Defence Programme Manager (Hybrid) – High-Impact Projects

First Recruitment Group; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

First Recruitment Group is seeking a Project Manager to lead complex defence programmes on a contract basis in Bristol with hybrid working. You will manage full lifecycle delivery, governance, and stakeholder engagement to ensure time, cost, and quality objectives are met.

The role requires experience in regulated environments, strong leadership, risk and dependency management, and the ability to operate with autonomy across multidisciplinary teams. UK security clearance eligibility is desirable.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to deliver complex defence projects on time, within budget and to required quality.
• Strong governance, risk, and dependency management in regulated environments.
• Experience building and maintaining stakeholder relationships across multi-disciplinary teams.
• Knowledge of P3M methodologies and associated tools and approaches.
• Eligible and willing to obtain UK Security Clearance and meet residency requirements.

Responsibilities

• Deliver projects in accordance with policies, procedures, and governance requirements.
• Support development, review and assurance of business cases and documentation.
• Manage timely and cost-effective delivery of projects within constraints.
• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, reporting, and metrics.
• Monitor progress and implement controls to ensure delivery success.
• Identify and manage risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies.
• Apply appropriate delivery strategies and commercial approaches.
• Coordinate support from technical, engineering, commercial, financial, and project controls functions.
• Maintain accurate project documentation, records and audit trails.
• Capture lessons learned and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders at all levels.
• Provide coaching and mentorship to colleagues.

Skills

Project management

Defence sector experience

Stakeholder management

P3M know-how

Risk management

Leadership

Mentoring

Clearance eligibility

Education

Degree in a relevant discipline

APM PFQ/PMQ (desirable)

Tools

PRINCE2 Practitioner

MSP Practitioner

Agile Practitioner

Job description

First Recruitment Group is seeking a Project Manager to lead complex defence programmes on a contract basis in Bristol with hybrid working. You will manage full lifecycle delivery, governance, and stakeholder engagement to ensure time, cost, and quality objectives are met.

The role requires experience in regulated environments, strong leadership, risk and dependency management, and the ability to operate with autonomy across multidisciplinary teams. UK security clearance eligibility is desirable.