Technical Jobs at Persimmon Group

The most varied department in all our companies is the Technical and Commercial Department, which is divided into three main areas; Design, Buying and Quantity Surveying.

The department is heavily involved right through from the feasibility stage to the completion of construction and most will have a Technical Director and usually a Technical Manager, with further department heads responsible for the different functions.

Heavily involved in the feasibility studies for potential sites, the Design Department includes both architectural and engineering design. On the architectural side, the design of sites and house types is undertaken. Some of this work may be outsourced but most of our companies employ Architectural Technicians or Design Co-ordinators. Technical Co-ordinators will generally be responsible for co-ordinating technical, construction and sales specifications for all developments. The Engineering Design team in the shape of Design Engineers will prepare the engineering strategy for a site, to include site levels, roads and drainage. Adoptions or Highways Engineers will co-ordinate the road layout for a new site and enter into adoption agreements.

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With designs agreed it is the responsibility of the Buyers in the Buying Department to purchase all materials and plant required for each development. They manage and negotiate price increases, term deals and rebates to ensure optimum procurement efficiencies. Buyers produce tender documents, analyse tenders, appoint suppliers and issue orders. They also manage stock levels and assist with product selection, development specifications and costing exercises. Larger companies may employ a Commercial Manager to co-ordinate the costing, procurement and ordering processes.

The major role in project costing falls to the Quantity Surveying department. Budgets are prepared for each development and the Quantity Surveyors will control costs control throughout the life of the development, including the preparation of labour targets and the appointment and payment of sub-contractors. Quantity Surveyors also provide cost information to all other departments, including cost comparisons and costing of any bespoke variations to plan. Larger companies will employ Estimators, Assistant Surveyors or Trainee Surveyors to share the workload of this very important function.