Project Manager, Washwood Heath, High Speed Rail

Our client is recruiting an Project Manager to help bring one of the most significant pieces of new railway infrastructure in the UK into readiness for service. Based in Birmingham, the role sits at the heart of the Washwood Heath area, covering the Birmingham spur and the main maintenance depot. The spur is currently at design stage, and the role will grow with the programme as it moves through into construction. This is a real opportunity to develop construction delivery experience on a programme of genuine scale.

This is not a cost control role. Your day-to-day purpose is to set priorities, coordinate the right people and make sure the right things happen at the right time. The depot is a critical asset for the railway, and your job is to make sure the work across the Washwood Heath area is integrated, sequenced and moving forward. You will work across the client team, the contractor and the wider supply chain, holding the connections between disciplines together and keeping delivery on track.

You will coordinate multidisciplinary teams across the area, managing the interfaces between projects and making sure risks and issues are identified and resolved before they cause programme delay. You will lead the development of procurement and specification documents for the overhead works at Washwood Heath, working with technical, commercial and procurement colleagues to make sure the right work goes to market at the right time. You will manage the project interface with the joint venture responsible for site works and ground remediation, and you will keep the assurance and governance processes moving across the projects you own. Senior Project Engineers and a programme planner will support you directly.

The complexity of this role comes from holding together a large and varied stakeholder group, managing concurrent workstreams at different stages of maturity, and thinking strategically while remaining focused on delivery.

What you need to bring
Your background is in project or programme delivery on major construction or infrastructure schemes, and you will have been close to the work. Experience gained in a consultancy environment on a construction project at design stage is directly relevant. A background as a Civil or Electrical Engineer moving into project management, could both work well here. What matters is that you understand how projects are developed and delivered, how procurement is structured and sequenced, and how to work across disciplines to keep things moving.

You will be comfortable working in a matrix environment, coordinating people who do not report directly to you and influencing decisions across a varied stakeholder group. You will understand the project management basics, including how to manage an early warning process, how to read and interpret a programme, and how to identify and escalate risk.

A degree in project management, engineering, commercial management or a related field is expected, though equivalent practical experience will be considered.

Useful to have 

Experience on HS2 or a comparable major infrastructure or transport programme. A background that has taken you through more than one stage of a programme lifecycle, from design development through to construction delivery. Familiarity with P6 or comparable planning tools. Experience of working through interface issues between civil works and rail systems on a large programme.

The role is based in Birmingham, with work focused on the Washwood Heath depot and the Birmingham spur.