits
This is a rare opportunity to build and lead the design function at one of the UK’s fastest growing fire safety specialists — shaping how Harmony designs, specifies, and scopes building fabric works at scale, and establishing a design capability that becomes a genuine competitive advantage. At Harmony, we ask a lot — and we give a lot back. The hours are real, the standards are high and the work is demanding, but for those who show up, deliver and go the extra mile, the rewards follow. A-players here enjoy a competitive salary, a Personal Development Plan with leadership mentoring and ongoing training, unlimited holiday, a bonus scheme paying up to 50% of annual salary, private medical insurance, enhanced maternity and paternity, lunch, snacks and refreshments on us every day (fresh fruit and Takeaway Friday included), a team social budget, cycle to work, an auto-enrolment pension, two major company events a year and our Reward and Recognition scheme — including European mini-breaks for those who go above and beyond. It is a collaborative, high-energy environment focused on doing things the right way — and none of it is a perk for showing up; it’s what we share with the people pulling the business forward.
Harmony is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all applicants for employment regardless of age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief. We want everyone who works with us to feel valued and to make a difference.
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