Assistant Project Manager

Are you looking for a career where you can make a real difference in people’s day? We are seeking an Assistant Project Manager to join our team based from our Head Office in London Bridge and various other depots across London & Kent.

As an Assistant Project Manager, you will support the delivery of Southeastern’s Major Programmes portfolio, contributing to a diverse range of infrastructure, engineering, digital and business transformation projects. Your role will be essential in helping projects progress safely, efficiently and successfully against agreed outcomes.

Working alongside the Portfolio Operations Manager, Project Managers and programme teams, you will help coordinate activities, monitor progress and maintain robust project controls. You will support the management of risks, issues, dependencies, budgets and change requests, providing the information and structure needed to drive effective decision-making and successful project delivery in line with Southeastern’s Project Framework Methodology.

This role offers excellent development opportunities, with increasing responsibility for project workstreams and the chance to take the lead on smaller projects as your experience grows.

What you’ll do:

• Support the successful delivery of projects and programmes across the Major Programmes portfolio, working with Project Managers to deliver agreed outcomes safely, on time, within budget and to the required quality.
• Coordinate the planning and delivery of assigned project activities and workstreams, maintaining project plans, governance and documentation in line with Southeastern’s Project Framework Methodology.
• Monitor project performance, maintaining effective project controls including budgets, risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies, milestones and change activities to support effective decision-making.
• Support project change control processes, ensuring change requests are recorded, assessed and progressed in accordance with agreed governance procedures.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with colleagues, suppliers and stakeholders, supporting collaborative working and clear communication throughout the project lifecycle.
• Support effective project governance by preparing reports, coordinating meetings and ensuring decisions and actions are captured and progressed.
• Contribute to the successful implementation of project outcomes into business as usual, ensuring a smooth transition from project delivery to operational use.
• Identify opportunities to improve project delivery, governance and ways of working, sharing lessons learned and contributing to continuous improvement across the Major Programmes team.

The experience you’ll need:

• Experience supporting the successful delivery of projects or programmes within a structured project environment.
• Good understanding of project management principles, methodologies and the project lifecycle, with the ability to apply these in practice.
• Excellent organisational and planning skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver to agreed timescales.
• Excellent attention to detail, with the ability to produce, maintain and analyse accurate project documentation, reports, plans and data.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to build effective relationships with colleagues, suppliers and stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience monitoring project progress, maintaining project controls, including risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, actions and milestones.
• Confident using Microsoft Office 365 applications, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word, to produce high-quality reports and presentations.
• A proactive approach to problem solving, with the ability to work independently while knowing when to seek guidance.
• APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ) or an equivalent recognised foundation level project management qualification.
• Demonstrates a commitment to continuous professional development, with the ambition to achieve APM Project Management Qualifications (PMQ) and progress into a Project Management role.

As proud members of the Armed Forces Covenant and Disability Confident Scheme, we will offer you an interview if you apply under these schemes and meet the minimum criteria for the role.

This vacancy may close early if we receive a large number of applications. So, make sure you get yours in early. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references, a right to work verification, a basic criminal record check, and a pre-employment medical assessment. Work visa sponsorship isn’t available for this role.

Along with your salary, the rewards you’ll get include: a final salary pension and 25 days annual leave allowance (plus bank holidays).

We’re one of Britain's busiest train operators, serving London, Kent and parts of East Sussex. We run over 1,700 trains a day, carrying more than 500,000 passengers and serving 180 stations.

However, working on our railway is more than getting passengers from A to B. It’s about all the little moments that make a difference to their journey. It’s also about making our railway a great place to work and building a team that represents the communities we serve. We’re committed to creating an inclusive, supportive environment, and we’re proud that this continues to be recognised through employer accreditations and our ongoing endorsement as a WORK180 Employer for Women.

Our ways of working are what we expect of everyone at Southeastern. They are powerful. Tiny moments, every day, from every one of us, add up to massive, positive change. Improving how it feels to work here and how it feels to travel with us.

At the heart of everything we do, our Safeguarding Team works to keep our customers, colleagues, and the public safe by improving safeguarding measures and knowledge making sure everyone gets home safe, every day.