At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and manage complex capital projects worth over £50m in the water sector.
- Company: Join a top UK employer focused on essential infrastructure services.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive pay, flexible working, and a range of health and wellness perks.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team that values growth, collaboration, and innovation.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on vital infrastructure while developing your leadership skills.
- Qualifications: Experience in managing large-scale projects and strong leadership abilities required.
The predicted salary is between 40500 - 49500 £ per year.
Right across infrastructure, there’s a requirement to not only maintain, but also renew and reimagine. Whatever stage you’re at in your career, with us you’ll have an opportunity to grow and develop. Delivering essential infrastructure services for life, while being safety first and client and customer centric in a friendly, fun and respectful environment where you are encouraged to thrive.
Where will you be working? We help our clients safeguard the water supply, improve environmental performance and manage demand for future generations. We enhance and extend asset life, ensuring compliance with water quality and environmental standards. We’re problem solvers with over 140 years of combined experience in engineering and infrastructure. This role will be within our water and wastewater capital project delivery team. Our teams deliver large-scale capital programmes aimed at keeping water infrastructure resilient for the long-term while protecting the environment.
What will you be doing? As our Senior Project Manager, you'll take strategic responsibility for a portfolio of complex capital projects with a combined value exceeding £50m, delivered across both Clean Water and Wastewater sectors within the Southern Water Framework. You'll provide leadership, oversight, and direction to a team of Project Managers, ensuring safe, efficient, right‑first‑time delivery in line with all governance, assurance, contractual, and regulatory requirements.
We'll need you to operate across the full project lifecycle, providing senior-level control and assurance over multiple concurrent projects. This includes programme leadership, risk and change management, commercial governance, and ensuring that each project team is supported, developed, and aligned to delivery expectations. A key part of the role is acting as the primary escalation point for Southern Water, ensuring issues are resolved promptly, decisions are made with clarity, and communication remains consistent across all stakeholders. You'll build strong relationships with client leadership, operational teams, subcontractors, designers, local authorities, landowners, and other third parties.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and oversee a portfolio of capital projects totalling £50m+, ensuring delivery to scope, budget, programme, and quality expectations.
- Provide leadership, coaching, and development to Project Managers, supporting their growth, capability, and performance.
- Act as the senior escalation point for the client, resolving issues, managing risks, and ensuring transparent communication.
- Drive programme performance, overseeing schedules, dependencies, resource planning, and delivery sequencing across multiple projects.
- Ensure robust governance and assurance, including stage gate compliance, technical reviews, buildability assessments, and design approvals.
- Oversee NEC contract administration at a portfolio level, ensuring consistent management of Early Warnings, Compensation Events, and programme updates.
- Champion safety, quality, and operational excellence, ensuring high standards are maintained across all project teams.
- Lead stakeholder engagement, representing the delivery organisation at senior client forums and ensuring alignment across all parties.
- Drive commercial performance, including forecasting, cost reporting, financial governance, margin delivery, and portfolio-level budget control.
- Promote continuous improvement, knowledge sharing, and collaborative working across the wider delivery team.
What You’ll Bring
- Extensive experience delivering capital projects within infrastructure or regulated environments, ideally water sector.
- Proven leadership of multiple concurrent projects or programmes, ideally at £20m–£50m+ scale.
- Strong background in complex civils, pipelines, rising mains, trunk mains, tunnelling or similar infrastructure.
- Experience managing multidisciplinary design teams, subcontractors, and senior client relationships.
- Deep understanding of project governance, assurance processes, and NEC contract mechanisms.
- Strong commercial acumen with experience overseeing budgets, forecasting, and financial performance.
- Able to lead, mentor, and develop Project Managers and wider delivery teams.
- Formal project management qualification (APM, PMQ, PRINCE2) or equivalent experience.
- Full UK driving licence.
What’s in it for you?
We offer a range of benefits designed to support your life in and out of work, some of which include:
- Contributory pension scheme
- Online GP service, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
- Employee assistance programme
- My Rewards portal, access to 1000’s of retail discounts
- Life assurance
- Cycle to work, salary finance and give as you earn schemes
- Enhanced maternity, paternity leave and adoption leave
- Reward and recognition scheme
In addition, this role offers:
- Company car and fuel card with a range of EV and hybrid vehicles to choose from
- My Car Choice our salary sacrifice EV/ Hybrid car scheme
- Health Care Cash Plan, giving you and your family the ability to claim back medical expenses for things like dental, eyecare and physiotherapy and much more!
