Senior Project Manager

Location: Crawley, United Kingdom

Thales people architect solutions that enable two-thirds of planes to take off and land safely. We create in-flight entertainment systems that engross 50 million fliers every year and we develop the avionics that control the world’s largest commercial aircrafts. Our simulators train the next generation of pilots for fighter jets, transporters and search and rescue helicopters. And, together, each and every member of our aerospace team makes a difference.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Senior Project Manager

Based: Crawley - hybrid working between home/office

Are you an experienced Project Manager with great leadership skills and an interest in working within the aerospace sector?  Are you looking for an opportunity to work in a customer-focused role managing projects that make a real impact across the globe?  Then look no further…

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Senior Project Manager to join our Flight Avionics (FLX) team.  This is a hybrid working role between our Crawley office/home.

Primary Purpose of the Role:

The purpose of this role is to ensure the successful delivery of a specific project or set of projects. The role holder is the overall person in charge for all aspects of delivery and is responsible for achieving project objectives to the satisfaction of both the customer and Thales.

The role requires strong leadership, professional project management expertise, excellent stakeholder management, team building skills, and a proactive approach to identifying and managing risks and opportunities.

Principal Relationships:

·External stakeholders, in particular customers and suppliers·Project Leadership Team: SEM, PDA, Work Package/Control Account Managers·Project Controls Team·Portfolio/Programme/Sector Leader·Supervisory Authority·Functions contributing to Project delivery, in particular Engineering, Industry, Procurement, Finance, Legal & Commercial, Quality, Health & Safety, Security

Key Responsibilities and Tasks:

• Leadership and management – motivating and supporting the Project Team and individuals within the Project Team
• Role modelling the Thales Leadership Model behaviours, embedding a strong sense of delivery accountability and a proactive risk and opportunity management culture at all levels of the team
• Managing stakeholders, in particular customer and supplier relationships – building trust and confidence through open dialogue and leveraging adjacent functions as appropriate E.g. Procurement, Key Account Management
• Defining Project Execution Strategies and leading the creation of Project Baselines and structures as ‘PM designate’ through the bid phase of the lifecycle – including requirements capture, PBS/WBS/OBS, work package definition, estimating, risk and opportunity analysis and creation of the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
• Ensuring that the project maintains a robust baseline at all times through the execution phase of the lifecycle and that forecasts against the baseline are accurate
• Ensuring that appropriate KPIs are established and controlled for Project outcomes E.g. On Time Delivery and to support confidence in forecasts E.g. EVM
• Ensuring robust Project Controls are deployed and effective
• Representing the Project through established governance – both lifecycle Gates and periodic Project Reviews
• Liaison with contributing functions to drive quality, cost & delivery performance
• Management of the Project Cash profile, ensuring timely invoicing of the customer and addressing any overdue payments
• Management of Change Orders to contracted scope including the application of associated Bid Governance, leading and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams and the supply chain to develop proposals and ensuring that integrity of the Project baseline is maintained at all times
• For more senior positions, providing coaching and guidance to more junior Project Managers
• Ensuring lessons from previous projects are learned and incorporated; contributing lessons for the wider benefit of the business
• Ensuring that all Project activities comply with the relevant Thales Chorus 2 processes
• Support ad-hoc duties that will be consistent with the nature of a Project Manager position within Thales

Experience:

Essential

• A proven track record of delivering successful projects in a context relevant to Thales
• Leading and managing multi-disciplinary teams
  • Managing customer and supplier relationships
  • Leading the process of structuring and planning complex projects and the tailored deployment of best practice project controls
  • Directing project activities with reference to the baseline and critical path, with a focus on proactive risk and opportunity management and controlling variance to time/cost/quality

• Project financial and contractual management
• Working across functional boundaries to achieve alignment and support for project objectives
• Demand/business planning principles in a project context with a focus on the reliable forecasting of resource requirements (including critical skills) and working with adjacent functions to schedule those appropriately
• Representing projects through established governance, giving an evidence-based account of progress and distilling key risks/opportunities/support needed for Senior Management
• For more senior positions, experience with coaching junior Project Managers
• Working in a complex, multi-site organisation

Desirable

• Capture and/or Bid Management experience
• Experience of leading a range of different project types – Design & Manufacture, Service & Support, Transformation etc
• Appropriate knowledge/experience of the Product Line, or similar Products

Skills

• Leadership and management in a project context, including the ability to adapt personal style to achieve the desired results
• Stakeholder management and negotiation - dealing with customers, partners, suppliers and other parts of the Thales business
• Commercial, financial and business acumen
• The ability to look ahead, identify risks and opportunities and proactively engage with them
• Resilience and the ability to successfully manage change
• Communication – interpersonal, verbal and presentation/report writing

• Organisation and analytical skills in complex environments
• A positive attitude combined with excellent interpersonal and motivational skills.

Values & Behaviours:

The successful candidate will demonstrate behaviours that are consistent with the Thales Leadership Model:·Think Big·Make It Happen·Together

Key performance Indicators against Responsibilities and Tasks (professional only):

·Project Efficiency (PE)·Schedule performance (OTD)·Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)·Feedback from Portfolio/Sector Leaders

Qualifications:

Desirable

• IPMA and/or other relevant professional Project Management qualifications appropriate to grade
• MBA

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In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

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