Naval Nuclear Project Manager in South Molton

Quest Global is an organisation at the forefront of innovation and one of the world's fastest growing engineering services firms with deep domain knowledge and recognised expertise in the top OEMs across seven industries. We are looking for humble geniuses, who believe that engineering has the potential to make the impossible, possible; innovators, who are not only inspired by technology and innovation, but also perpetually driven to design, develop, and test as a trusted partner for Fortune 500 customers.

As a team of remarkably diverse engineers, we recognise that what we are really engineering is a brighter future for us all. If you want to contribute to meaningful work and be part of an organization that truly believes when you win, we all win, and when you fail, we all learn, then we are eager to hear from you.

You must be a Sole UK National and qualify for Security Clearance.

Job Description

Acting as a visible and proactive leader, the Project Manager plays a central role in developing a long-term, partnership-driven relationship with the Defence client. This requires forming a strong, trust-based relationship with the customer and prioritising value and collaboration over resource provision.

The Project Manager must balance operational delivery, financial performance, team wellbeing, customer engagement, risk and opportunity management and continuous service improvement. They will provide strong leadership and coaching across the rapidly expanding team, ensuring predictable throughput, consistently high standards and excellent customer satisfaction.

The Project Manager is responsible for coordinating, managing and scaling a large off-site engineering delivery function. The team delivers structured engineering support across three core areas: construction engineering and management, facilities asset maintenance and capability upkeep and major long-term programmes aimed at enhancing infrastructure and operational capability.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end delivery performance across all engineering support activities, ensuring outputs are delivered on time, to quality and to cost.
• Lead and manage a large, multi-disciplinary on-site team, scaling as demand increases.
• Build a strong, trusted partnership with the Defence client and their multiple stakeholders, maintaining a proactive presence on customer sites and setting the tone for professional, humble, value-driven engagement.
• Play a key role in scaling the team including recruitment, onboarding, building culture, managing all aspects of team cohesion.
• Ensure all engineering records, documentation and data sets are accurate, controlled and aligned with customer needs across construction, dockyard/facilities and long-term capability programmes.
• Monitor performance closely, identify risks/opportunities early and drive interventions to maintain predictable throughput and meet key KPIs.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to maximise productivity, streamline workflows and enhance how engineering information is produced, managed and delivered.
• Grow the service by identifying new opportunities, piloting emerging workstreams and scaling successful models.
• Meet all financial performance targets, including utilisation, budget adherence, cost control and margin improvement.
• Maintain an engaged, motivated team with clear expectations, development pathways and support mechanisms.
• Foster effective communication across distributed teams and encourage a culture of openness, accountability and shared ownership.
• Provide clear reporting and insight to internal leadership and escalate issues appropriately.
• Champion Quest Global culture and behaviours.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree (minimum) in an Engineering or STEM related discipline.
• Senior experience leading engineering delivery, multi-disciplinary teams or large-scale technical services within Defence or other highly-regulated environments.
• Proven ability to manage large operational teams, KPIs and complex stakeholder relationships.
• Strong understanding of engineering project lifecycle management and workflows.
• Experience in building relationships with and influencing senior stakeholders, acting as a trusted advisor.
• Experience driving improvements in throughput, efficiency, process maturity and service robustness at scale.
• Confidence managing both upward (senior leaders, client executives) and downward (large delivery teams).
• Exceptional communication, leadership and problem-solving abilities.
• Sound understanding of Project Management principles including risk and opportunity management, project accounting, work package management, resource and configuration management and scheduling.

Desirable Attributes:

• Experience in Defence or Industrial environments.
• Ability to shape, expand and mature engineering support services.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, proactive, growth-oriented, commercially aware and grounded in humility.
• Passion for leading teams, developing people and improving how engineering work is delivered.