Assistant Manager - Major Projects Advisory in Manchester

KPMG’s Major Projects Advisory (MPA) team works closely with some of the most influential and innovative industry‑leading organisations, across both the public and private sectors, helping them navigate and successfully resolve some of the most complex and significant challenges inherent in large‑scale infrastructure and construction projects.

The MPA team in the UK are based in London, Birmingham and Manchester. This role will be based in one of these locations but could require some travel to client locations throughout the UK and occasionally overseas.

We provide clarity to Boards, Executives, and Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) within major public and private sector organisations regarding the delivery of their projects and programmes. We work on some of the UK’s most strategically important projects and programmes, across all sectors including power and utilities, transport, corporates, oil and gas, defence, health, natural resources, housing and education.

Our team comprises specialists with deep construction industry experience, with experience working for project owners, contractors, cost and engineering consultants and others in the UK and overseas. With our continuous growth, we are investing further in our team. This presents an opportunity to join one of the firm’s most dynamic and rapidly growing sectors during a period of considerable importance.

This role is for an ambitious professional at Assistant Manager level, who can work alongside our existing team to use their lived delivery experience of infrastructure and construction, and commercial acumen, to solve complex problems on behalf of our clients.

You will bring experience in cost and commercial management, advisory, and assurance, applied to a diverse range of construction or infrastructure projects. You should have experience in a field such as commercial management & quantity surveying, project controls, civil, mechanical or electrical engineering, or you may have held a specialist assurance role within a client or in a public sector organisation. You may have been based on site, or in an advisory role.

The role requires experience with the following attributes:

• Client or senior stakeholder‑facing experience
• Experience working in highly political and confidential environments
• An ability to assess new situations and data quickly to provide a basis for developing an understanding of causal factors.
• An ability to proactively manage the monthly drumbeat of activity to ensure deadlines are met and all activity is delivered to a high quality
• A good understanding of the key factors which influence costs on construction projects
• A good understanding of typical contractual mechanisms operating in infrastructure and industry‑standard contract forms
• A good understanding of key issues which impact project performance
• Experience drafting and reviewing key commercial documents such as briefing notes, recommendations and commercial reports
• Experience of managing the work of junior colleagues
• Experience of resource forecasting and management including work planning, annual leave tracking and timesheet analysis
• Ability to support project financial management including the production of monthly applications for payments in line with reporting requirements

In addition to the above, experience in some of the following areas would also be of benefit to the candidate in the environment that we work in:

• Cost and Commercial Management
• Project management
• Project controls
• Earned value management
• Estimating
• Risk management
• Programme management
• Procurement strategy
• Resource management
• Claims, disputes and dispute avoidance
• Governance and control of projects
• Hold or working towards a relevant professional qualification, such as MRICS, MICE, ChPP, MAPM, CIOB, etc.

In addition to the technical requirements of the role we also expect the right candidate to:

• Be a self‑starter, who builds a rapport with new team members quickly
• Be confident and articulate with senior clients and stakeholders
• Be committed to learning for a lifetime
• Provide clear and concise advice to clients and manage client relationship
• Assist with business development and supporting delivery of the MPA growth strategy

We’re looking for people to grow with us and are committed to helping everybody reach their destination, regardless of what that is. No matter what skills you bring to our team, you’ll be surrounded by spirited, naturally curious people. People who want to learn from you, and who’ll also teach you a thing or two along the way.

We are open to talk to major projects advisory talent across the country but our core hubs for this role are: London, Canary Wharf, Manchester, Birmingham. With 20 sites across the UK, we can potentially facilitate office work, working from home, flexible hours, and part‑time options. If you have a need for flexibility, please register and discuss this with our team.