Senior Project Manager

Senior Project Manager 

UKRI - STFC

UK Astronomy Technology Centre 

£48,202 - £53,558 

Full time

Open Ended

 

About Us

The Science & Technology Facilities Council is a partner organisation within UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, and a vision to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.  

The UK ATC is the national centre for the design and production of world-leading astronomical instruments and systems in the United Kingdom. As a science driven, professional engineering organisation, we employ state-of-the-art technology across all engineering disciplines, including complex optical and infra-red detectors, vacuum-cryogenics, control electronics and software, for both astronomy and non-astronomy applications, in collaboration with academic and industrial partners around the world. The instruments we produce are unique and technically challenging but must be easy to use and highly reliable in difficult environments, such as on high mountain sites and in Space. 

 

About the role

Due to increasing workload, the UK ATC Project Management group now seeks a senior project manager to manage the UK national contributions to the SKA project and work closely with the UK SKA Consortium to ensure the successful delivery of the project. This is an exciting opportunity to join the large multinational team that will bring the SKA into successful operations and science.

As a Senior Project Manager at the UK ATC, you will be expected to work concurrently on large-scale projects, according to the processes and procedures in place at the UK ATC which are based around the PMI Body of Knowledge standards and STFC Project Management guidelines (you will be expected to contribute to the ongoing development and improvement of these in parallel with any project work), and will be responsible for the project cost and delivery, to the required specification, quality and safety standards. 

Working within a matrix organisation alongside engineers, technicians and scientists, and reporting to the Head of Project Management at the UK ATC, the main duties will be to:

• lead the Project Office for the STFC contributions to the SKA construction phase, overseeing the work at participating UK collaborators and partners (currently STFC, Cambridge, Manchester and Oxford Universities)

• work closely with the Work Package Managers to make certain their ability to deliver the required value to time and budget

• manage the delivery b y confirming the design baseline and ensuring that the appropriate change management control processes are established and adhered to across the project

• manage the quality and safety aspects of the project using established industry standards and in-house procedures

• manage the cost of the project, including the preparation of estimates for approval against budgets, maintaining cost to go forecasts for effort and requisitions, and negotiating access to contingency funds or changes to the project scope where necessary

• manage the timeline of the project by developing and maintaining a suitably comprehensive integrated project plan for all activities across the UK Consortium

• manage the programme risks and opportunities by identifying and quantifying, before the budget is set, all the potential threats and benefits to the scope, time-scales and cost of the project, and implementing an on-going process of risk management over the project lifecycle

• communicate the project status and progress across the design teams to all stake-holders, including customers and sponsors, UK Oversight Committees and Project boards, UK ATC senior management, and national/international funding agencies. This will include working closely with the STFC Programmes Office based in UKRI headquarters, Swindon

• maximise the impact of the project by supporting the goals of STFC and securing the scientific and construction work return across the UK by accessing the corporate knowledge base within STFC.

All of the above will require a certain amount of national/international travel to liaise with STFC Programmes Office and co-ordinate the work amongst the UK Consortium.

 

About you

You will have a good first degree (minimum 2:1) in an Engineering or Science based subject and significant project management experience working in either industry or academia, delivering technology projects to specification and cost/time budgets, and experience in leading software development in an earlier career stage; in particular you will have general experience of managing teams delivering through Lean and Agile principles using systems such as SAFe© and also of scientific software development. Knowledge of technologies such as radio receivers, interferometry and signal processing would also be beneficial.

You will have knowledge of principles of System Engineering and the project life-cycle model, as well as knowledge of QA and SHE management systems.

 

What we offer

UK Research and Innovation recognises and values employees as individuals and aim to provide a pay and rewards package that motivates staff to perform to the best of their ability. The reward package includes a flexible working scheme, a Career Average Revalued Earnings pension scheme, 30 days annual leave allowance and a number of other benefits.

 

How to Apply

Applicants are required to include a cover letter outlining their suitability for this role. 

Applications are handled by UK Shared Business Services, to apply please click the Apply button. Applicants who are unable to apply online should contact us by telephone on +44 (0)1793 867000.

The closing date for applications is the 26th February 2019.