Senior IT Project Manager in Crewe

Automotive Hybrid: 2-3 days per week in Crewe, Cheshire. Initially until year end. Outside IR35.

In short: We require a strong, classic IT PM to join a prestige motor company supporting and taking ownership of a number of IT-related projects. Heavy on Waterfall delivery. We expect candidates to demonstrate clear end-to-end delivery cycle capability.

In full: The role is responsible for leading and managing significant/multiple IT Projects and Programmes. They have responsibility for creating and maintaining good customer relationships with the project teams and sponsors and to ensure that the needs of the business operations are in place for the launch of the projects. The job holder manages, plans, coordinates, controls and steers the overall Programme and associated project portfolio according to the process requirements.

Main responsibilities:

• Project planning and setup
• Prepare and present resource estimates and all other related investment requirements (including for year 1 operations) for large scale IT projects and programmes.
• Create related budget spend forecasts.
• Ensure the business case is valid and approved before project commencement.
• Raise any required budget release requests and support investment planning and management as required (e.g. planning round for investment).
• Identify internal and external project dependencies and prepare inclusive work breakdown structure (WBS).
• Turn the WBS into a schedule with the critical path identified.
• Trigger procurement process and onboard project team members as appropriate, coordinate with the relevant teams to ensure the necessary resources to deliver the assigned projects are committed.
• Determine the methodology to apply in accordance with the established project management framework.

Project execution (monitoring and controlling):

• Lead active risk and issues management, ensuring that risks and issues are owned, actioned and escalated as required.
• Manage any change that materially alters the project scope or plan and ensure suitable decision forums are used to agree these.
• Monitor and track project expenditure.
• Maintain a watch on project benefits realisation and check that the business case remains valid through the project phases.
• Lead preparation and delivery of project gateways.
• Validate technical solution designs to ensure they will meet business need.

Project Closure:

• Ensure that projects are suitably closed down once the change is implemented.
• Undertake lessons learnt review.
• Prepare benefits/outcome delivery review.
• Ensure project artefacts are filed as appropriate and that configuration items that exist beyond the project are in the correct location.

Develop knowledge & capability:

• Builds knowledge of project management frameworks, methods and techniques and contributes to Project Management practice led initiatives.
• Supports Team Lead in providing mentoring and knowledge transfer to less experienced Project Managers.
• Proactively contributes to supporting & developing other Project Managers (inside and outside of project assignments).
• Provides constructive feedback to other Project Managers.
• Provides other Project Managers with advice on best practice analysis approaches & techniques (in alignment with business standards), coaches and mentors less experienced Project Managers.
• Shares knowledge with peers where appropriate.
• Demonstrates understanding of corporate strategy.
• Proactively builds knowledge of business domains.
• Proactively builds knowledge of the automotive industry.
• Demonstrates full understanding of established IT frameworks pertaining to role.

Skills and experience:

• Demonstrable experience in an IT related application or technical area with supervisory or management control over projects and resources.
• Programme Management experience.
• Mentoring others.
• Must be able to organise and manage workload to reflect company priorities.
• Evidence of successful delivery of strategic projects with targets.
• Evidence of interpersonal skills appropriate to the role, good communication and influencing skills.
• Analytical and decision making skills.
• Wide-ranging business process knowledge or the ability to gain the required knowledge quickly.
• Experience of complete project life cycles from project initiation to implementation.
• ITIL awareness (IT Infrastructure Library: a set of comprehensive and inter-related codes of practice, useful to achieving the efficient support and delivery of high quality, cost effective IT services).

Candidates will ideally show evidence of the above in their CV in order to be considered.

Please be advised if you haven't heard from us within 48 hours then unfortunately your application has not been successful on this occasion, we may however keep your details on file for any suitable future vacancies and contact you accordingly.

Pontoon is an employment consultancy and operates as an equal opportunities employer. We use generative AI tools to support our candidate screening process. This helps us ensure a fair, consistent, and efficient experience for all applicants. Rest assured, all final decisions are made by our hiring team, and your application will be reviewed with care and attention.