Project Manager - Automotive Manufacturing in Portsmouth

Location: Portsmouth based, PO6 & PO3

Salary: Up to £60,000 depending upon experience, plus 33 days holiday (including bank holidays), company car scheme, paid lunch breaks, pension, life assurance, employee assistance programme, wellbeing support, and flexible benefits including cycle to work scheme.

About the Role

As a Project Manager within UPCS, you will be responsible for driving the end-to-end project lifecycle, managing high‑value OEM accounts and multi‑disciplinary teams to ensure excellence in product introduction. Working closely with a variety of colleagues, you will oversee project budgets, technical KPIs, and continuous improvement initiatives to deliver innovative engineering solutions on time and in full.

Key Responsibilities

• To manage projects as a tier one supplier to OEMs from nomination through to “Job1 + 90 days) – mainly automotive and aerospace sector projects
• Maintain a strong emphasis on APQP, New Product Introduction & PPAP process to ensure all stakeholders deliver their inputs on time and to the right quality.
• Responsible for facilitating NPI gateway process, management and adherence.
• Work with the SLT to achieve commercial goals.
• Escalating to the SLT when a project is at risk of missing key milestones or financial targets.
• Preparing and leading the Milestone reviews with the SLT in line with the Formaplex NPI process.
• To support the SLT to develop a continuous improvement environment within the organisation.
• In partnership with the Technology & Projects director, manage budgetary and capex commitments for the projects.

About You

We’d love you to have the following skills and experience, but please apply if you think you’d be able to perform well in this role!

• Five years technical project management experience (ideally in automotive OEM or Tier 1).
• Appreciation of NPI tools and techniques.
• The ability to work independently, to be self‑driven and able to set and monitor own goals as well as those of others.
• Able to lead and influence change.
• Interaction with/knowledge of MRP/ERP systems (Javelin preferably).
• Product and Process Auditing experience (ISO, AS or IATF).
• Lean/6 sigma methodology.

About Unipart

We are a supply chain performance improvement partner. We design, make, move, and improve components in our customers’ supply chains, keeping their operations and assets moving and working better, for longer. Through our commitment to continuously driving operational efficiencies, we improve performance – saving time, cost, and carbon. Our ambition is to be the driving force behind efficient, resilient, and sustainable supply chains.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We believe that a great workplace is one where you can bring your whole self to work. Our recruitment process is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and based entirely on merit. We define merit through a combination of technical skills and the core behaviours that help our people thrive at Unipart. We welcome applications from everyone, regardless of background or circumstances. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity that exceeds our statutory obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and subsequent legislation. Whether it’s your age, disability, neurodiversity, gender identity, family status, or any other characteristic that makes you ‘you’ – it is your talent and potential that we value most.

Adjustments for you: We want you to perform at your best. If you require any reasonable adjustments or have specific accessibility needs at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know. We are here to support you.