Technical Office Manager

Position Title: Technical Office Manager (Civil)

Project Phase: Detailed Design Closeout, Shop Drawing Production, Construction, and Handover

Reports To / Direct Reports: Reports to Project Manager. Direct reports include Technical Office Engineers, Draughtsmen / CAD Technicians, and Quantity Take-Off Assistants.

POSITION PURPOSE

Lead the project technical office, directing the production and approval of all design-derived deliverables — shop drawings, method statements, technical submittals, and as-built documentation — and safeguarding the technical compliance of the works with the approved design and MPW specifications.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish and manage the technical office organisation, the drawing production programme, and the submittal schedule, aligned with the baseline construction programme.
• Review and authorise all shop drawings, bar bending schedules, method statements, and technical submittals prior to issue to the Consultant.
• Manage the design interface with the Designer / Design Sub-Consultant, controlling design change requests, technical clarifications, and value engineering proposals.
• Direct the resolution of design conflicts and multi-discipline clash detection between civil, mechanical, electrical, and I&C works.
• Oversee compilation of the as-built documentation, input to the O&M manuals, and the technical handover dossiers.

AUTHORITY & DECISION-MAKING

• Responsible for: Technical integrity and specification compliance of every document issued by the technical office.
• Authorized to instruct: Technical office engineers, draughtsmen, and subcontractor technical / design staff.
• Not authorized: Not empowered to approve design changes affecting process performance, contractual scope, or approved specifications without Project Manager, Designer, and Consultant approval.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Minimum Qualifications: B.Sc. in Civil Engineering.

Required Experience: Minimum 15 years of engineering and technical office experience on large-scale water/wastewater treatment or heavy civil EPC projects, including at least 5 years leading a project technical office (Kuwait / GCC experience preferred).

Technical Competencies: Design review and coordination, reinforced concrete and water-retaining structure detailing (BS 8007 / ACI 350), BIM and clash detection workflows, submittal and design change management, interpretation of MPW technical specifications.

Language Requirements: Fluent written and spoken English is required; English is the working language for all correspondence, submittals, and reporting to MPW and the Consultant. Arabic is a distinct asset for liaison with Kuwaiti authorities, local suppliers, and the workforce.

INTERFACES, DELIVERABLES & PERFORMANCE

Key Interfaces: Project Manager, Designer / Design Sub-Consultant, Consultant (DAR) Design Review Team, Assistant Project Manager (Site Manager), QA/QC Engineer, Contracts / QS Engineer, Planning Engineer.

Key Deliverables: Shop drawing and submittal production programme, approved drawing and submittal registers, design change / technical query log, as-built and technical handover dossiers.

KPIs: First-time approval rate of technical submittals; submittal production ahead of the required-on-site dates in the construction programme; zero construction rework attributable to technical office errors.