Project Manager R&D in Horsham

Role Purpose: Joining the Project Management team and reporting to the R&D IPT Lead, the Project Manager will be responsible for managing the execution of assigned projects, overall engineering development efforts, contract deliverables and contract milestones. The Project Manager will control all cost, time, quality and technical performance requirements as well as manage critical communications and decisions with key internal and external stakeholders. The Project Manager will work closely with Operations in a customer facing role to ensure acceptance testing and delivery in line with contractual obligations. Assigned projects can include both customer contracts as well as internally funded development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure assigned new projects are launched with due diligence through the creation of project artefacts (master schedules, resource demand plans, stage plans and budgets for each stage).
• Manage communications with internal and external stakeholders, taking responsibility for capturing and communicating their requirements and managing their expectations and engagement. Maintain a logbook of meetings minutes, important decisions and all communications with commercial impact to the business.
• Manage delivery against key PM artefacts including Master Schedule, Project Management Plan, SoW/Contract Compliance Matrix and Chess Business Processes.
• Coordination with operations to ensure the delivery of new and build-to-print projects, engaging with customers to keep them informed of progress and ensuring their availability for acceptance testing as required.
• Liaise with engineering leads and department heads to ensure that critical success-factors for the project are identified and managed and accurate demand for resources/skills requirements are identified and filled.
• Work with the project engineering team and senior reviewers to ensure that all design processes are followed, and stage gates are achieved to meet the schedule.
• Set up and manage centralised residual action logs ensuring that all actions are collected and closed.
• Initiate and run risk management in line with company process and customer requirements.
• Work with Finance to prepare and update monthly projects reports including management of revenue trading plans, EAC, ETC and forecast margin to senior managers.
• Liaise with colleagues to ensure appropriate controls are in place for production, data management & retention, invoicing, shipping, and export controls.
• Coordinate and collect (throughout and at the closure of a project) lessons learned and feedback for process improvement and personnel development.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Support and assist colleagues as required in the support of milestones and deliverables.
• Develop a working knowledge of all products delivered by Chess.
• Attain and sustain a working knowledge of all engineering / development processes and their application to the execution of assigned projects.
• Participate in and contribute to continuous business improvement.
• Complete all administrative actions on time and accurately including weekly timesheets and status reports and annual mandatory compliance training modules.

Skills & Experience

Essential:

• Minimum experience of 3 years in a project management role within an Engineering environment.
• Stakeholder management of international Customers and with multiple functions across an engineering design and delivery business.
• Ability to create and maintain project plans using Microsoft Project or similar.
• Experience in the generation of project and financial reports.
• Maintain personal ability to travel within UK and abroad as required (driving licence, passport etc).
• Maintain ability to hold a baseline UK Security Clearance.

Work life balance:

• 37.5 hour working week, Lunchtime finishes on a Friday.
• Hybrid / flexible working arrangements.
• 28 days annual leave, Christmas closure, Holiday purchasing scheme.

Benefits:

• Group pension plan – matched contributions up to 5%.
• Income protection scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme gives you and your family access to 4 key services including remote GP service, second opinion, mental health pathway service and physiotherapy consultations.
• Life assurance policy, including bereavement counselling and probate helpline.

Security Clearance Requirements:

Due to the nature of our business, our staff need to be able to obtain UK Security Clearance as a mandated requirement. Therefore, if successful, you will need to provide proof of identity, employment history and right to work in the UK, along with proof of UK residency for at least five years.