Head of Pre-Construction – Buildings

Job Description

About the role

Job Title: Head of Pre-Construction – Buildings

Location: Maxim Park, Eurocentral, Scotland

Company: Balfour Beatty – Scotland

Are you a commercially minded pre-construction leader who can combine technical credibility, business development instinct and strong client relationships to help secure and convert major building projects?

We are looking for a Head of Pre-Construction to lead pre-construction activity across our Scotland Building business. Based from Maxim Park, Eurocentral, this is a senior leadership role for someone who can influence opportunity strategy, engage confidently with customers and stakeholders, and help convert complex opportunities into successful, deliverable projects.

You’ll operate at the heart of our work-winning strategy, bringing together estimating, planning, engineering, design, commercial and operational expertise to develop solutions that are technically robust, commercially competitive and aligned to customer requirements in order to convert our ECI opportunities into successful deliverable construction projects. You’ll also play a key role in shaping opportunities early, strengthening customer relationships and helping position Balfour Beatty for future growth.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll lead our pre-construction approach across priority building opportunities in Scotland, from early pursuit planning through bid governance and ECI delivery into construction phase handover to our operational teams.

A major part of the role will be ensuring that opportunities are shaped effectively from the outset, with the right technical, commercial and delivery thinking brought together to create compelling propositions for our customers.

You will:

• Lead multi-disciplinary pre-construction teams across pre-construction management, estimating, planning, engineering and design management
• Drive structured pursuit planning across priority opportunities
• Work closely with Business Development and the wider Work Winning team to shape opportunities and improve bid conversion
• Engage with customers and key stakeholders to understand their requirements and help develop strong, technically credible solutions
• Ensure technical solutions are robust, deliverable and competitive
• Champion innovation and value engineering
• Provide assurance around cost, programme, methodology and risk
• Lead pre-construction governance from Gate 2 through to Gate 5
• Oversee cost modelling, benchmarking and risk/opportunity analysis
• Drive consistency and quality across ECI deliverables
• Ensure a seamless transition from pre-construction into operational delivery
• Build capability, resilience and collaboration whilst leading our high-performing pre-construction buildings team

Who we’re looking for

This role will suit a dynamic, personable and commercially astute senior leader who combines strong technical knowledge with the ability to build relationships, influence customers and help win major projects.

You will have significant experience of business development from a technical and construction perspective, with the ability to engage with customers early, understand their drivers and translate requirements into compelling technical and commercial solutions.

You’ll be comfortable operating at senior level, representing the business externally and building trusted relationships with customers, consultants, partners and internal stakeholders.

You’ll bring:

• A proven track record of winning business and converting major building opportunities through ECI
• Significant experience in business development, client engagement and opportunity shaping from a technical and construction standpoint
• Strong customer-facing skills and the ability to build credibility and trust quickly
• A dynamic and personable leadership style, with the confidence to influence at senior level
• A strong understanding of what creates a compelling technical and commercial proposition
• Proven experience leading major and complex pre-construction ECI’s
• Strong strategic planning capability
• A detailed understanding of construction methodologies and delivery models
• Strong commercial and financial acumen
• Experience leading complex, multi-disciplinary teams
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Deep knowledge of the pre-construction lifecycle, including estimating, planning, design and procurement
• Strong understanding of risk management, value engineering and bid governance
• Knowledge of the Scottish construction and build market
• Demonstrable success in improving bid quality, customer confidence and conversion outcomes.

Why Balfour Beatty?

This is an opportunity to take on a key leadership position within our Scotland Building business and have a genuine influence on what we pursue, how we position ourselves in the market and how we successfully convert ECI opportunities into projects.

You’ll work across some of our most important future opportunities, collaborating with senior leaders and specialist teams across Business Development, Proposals, Commercial, Operations, Design, Engineering and Work Winning.

It’s a role for someone who enjoys being at the front end of the business – building relationships, shaping solutions, leading teams and creating the conditions to win and convert opportunities.

If you’re a proven pre-construction leader who combines technical expertise, commercial instinct, strong business interpersonal skills and the ability to build lasting client relationships, we’d like to hear from you.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

Why join us?

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

• Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
• 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
• Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
• Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more.

About us

From Dunfermline’s tramways in 1909 to highland hospitals today, Balfour Beatty has been trusted for over a century to deliver the complex and critical infrastructure and iconic buildings Scotland relies on.

We have the people, knowledge and experience to safely deliver projects right first time, maximising value for money and ensuring a positive social impact and inclusive economic growth for local communities.

Our award-winning sustainable projects, including active travel, Passivhaus and retrofit, demonstrate our commitment to supporting Scotland’s transition towards net zero in the built environment.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty, we want everyone to be able to thrive and achieve their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. We’re making great progress through our Value Everyone DEI Action Plan, but we know we’ve got more to do. Find out more about our values and DEI initiatives.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this role will be offered an interview.

We are committed to our processes being barrier-free and will support adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please let the recruiter for this role know if you require any adjustments.

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