- Private Healthcare - family cover
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
About us: We want to be an employer of choice and a great place to work, attracting diverse and talented people, who join us and make a difference. We’re one of the Top 100 UK companies actively supporting and recruiting veterans. Our ENABLE inclusion networks bring together people who have a shared passion, to help create an environment where everyone belongs. Our values help to shape our culture and how we work with one another. We recruit with these values in mind, to ensure your aspirations, and ways of working, align with ours.
We’re responsible and go further for our people, clients, communities and the planet. We’re open and seek new and better ways of exceeding expectations. We’re together and as one team; the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We’re ambitious and embrace opportunity, to lead essential infrastructure services for life.
Whether you’re a trainee, apprentice or graduate, or progressing through your career, our people benefit from industry recognised programmes, training and development. It’s an exceptional time to be a part of M Group.
Please note: Occasionally, job adverts might be closed before the stated closing date. Do apply as soon as possible to ensure your application is considered. For certain roles, successful candidates will be subject to 3rd party background checks as part of the hiring process. Some roles require drug and alcohol testing as part of induction and onboarding.
Senior Project Manager in Brighton employer: M Group
As an Engineer Project with us, you'll join a company that prioritises your growth and development at every career stage. Our supportive work culture fosters strong client relationships while providing you with a fully equipped service van and access to extensive training opportunities, ensuring you can excel in delivering essential infrastructure across the UK. With a commitment to employee well-being, we offer a range of benefits including a matched pension scheme, generous leave, and a focus on inclusion, making us an excellent employer for those seeking meaningful and rewarding work.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Project Manager in Brighton
✨Join Construction Networks
Get yourself involved in local construction networks or industry events. They often have job boards, and networking can lead to unadvertised positions. Plus, it’s a great way to meet potential future colleagues!
✨Show Off Your Skills on Site
If you’ve done any hands-on work, whether it's through internships or personal projects, make sure you can showcase it. Consider volunteering for local construction projects or getting involved in community build days; it’s a solid way to demonstrate your skills and build connections.
✨Utilise Construction Job Sites
Don't just rely on the big job boards. Look at niche construction job sites—many companies prioritise these for full-time roles. Apply through these sites, but don’t forget to reach out directly to companies you admire, like M Group, to express your interest!
✨Tailor Your Application for Full-Time Roles
Make your application stand out by tailoring it specifically for full-time positions. Highlight how your previous projects align with the company's work. At StudySmarter, we encourage you to demonstrate your commitment and long-term interest in the industry when applying for roles like Senior Project Manager at M Group.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Project Manager in Brighton
Some tips for your application 🫡
Showcase Your Relevant Experience:In the construction industry, it's essential to highlight any hands-on experience you have. Whether it’s past projects you've worked on or specific roles you've held, make sure your CV emphasises your practical skills and contributions to construction sites.
Include Certifications and Qualifications:Don’t forget to list any certifications relevant to construction, like CSCS cards or other safety qualifications. These can really set you apart from other candidates and show that you’re serious about health and safety on-site.
Tailor Your Cover Letter to Construction:When writing your cover letter for a construction role, focus on your problem-solving capabilities and teamwork. Construction relies heavily on collaboration, so mention how you’ve worked successfully with others to complete projects on time and within budget.
Adapt Your CV Format to the Field:Ensure your CV is clear and easy to read, with sections dedicated to skills such as project management, technical abilities, and site supervision. Construction roles often require a blend of technical know-how and soft skills, so make sure both are highlighted effectively.
How to prepare for a job interview at M Group
✨Brush Up on Technical Knowledge
For a construction role, it's crucial we have a solid grasp of industry standards, safety protocols, and specific tools used on-site. Make sure you're familiar with relevant regulations and can talk confidently about them, as these often come up in interviews.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Since this is a full-time position, be ready to discuss any previous construction projects you've worked on. Bring a portfolio or have detailed descriptions that highlight your role, the challenges you faced, and how you overcame them—this’ll show you’re not just book-smart but also practically savvy.
✨Understand the Team Dynamics
Construction is all about teamwork, so prepare to discuss how you interact with different stakeholders like architects, engineers, and contractors. Maybe think of examples from past experiences to illustrate your ability to communicate and collaborate effectively.
✨Prepare for On-the-Spot Problem Solving
Be ready for some practical questions or scenarios where you'll need to demonstrate your problem-solving skills. Interviewers might present you with a hypothetical construction issue to solve, so practice articulating your thought process clearly and logically—this could really set you apart!
