Senior Project Manager (Defence)

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Project Manager to lead a complex engineering project within the defence industry.

This role requires expertise in project management, stakeholder engagement, and a proven ability to lead bid writing and proposal development processes to secure business opportunities.

The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in ensuring the project delivers against the time, budget, and to the highest standards, contributing to the organisation’s strategic growth and operational success.

Key Responsibilities

1. Project Delivery: Lead the end-to-end management of large-scale projects, ensuring all deliverables meet schedule, budget, and quality targets.
2. Bid Writing and Proposal Development: Take a leading role in creating and submitting compelling, high-quality bids that align with customer requirements and organisational objectives.
3. Risk and Issue Management: Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate project risks, ensuring issues are addressed promptly to minimise impact.
4. Stakeholder Engagement: Develop and maintain strong relationships with internal teams, customers, suppliers, and other key stakeholders.
5. Budget and Financial Management: Oversee project budgets, track financial performance, and deliver cost-effective results.
6. Compliance and Governance: Ensure projects adhere to regulatory, legal, and organisational standards, with a strong focus on the defence sector’s specific requirements.
7. Team Leadership: Lead multidisciplinary teams across multiple locations, fostering collaboration, accountability, and performance excellence.
8. Strategic Contribution: Ensure projects align with organisational objectives, contributing to overall growth and innovation within the defence industry.

Key Skills and Experience

1. Bid Writing Expertise: Proven experience leading the creation of winning bids and proposals, ideally for high-value defence or government contracts.
2. Project Management Excellence: Extensive experience delivering complex projects in a high-technology or regulated industry such as defence, aerospace, or engineering.
3. Stakeholder Management: Exceptional ability to manage and influence internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
4. Risk and Problem-Solving Skills: Expertise in identifying risks, resolving challenges, and driving successful outcomes.
5. Defence Industry Knowledge: Familiarity with procurement processes, MOD standards, and relevant defence regulations is highly desirable.
6. Leadership and Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to inspire, lead, and manage cross-functional teams in a matrix environment.
7. Technical Insight: Strong understanding of complex systems engineering and technical project delivery.

Qualifications and Requirements

1. Degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., Engineering, Business, Project Management) or equivalent experience.
2. Recognised project management certification (e.g., PRINCE2, APMP, PMI PMP).
3. Extensive experience in bid writing and project management within the defence or related industries.
4. Proficiency in Primavera P6; experience with MS Project, Excel, or other scheduling software is a plus.
5. Eligible for UK Security Clearance (SC).

We offer a genuinely agile and flexible working environment with a competitive salary, potential annual bonus, and benefits including:

• 25 days annual leave reaching up to 28 days after 3 calendar years’ service, plus 8 bank holidays per year.
• Pension contribution matching up to 8%, so total 16% of pay to pension.
• Company sick pay after qualification period.
• Access to a staff discount scheme at retailers nationally.
• Hybrid Working.
• Flexible Working Week.

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