Innovative Project Controls Manager (Data Centres/Buildings/High-tech/Infrastructure) - UK (Hybrid) in Manchester

We are Laminar Projects. Are you a seasoned project controls guru tired of the standard old-fashioned way of doing things in the construction industry? Do you get deep satisfaction from making things run more efficiently using a good dose of common sense and maybe a bit of technology? Have you always cared about the importance of proper planning and the connection between the schedule and the real day-to-day delivery of the job? Have you ever wanted to work a bit more flexibly but still be hands-on in construction and improving the industry? Sounds like a dream. Well, it isn’t, it is quite real! Read on!

We are a high-end project management consultancy and tech developer focused on upgrading the way construction projects are delivered. Our core values and mission are to bring transparency and control to projects through technology, processes, and people. We have grown from two people in 2017 to over 220 employees today, working with a stable, repeat client base across infrastructure and complex building projects in the UK and internationally.

Core values for a good life

• Grow yourself – your relationship with yourself
• Care about people – your relationship with others around you
• Execute to greatness – your relationship with your team
• Build civilisation – your relationship with humanity and the world

Vision and missions

• Connect us with meaningful relationships
• Inspire us to develop ourselves to become better humans
• Empower us to pursue our own learning adventures
• To fully digitalise the construction of human civilisation
• To create a new type of organisation that enables human flourishing while delivering a huge positive impact on society

The Role

Purpose of the role – You will enhance the delivery of the most complex and interesting projects in the world through the power of project controls. You will be a senior leader in our team, pushing the discipline to new heights within Laminar and within the industry in general.

Your team – This role is part of our Project Management Consultancy which focuses on understanding project problems, implementing the best solutions, and developing scalable best practices, tools and technology. You will be part of our Project Controls Discipline Team, led by a project controls discipline director.

Your top three objectives

• Make construction projects deliver to near perfection
• Develop yourself and everyone around you
• Create scalable and repeatable solutions to common problems

Your top five responsibilities

• Own the controls: cost, schedule, change and risk on one or more projects to enable accurate decisions for project teams
• Develop everyone: maximise the development of your team personally and professionally and educate our clients to improve as well
• Make scalable solutions: develop best practices and tools in collaboration with the team for long-term impact
• Report and inform: provide simple actionable reports to stakeholders at all levels to help them deliver more efficiently and effectively
• Own the outcome: you may not be the project manager, but you are responsible for ensuring understanding and focus on the plan, no matter how stubborn the team is

You must have

• A construction engineering background: solid capability in controlling cost, schedule, and change, and deep experience in developing project controls processes and reporting aligned with strategic objectives.
• Communication skills: charisma, presence and influence to engage teams, drive adoption of new approaches, and promote best practices.
• Leadership capabilities: proven leader, coach, and developer of teams, capable of guiding others and building high-performing planning and controls functions.
• Impact: strong track record of implementing scalable, repeatable solutions that created significant positive impact across complex projects.

Laminar isn’t the place for you if any of the following is true

• You want an easy, chilled-out role without much challenge
• You like to be the smartest person in the room
• You don’t like continuously receiving honest candid feedback
• You prefer to do your own thing rather than work with a team

Frequently Asked Questions

What kinds of projects would I be working on? You’ll be exposed to several projects in the first year, often complex environments such as data centres, infrastructure (including defense, rail and highways), high-tech (advanced manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors) and complex building projects.

Who are our clients? Major owners/operators and main contractors with project values between £1m and £1bn+ globally.

Where would I be working? Work can be flexible – from home, site visits, London office or travel to clients in Europe or the Middle East, depending on your preferences and the role.

How does my work connect with the industry’s long-term impact? You will document and evolve solutions, add them to our knowledge repository, and help build products that are open-sourced to the industry. This knowledge drives continuous product iteration and industry improvement.

Benefits

The standard stuff

• Health Insurance Scheme – comprehensive private health coverage for you and your family.
• Pension Scheme – a competitive plan with salary sacrifice options to maximise savings.
• Bonus Scheme – discretionary performance-based bonuses, including cash and high-growth equity.
• Professional body membership – one fee covered per year.
• Cycle to Work Scheme – tax-efficient way to get wheels and help the environment.

The life-changing stuff

• In-house coaching – regular 1:1 coaching sessions to navigate challenges and grow professionally and personally.
• Equity upside – generous scheme for those who stay with us on our journey.
• Flexible working – work where it makes sense; most team members work from home and visit sites or clients regularly.
• Relentless development – coaches, mentors, honest feedback and a culture that challenges continuous growth.

Important! Applying properly

We get thousands of applications, so please write a letter as part of your application explaining:

• Why you want to join us.
• What you’ll bring to the team.

After your letter is read, we’ll reach out to schedule a casual conversation, followed by technical and personal assessments to understand your capability. We may use AI tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications or assessing responses. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.