Senior Project Manager in Preston

At Places for People, we hire People, not numbers. So, if you like the sound of one of our jobs, please apply – you could be just who we're looking for. Of course, experience and track record matter, but we're even more interested in people who live our People Promises. That's someone who does the right thing, is enthusiastic and motivated to grow, believes in community spirit, is respectful, and genuinely enjoys their work. As the UK's leading Social Enterprise, we're dedicated to creating inclusive and thriving communities for both our customers and colleagues. So… what are you waiting for? Join a community that really cares about you.

More about your role

This is a senior delivery role where you'll lead complex, high-value programmes that directly support the Group's strategic priorities. You'll translate strategy into clear, executable plans ensuring projects are delivered to time, cost, quality and benefit expectations. You'll take ownership of end-to-end delivery across a portfolio of projects, setting clear scope, governance and delivery standards throughout. Working across multi-disciplinary teams, you'll coordinate stakeholders, manage dependencies and proactively manage risks to keep delivery on track. Alongside this, you'll have experience leading and developing a team of Project Managers within Strategic Delivery, building capability, ensuring consistency, and embedding best practice across the function. You'll also work closely with partners and suppliers, holding them to account for performance, value and outcomes, while ensuring all activity aligns to wider Group objectives.

More about you

You'll be an experienced programme or project professional who is comfortable operating in complex environments, leading both delivery and people. You'll bring strong commercial awareness, confidence in governance and assurance, and the ability to drive results through others. You're equally at home managing senior stakeholders as you are supporting and developing your team, with a focus on delivering outcomes that truly add value to the business.

Essential criteria

• Recognised project management qualification (e.g. PRINCE2, AgilePM, Scrum Master)
• Significant experience delivering complex change programmes with multiple stakeholders and third-party suppliers
• Proven experience leading, coaching and developing Project Managers or delivery teams
• Track record of delivering end-to-end, business-critical projects or programmes in complex organisations
• Strong experience managing budgets, forecasts and resources across multiple initiatives

The benefits

We're a large, diverse and ambitious organisation, which means you'll have all the challenge and opportunity you're looking for. In return, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Competitive salary with an annual review
• Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
• Excellent holiday entitlement – up to 35 days, with the option to buy or sell leave
• Cashback plan for healthcare costs – up to £500 per year
• Ongoing training and development
• A wide range of additional benefits, discounts and offers

What's next?

If you meet the criteria and are ready to make the next step in your career then click apply. You will be redirected to our careers site where you can discover more about the role, read a full job description and apply directly to us. As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application. We are dedicated to creating a supportive and accessible recruitment process for all.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best. If you are a Places for People customer and you're looking for support with your application, please contact our skills and employment team on skillsemployment@placesforpeople.co.uk.

We understand the importance of a supportive and inclusive work culture so please talk to us at interview about flexibility you may need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we promise not to judge you for asking. For this role we are open to discussing the possibility of reduced hours, flexible start and finish times or compressed hours.

Safeguarding

At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect. We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment. By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities.