Project Delivery Lead in Bristol

Navantia UK is a new force in British industry, supporting the UK’s defence, security and energy transition ambitions. We’re doing this by creating state-of-the-art sovereign defence capabilities, investing in the UK to modernise industrial facilities, and bolstering the nation's energy security. Established in 2022, Navantia UK is a subsidiary of Navantia SA, a Spanish state-owned company with over 300 years of naval shipbuilding history. In January 2025, Navantia UK completed the acquisition of Harland & Wolff and its four historic facilities in Belfast, Appledore, Methil, and Arnish. By combining Harland & Wolff’s proud heritage and facilities with Navantia’s global expertise, Navantia UK is well-positioned to strengthen Britain’s defence, maritime and energy industrial capabilities, supporting jobs and economic growth across the UK.

We’re looking for a Project Delivery Lead to drive the successful end-to-end delivery of technology and business change projects. You’ll ensure high-quality execution, strong governance, and a smooth transition into Business as Usual (BAU) operations. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on cross-functional collaboration, structured delivery, and enabling real operational impact.

What you’ll deliver

• Projects completed on time, within scope, and within approved budgets
• Seamless transition of projects into BAU, with operational teams fully prepared, trained, and supported
• High levels of stakeholder satisfaction across business functions, technology teams, and service operations
• Well-governed project lifecycle management aligned to organisational methodologies and reporting standards
• Strong partnerships with business experts to ensure solutions meet real operational needs
• Clear documentation, knowledge transfer, and handover packages that support stable run-mode adoption
• Effective management of risks, issues, and dependencies to ensure predictable, low-disruption delivery
• Compliance with organisational security, quality, and governance policies, including UK defence requirements

Key responsibilities

• Project Delivery Management
  • Lead planning, scheduling, budgeting, and resource allocation
  • Maintain detailed delivery plans and milestones
  • Ensure adherence to organisational methodologies, quality gates, and governance requirements
• Transition to BAU & Operational Readiness
  • Lead the shift from project mode to operational run mode
  • Coordinate training, documentation, SOPs, and knowledge transfer
  • Ensure BAU teams have the tools, processes, and capabilities needed to support new services
• Stakeholder & Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Build strong relationships across business units, technical teams, and support functions
  • Shape requirements and validate delivered outcomes
  • Manage communication, expectations, and engagement throughout the project lifecycle
  • Travel to UK sites as required to support delivery and stakeholder engagement
• Risk, Issue & Dependency Management
  • Identify, track, and mitigate risks and issues
  • Manage interdependencies across programmes, functions, and third parties
  • Escalate appropriately to maintain delivery momentum
• Quality, Compliance & Governance
  • Maintain high-quality documentation and audit readiness
  • Ensure compliance with security, data protection, and organisational standards
  • Support continuous improvement in delivery and BAU transition practices
• People & Vendor Coordination
  • Coordinate internal delivery resources and external partners
  • Provide leadership, direction, and motivation to cross-functional teams
  • Share best practices and support capability uplift across the organisation

What you’ll bring

• Experience delivering technology, process, and business change projects
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills
• A structured approach to planning, governance, and reporting
• Confidence managing risks, issues, and dependencies
• Ability to work across diverse teams and functions
• Experience in an industrial, engineering, manufacturing, or similar operational environment (desirable)
• Ability to coordinate internal teams and external suppliers effectively

Security: BPSS required; SC may be required depending on project needs (sponsored by the company if needed)

Qualifications

• Desirable qualifications
• PRINCE2 Practitioner
• PMP
• APM PMQ / PFQ
• AgilePM or similar project management certification

If you meet most of the criteria but not all, we still encourage you to apply — we value capability, potential, and mindset.

Additional Information

Equal Opportunity: We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. To ensure equal opportunities for all candidates, we commit to a fair and unbiased recruitment process at every stage. This includes ensuring hiring managers are aware of legislation, providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities, and actively seeking to eliminate any form of discrimination based on race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic. Our goal is to create a recruitment environment where every candidate feels valued and has an equal chance to succeed.

If you experience difficulties or are unable to apply for a role on-line please contact us at people.skills@harland-wolff.com and one of the team will be in contact to help you.