Senior Quantity Surveyor

Smart 4 EPC

Senior Quantity Surveyor

Role Purpose

Senior Quantity Surveyor (will lead the commercial management of design-related change across major Heathrow airport programmes. Working within a multidisciplinary consultancy environment, the role is responsible for identifying, assessing, pricing, negotiating, and securing agreement of changes arising from design development, scope evolution, client instructions, technical assurance requirements, and programme impacts.

The successful candidate will possess strong commercial, contractual, and technical understanding of infrastructure design and delivery, enabling them to work effectively with engineering, planning, project controls, and client teams throughout the project lifecycle.

A key aspect of the role is the ability to challenge and support design teams, ensuring that changes are robustly substantiated, commercially recoverable, and aligned with contractual entitlements.

Key Responsibilities

Design Change Management

• Lead the commercial assessment of design development and design change across HS2 programmes.
• Work closely with engineering and design teams to identify emerging change opportunities and risks at the earliest stage.
• Understand the relationship between design maturity, scope evolution, and commercial impact.
• Evaluate the cost, schedule, and risk implications arising from design modifications.
• Establish and maintain detailed change registers and governance processes.
• Ensure all changes are supported by robust technical and commercial justification.

Commercial & Contractual Management

• Prepare and manage change submissions, compensation events, instructions, and variation proposals.
• Provide commercial and contractual advice regarding entitlement arising from design changes.
• Support negotiations with clients, delivery partners, contractors, and stakeholders.
• Manage change from identification through to agreement and final account settlement.
• Maintain compliance with NEC contract requirements and HS2 commercial processes.
• Protect and maximise commercial recovery opportunities.

Design Team Engagement

• Act as a trusted commercial partner to design managers, discipline leads, and project managers.
• Participate in design reviews, value engineering workshops, and assurance activities.
• Challenge scope growth and ensure commercial consequences are fully understood by project teams.
• Translate complex engineering and design issues into commercially robust narratives.
• Support decision making through cost impact and option appraisal assessments.

Stakeholder Management

• Build strong working relationships across HS2, delivery partners, consultants, contractors, and project stakeholders.
• Present commercial positions and change strategies to senior leadership teams.
• Facilitate collaborative resolution of complex commercial and technical matters.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience in a Senior Quantity Surveyor or Change Management role within major infrastructure programmes.
• Strong experience managing commercial impacts arising from design development and engineering change.
• Experience working within consultancy, client-side, or complex programme environments.
• Detailed knowledge of NEC contracts, particularly compensation events and change mechanisms.
• Ability to interpret engineering designs, scope documentation, technical reports, and design deliverables.
• Experience of working in multidisciplinary design environments.
• Strong commercial negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience supporting major rail, transport, utilities, aviation, highways, or infrastructure projects.

Desirable Experience

• Previous HS2, Network Rail, TfL, National Highways, or major infrastructure programme experience.
• MRICS, MCICES or equivalent professional qualification.
• Experience working within Project Controls and integrated programme environments.
• Understanding of design assurance, systems engineering, and programme governance processes.

Key Competencies

• Design commercial management
• Change control and governance
• NEC contract administration
• Cost planning and forecasting
• Engineering and design understanding
• Commercial negotiation
• Risk and opportunity management
• Stakeholder engagement
• Strategic thinking
• Leadership and mentoring

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will be a commercially astute Senior Quantity Surveyor who is comfortable operating within highly technical design environments. They will have a strong understanding of how design decisions drive cost and programme outcomes and be able to work collaboratively with engineers and project managers to secure robust commercial outcomes. Experience on large-scale infrastructure programmes such as HS2, rail, highways, or utilities projects would be highly advantageous.