Senior Project Manager in Newcastle upon Tyne

Your impact

Have you ever wanted to lead digital transformation projects that directly enhance frontline defence capability across the UK and beyond? We’re looking for a Senior Project Manager with Scrum Master experience to drive a range of IT upgrade, development and research initiatives within our CS3 Digital team. With opportunities for hybrid working and the flexibility to be based at Edinburgh or one of our main UK sites (Luton, Lincoln, Basildon, Bristol or Southampton), this role also includes UK-wide and occasional overseas travel to support development activities and key stakeholder engagements.

What you will do as a Senior Project Manager

In this role, you will lead a diverse portfolio of digital, infrastructure and application‑focused projects that enhance our data‑driven services for customers in the UK and worldwide. You’ll work across the full lifecycle—from design and development through deployment and ongoing support—collaborating with engineering leads, ICT partners and cross‑functional teams. Alongside driving project delivery, you will play a key role in Agile team leadership, governance, stakeholder engagement and the continuous improvement of ways of working across CS3 Digital Services.

Responsibilities (What you will do)

• Project Management

• Plan, execute, and oversee IT projects across all phases—from initiation and planning through execution, monitoring, and closure—including taking ownership of Project Gate Reviews and prioritisation & refinement meetings.
• Develop detailed project plans, schedules, budgets, and resource allocation frameworks, while leading key governance activities such as Gate Reviews and backlog refinement.
• Identify and manage project risks, dependencies, and issues, implementing mitigation strategies and ensuring these are reviewed through structured prioritisation and governance sessions.
• Track and report project progress, ensuring deliverables meet agreed quality standards and deadlines, supported by regular Gate Reviews and prioritisation activities.
• Manage contracts with 3rd‑party suppliers, including creating Statements of Work (SoW), securing quotations, placing orders, and monitoring progress and issue resolution throughout the contract lifecycle.
• Coordinate the generation of project metrics and reporting documentation, including monthly Project Performance Review packs and risk reviews, presenting updates to stakeholders including senior management.
• Work closely with In‑Service and Project Engineering Leads to support design, development, deployment and ongoing support activities.
• Support the Project Delivery Manager, Project Engineering Manager and Enterprise Architect in the delivery of wider CS3 Digital Services outputs, ensuring alignment with product, schedule, cost and LCM quality requirements.

• Facilitate Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, daily stand‑ups, sprint reviews and retrospectives.
• Coach team members in Agile principles and practices to strengthen collaboration and performance.
• Remove impediments and act as a servant leader to enable effective team progress.
• Ensure the effective use of Agile tools such as Jira and Azure DevOps.
• Monitor and report on sprint metrics including velocity, burndown charts and team capacity.

• Liaise with business stakeholders to ensure alignment between project objectives and wider business goals.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and maintain clear, consistent communication across all levels.
• Facilitate collaboration between cross‑functional teams including developers, test engineers, architects and business analysts.

• Foster a culture of continuous improvement across the team.
• Support and mentor team members to develop their skills and enhance performance.
• Resolve conflicts effectively and promote a positive, collaborative working environment.

What you’ll bring

To succeed in this role, you will bring solid, hands‑on experience of delivering IT and digital projects within complex technical environments. You’ll combine strong project management capability with practical Agile knowledge and expertise across the full delivery lifecycle, enabling you to manage multiple concurrent initiatives with confidence.

Essential skills and experience

• Proven experience working as a Project Manager within an IT or digital delivery environment.
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or equivalent Agile qualification.
• Strong understanding of Agile frameworks, particularly Scrum and Kanban, and experience applying them in real delivery settings.
• Broad understanding of the full project lifecycle, with hands‑on experience in several lifecycle stages.
• Proficiency with project management and Agile delivery tools such as MS Project, Jira, Confluence (or similar).
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously within a fast‑paced or evolving environment.
• Experience in resource planning and budget control.
• Familiarity with the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and experience delivering IT infrastructure or digital solution projects.

Desirable skills

• Experience with scaled Agile frameworks (e.g. SAFe, LeSS).
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and supporting toolsets.
• Experience delivering cloud‑based projects (AWS, Azure or GCP).
• Understanding of ITIL processes.
• Experience working in a regulated or safety‑critical industry (e.g. defence, financial services, healthcare).

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration or a related discipline.
• Project management certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent (desirable).

Intrinsic factors

This role can be based at any of our UK sites with home working options available. Travel within the UK—and occasionally overseas—will be required to support customer meetings, project delivery activities or demonstrations. Some trips may require overnight stays. This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn.

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV).

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website. Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety. At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know. Be part of something bigger - apply now.