Detailed Design Dicipline Manager

About the role

Ocean Installer AS is seeking an experienced Discipline Manager to develop its detailed design capability. This is a new role created to support the growing need for detailed design expertise across FEED studies, tenders, and EPCI projects. The position combines technical leadership with hands-on engineering and involves building a focused discipline tailored to the company’s project needs.

Detailed design serves as a critical link between early-phase engineering and execution, supporting constructability, procurement, and the efficient transition from FEED into project delivery. This role offers the opportunity to shape a new engineering capability within Ocean Installer rather than simply stepping into an existing position.

Responsibilities

• Establish and develop Ocean Installer’s detailed design discipline and ways of working.
• Provide technical leadership and hands-on engineering support for FEED studies, tenders, and EPCI projects.
• Define fit-for-purpose detailed design scopes and deliverables based on project requirements.
• Act as the focal point for detailed design activities within EPCI project teams and ensure effective interfaces with other engineering disciplines.
• Support the transition from FEED into detailed design, procurement, and offshore execution.
• Support tender teams in defining and assessing detailed design scope, execution strategy, and requirements.
• Develop scopes of work for external engineering providers and follow up with design houses and specialist subcontractors.
• Review and quality-assure third-party engineering deliverables, ensuring technical, contractual, and commercial alignment.
• Work closely with clients, suppliers, and internal engineering disciplines.
• Maintain relevant technical competence and awareness of developments within detailed design.

Who we're looking for

We are seeking someone with broad subsea detailed design experience combined with a strong understanding of offshore construction and project execution. This experience may come from an EPCI contractor, design house, engineering consultancy, or a similar environment.

Key technical areas of interest include field layout and pipeline routing, offshore design codes, on-bottom stability and freespan analysis, crossing and spool design, and tie-in analysis. Additional experience in flexible pipe and riser design, dynamic riser analysis, structural and pipeline interfaces, and interfaces with geotechnical, survey, flow assurance, materials, pre-commissioning, SPS, and diverless connection systems is a plus.

Equally important is an understanding of how design decisions translate into fabrication, construction, and offshore installation. The ideal candidate should be able to combine sound engineering principles with practical execution experience and develop solutions suited to an installation contractor and EPCI environment.

Qualifications and experience

This is not a role where you will take over an established discipline. You will help build it. The discipline is intended to remain lean, supplemented by internal specialists and external design resources when required.

You should be comfortable working across organizational boundaries, challenging established ways of working, and demonstrating the value that detailed design can bring to projects. Strong collaboration and communication skills are essential, along with the credibility to work effectively with project teams, clients, discipline leads, and external engineering providers.

We are looking for someone who is pragmatic, adaptable, and commercially aware, and who takes ownership rather than waiting for a fully defined framework.

Why Ocean Installer?

Ocean Installer is a global marine construction company delivering large, complex projects in challenging environments. Based in Stavanger, the company has offices in Oslo, Aberdeen, Dubai, and Rio de Janeiro. With a business model based on partnerships, we have a flexible asset strategy and customer mindset, creating agility.

We offer a flexible organization with direct lines of communication and swift decision-making processes. We also provide a great working environment in a dynamic and international company, competitive pension and insurance schemes, flexibility to work from home, and regular social events organized by our social club, Social Installer, with free access to in-house sports facilities.