Connectivity Design Consultant / Technical Design Authority (TDA)

Contract | Part-Time – 3–4 Days per Week

Major Infrastructure & Development Programme

We are looking for an experienced Connectivity Design Consultant / Technical Design Authority (TDA) to support a major infrastructure and development programme.

This is a senior, stakeholder-facing consultancy assignment focused on ensuring end-to-end connectivity requirements are captured early, translated into coordinated technical designs and maintained throughout the design lifecycle.

Working from RIBA Stage 2 onwards, you will provide connectivity design expertise, technical assurance and governance, acting as a key interface between the customer, design teams and wider programme stakeholders.

The assignment would suit an experienced connectivity, network or ICT infrastructure professional who is comfortable operating across both technical and stakeholder environments within complex construction or infrastructure programmes.

Key Objectives

The consultant will support the programme by:

• Capturing and translating connectivity requirements so they are considered early within the RIBA design process, typically from Stage 2 onwards.
• Ensuring connectivity requirements are accurately represented within coordinated designs, construction documentation and procurement packages.
• Providing assurance of client designs by ensuring requirements are tracked, validated and incorporated throughout the design lifecycle.
• Maintaining alignment across multiple programme stakeholders through effective technical governance, change management and coordinated communication.
• Supporting knowledge transfer and continuity within the customer team.

Key Responsibilities

You will be responsible for providing connectivity design and programme support across the agreed scope, including:

• Ensuring end-to-end connectivity requirements are fully understood, captured and reflected within design outputs.
• Capturing, prioritising and translating technical and business requirements into coordinated designs from RIBA Stage 2 onwards.
• Ensuring requirements are appropriately incorporated into construction, design and procurement documentation.
• Tracking, validating and assuring requirements throughout the design lifecycle.
• Reviewing and challenging designs to identify gaps, risks, dependencies and areas requiring further development.
• Providing design assurance and technical governance across the connectivity scope.
• Acting in a Technical Design Authority (TDA) capacity, providing the interface between key technical and programme stakeholders.
• Maintaining technical alignment between the customer, design teams, delivery partners and other stakeholders.
• Managing the impact of changes to requirements and supporting effective change control.
• Coordinating technical communication and supporting key design decisions across the programme.
• Supporting knowledge transfer and capability development within the customer team to maintain programme continuity.

Technical Scope

The connectivity scope will include coordinated design inputs covering areas such as:

• WiFi infrastructure
• LAN / network infrastructure
• Security and access systems
• Backend network infrastructure
• Associated end-to-end connectivity requirements and dependencies

The consultant will ensure these requirements are appropriately coordinated with the wider programme design and reflected throughout the relevant RIBA stages.

Key Deliverables

Expected deliverables will include:

• Coordinated design inputs reflecting agreed end-to-end connectivity requirements across WiFi, LAN, security/access and backend network infrastructure.
• RIBA-aligned coordinated designs incorporating captured and prioritised connectivity requirements from Stage 2 onwards.
• Validated and assured designs demonstrating that requirements have been tracked and incorporated throughout the design lifecycle.
• Technical Design Authority oversight supporting stakeholder alignment, technical decision-making and governance.
• Effective management of design changes and associated programme communication.
• Knowledge-transfer support and documentation to maintain continuity within the customer team.

Experience Required

We are looking for an experienced consultant with a strong background in connectivity and network infrastructure, ideally gained within major construction, infrastructure or development programmes.

You should be able to demonstrate experience in:

• Connectivity and network infrastructure environments.
• WiFi, LAN and backend network infrastructure design and delivery.
• Working within RIBA design stages and multidisciplinary design environments.
• Design coordination from RIBA Stage 2 onwards.
• Requirements capture, prioritisation and translation into technical design outputs.
• Design assurance, technical governance and requirements validation.
• Operating as a Technical Design Authority (TDA), Design Authority, Technical Architect or in a similar senior technical capacity.
• Reviewing and challenging designs produced by consultants, designers and delivery partners.
• Translating technical requirements into construction and procurement documentation.
• Managing technical change, dependencies and design decisions.
• Working across multiple stakeholder groups within large and complex programmes.
• Communicating technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Ideal Background

This opportunity would be particularly well suited to someone who has previously worked as a:

Connectivity Architect | Network Architect | ICT Infrastructure Architect | Connectivity Design Consultant | Technical Design Authority | Network Design Authority | Senior Technology Consultant

Experience working within major infrastructure, construction, property development, transport, smart buildings, large campuses or similarly complex development environments would be highly advantageous.

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