Workplace Designer
The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.
We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers.And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.
Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme, as well as delivering modern, cost-effective real estate service solutions.
Innovation and progress are at the heart of our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. And we’re dedicated to becoming a leading, inclusive employer both in the external market and throughout the Civil Service.Our strong emphasis on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.
Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kick starting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.
The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.
To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Workplace Designer (WD) is responsible for ensuring the Government Workplace Design Guide and supporting technical annexes are applied consistently across specific projects. They also provide day to day advice and guidance to the project team on design matters.
Supporting the Workplace Design Manager, and acting as the tactical Intelligent Client on specific projects, the WD interprets the Government Workplace Design Guide, GPA’s Employer Requirements and any client specialist requirements, informing design briefs for developers and GPA’s consulting design partners to produce designs for each RIBA stage.
The WD provides assurance that all designs support the GPA’s commitment to create workplaces that are safe, inclusive and accessible and as flexible as possible to support smarter and hybrid working practices.
Working as part of a wider team, the WD provides ad-hoc support on other projects as required, including the development and maintenance of our guides and standards to ensure our projects are at the forefront of sustainable and inclusive workplace design.
Key Responsibilities:
Reporting to a Workplace Design Manager, the Workplace Designer is responsible for:
- Advising the Workplace Design Manager on the status of the project’s design, ensuring they are aligned to the Government Workplace Design Guide and supporting technical annexes.
- Providing professional advice and guidance to the project team, escalating design related risks and issues as appropriate to the Workplace Design Manager.
- Technically assuring the designs produced by the GPA’s consulting design partners and developer’s architects, to ensure compliance with GPA standards, including inclusive and accessible design and the GPA look and feel.
- Supporting client engagement on all design matters.
- Implementing the Government Workplace Design Guide in full, as far as is reasonably practicable, and managing exceptions (client specialist requirements) into appropriate briefing material for designers to use during Cat A and Cat B RIBA stages, minimising the need for bespoke spaces.
- Work with the Stakeholder and Approval Manager(s) to review client specialist requirements to minimise costs and unnecessary derogation from the Government Workplace Design Guide and technical annexes.
- Providing information to inform detailed briefings, options analysis and information on design for senior leaders and stakeholders.
- Monitoring and reporting on the project specific design progress.
- Supporting the GPA Workplace Experience team to advocate smarter working.
- Supporting the GPA’s Technology and Data team to deliver interoperable AV/IT solutions.
- Supporting the GPA Workplace Solutions team to design customer focussed products and services.
- Working with subject matter experts in design-related areas across government, and private sector professionals including the property industry.
- Acting as a client design point of contact for designers, contractors, consultant partners and their supply chains on specific projects.
The Workplace Designer is directly accountable to the Workplace Design Manager for the status of their allocated project’s design.