Senior Project Manager

We are the public body that looks after England’s historic environment. We champion historic places, helping people understand, value and care for them.

Historic England have a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as our Senior Project Manager.

The primary focus of this role will be to lead a space planning exercise of our office locate in the former GWR engine house in Swindon in consultation with the Union and tenants. Then to procure and deliver a fit out of the offices to the revised space plans.

You will be managing and delivering high-quality value for money space planning and fit out of the Historic England office in Swindon.

You will be central to establishing project and programme controls including monitoring and reporting to Senior Responsible Officers and key stakeholders. You will be leading and liaising with the project team to plan, identify, monitor, prioritise and coordinate the work of the projects, developing and managing the project programmes as well as preparing project management documentation and reports.

What you will be doing

Project Management:

Develop and deliver the project in accordance with Historic England’s Project Management Process.

Assist the Senior Responsible Officer in ensuring there is a suitable Project Board in place and that all members of the Project Board are fully briefed as to their duties in regards the project.

Ensure a robust Business Case is developed, tested, and regularly reviewed throughout the Project’s lifecycle and that the Project follows the Principle of Continued Business Justification.

Create and administer the project Logs and Registers ensuring they are kept up-to-date and reviewed regularly.

Ensure that the project is broken down and managed by stages generally following the RIBA plan of works and ensuring, together with the Project Board, that there are sufficient stage boundaries to provide effective Project Control and Risk Management.

Develop detailed Project and Stage Plans throughout the project, produce and distribute regular highlight reports to the Project Board.

Ensure there are strong, robust processes in place and documented for the management of health and safety, management of designers, management of contractors, and financial management and that these are followed on all projects.

Keep abreast of the latest developments and innovations in the Construction industry and contribute to the development of national policies and processes that will be beneficial to HE.

Health & Safety

Ensure that all aspects of the project are manged in accordance with the latest version of the Construction Design and Management Regulations.

Review the technical skills of the design team and ensure that there are suitably competent designers formally appointed for all design works undertaken at Historic England properties.

Ensure that Designers Risk Assessments are completed and that a suitable and sufficient Construction Phase Health and Safety plan is in place before works commence on site.

Ensure that a Principal Contractor is formally appointed.

Ensure that all projects are handed back to Historic England’s Facilities Management team in an effective manner with training given to key personnel and that Historic England is in full receipt of the Project Health and Safety File before final completion.

Ensure that Historic England’s CAFM system is fully updated with all changes made by any project and that a maintenance regime is fully agreed and specified for the projects products.

Stakeholder Management

Liaise closely with the Facilities Management team in developing delivery plans and provide leadership and support to the Facilities Managers in delivery of their own works projects.

Act as first point of contact for the project responding quickly and fully to relevant requests or queries.

Manage relationships effectively with all internal and external stakeholders (responsible person, Unions, neighbours, tenants, Historic England, suppliers’ contract managers, HE Office Estates team, HE Safety Team, rest of the FM team, etc.).

Ensure coordination between the Project and HE’s operations on site, designing and phasing works in such a way to minimise risk and disruption.

Provide regular updates in the form of highlight reports to the local management teams when works are ongoing in an office.

Coordinate and arrange regular progress meetings to proactively communicate with each other promoting a cooperative working culture, keeping abreast of key developments, and finding innovative ways to work effectively together with all key stakeholders.

Ensure that all communications (verbal, written) representing HE and the FM department are accurate, concise, and relevant to the audience and clear in voice.

Liaise and work in conjunction with the relevant Historic England teams when it comes to project management, asset replacement, tenancy issues, listed building or scheduled monument consent applications, etc.

Budgets and contract management:

Responsible for all financial expenditure within project budget constraints.

Prepare detailed budget estimates for the project in accordance with the methodology specified in HM Treasury’s Green Book.

Ensure the monthly budget forecasts and reconciliations are completed in an accurate and timely manner raising any concerns or any deviations to the Senior Responsible Officer and the Project Accountant as soon as they are identified, taking mitigating action to limit the liability.

Maintain full and accurate records of the Capital vs Revenue disbursements of the project ensuring that Historic England achieves maximum VAT recovery for all Capital Expenditure.

Follow financial and procurement processes relating to new contracts, setting up new suppliers and invoice approvals in accordance with Historic England’s policies as a publicly funded organisation.

Ensure accurate records are kept in line with HE’s corporate records retention policy.

Protect HE’s financial position through robust contract management, managing performance through the monitoring of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Follow HE’s policies and processes in booking, accruing, and accounting for expenditure on site and for any line reports.

Line management

Directly line manage any new team members that are recruited into the team.

Ensure tools (PDRs, monthly 1:2:1 meetings, training programmes, etc.) are deployed to develop the skills and knowledge of Project Management colleagues.

Plan effectively to ensure that there is always a point of contact available to assist with project issues.

Ensure HE’s annual leave, expenses, and HR policies are followed in a timely and accurate manner.

Who we are looking for

• Has a proven track record of delivering successful capital works projects on time and on budget

• Has a strong understanding of Public Sector regulations affecting the role

• Has a good working knowledge of Building Regulations

• Has a detailed knowledge and experience of executing the role of “Client” in the CDM regs

• Prince II Practitioner or member of APM or equivalent

• Pragmatic approach to work and applies good judgement when it comes to managing their own workload

We are an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusion. If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we would be happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the job with you. Having just won the Gold Award from MIND, we also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

We are an inclusive employer and believe that flexible working options are for everyone. We want to make sure our working arrangements don’t prevent anyone from joining us because of their personal circumstances. We also want to provide you with the best balance in your home and work life that we can.

We are open to considering options including job sharing, part-time working, compressed hours working and different working locations, including hybrid working. Please visit our jobs pages or contact us to find out more.

Why work for Historic England

We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive pension scheme starting at 28% contributions, a generous 28 days holiday, corporate discounts, free entry into English Heritage sites across the country and development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals.

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to support our work. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and candidates with disabilities as they are underrepresented within Historic England at this level.