Head Of Project Management

Icomat; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Stock options

Career growth opportunities

Innovation-focused culture

Global impact

Job summary

iCOMAT in Gloucester seeks a Head of Project Management to own and build the delivery function for customer production programmes. You will manage end-to-end delivery from contract award through industrialisation to full-rate production, chair programme reviews and coordinate multi-site operations as the company scales.

You will lead a team of PMs, shape governance, and drive planning, risk, and supply chain management, while maintaining senior stakeholder credibility and ensuring on-time,

Qualifications

• Hands-on project management of manufacturing programmes is essential.
• Aerospace, automotive or space experience with 8+ years in PM and 3+ years leading a team.
• Track record of running multiple complex programmes simultaneously.
• Experience building or improving a PM function: process, governance, tooling and reporting.
• Practical hands-on technical PM skills valued as highly as formal qualifications.
• Office 365 skills, particularly Project, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Strong commercial awareness across contracts, change control, cost and margin.
• Supply chain and BOM management experience.
• Attention to detail and credibility with senior stakeholders.
• Proactive and resilient mindset with a can-do attitude.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of customer production programmes, managing schedule, budget and deliverables.
• Design and stand up the project management function, governance, templates and reporting cadence.
• Build and maintain integrated programme plans with real critical paths and dependencies; manage risks and issues.
• Own bills of materials and coordinate with Purchasing and Supply Chain to secure long-lead items.
• Drive cross-functional leadership across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain.
• Act as primary delivery contact for customers on progress, risk, change and recovery; support costed, deliverable proposals.

Skills

Hands-on PM leadership

Aerospace/Space experience

Multi-programme management

PM function development

Office 365 (Project/Excel/PowerPoint)

Commercial acumen (contracts/change/cs

Supply chain & BOM management

Education

Engineering qualifications

Tools

Microsoft Project

Job description

Join ICOMAT - Revolutionising the Future of Lightweight Manufacturing!

iCOMAT is an advanced manufacturing company that invented Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS) - the only proven technology for producing defect-free curved-fiber composite parts at industrial scale. We deliver the lightest structures possible for aerospace, automotive, defense, and space, at a rate and cost efficiency that far exceeds existing composite production processes.

We build and operate automated factories for composite materials, delivering components to Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs. The business has three main divisions: development of automated production machines, development of software design and production tools, and operation of the factory. We work with 25+ customers and completed the largest-ever Series A in composites manufacturing to fuel a significant scale-up, with growth plans that will see the business multiply in size over the next two to three years and expand operations into the UK, Europe and the US.

The business has currently more than 130,000 sqm of production capacity with manufacturing facilities in the UK (Gloucester and Swindon) and the US (Dayton, Ohio); a Hardware R&D Centre in Bristol, UK; and a Software R&D Centre in Athens, Greece.
As Head of Project Management you will own how iCOMAT delivers. Every customer production programme, from contract award through industrialisation and first article to full rate production, runs through your function. You will also build that function from the ground up: the processes, the tools, the reporting rhythm and the team of project managers behind it. Today we deliver components to more than 25 customers from a single UK factory. Over the next 2-3 years that becomes multi-site production across UK, US and Europe. The role is based at Factory 1 in Gloucester and reports to the Director of Global Manufacturing Operations.

What will you be doing?

• Customer Programme Delivery

Owning delivery of customer production programmes end to end, from contract award through industrialisation and first article to full rate production. You will hold the schedule, the budget and the deliverables, and you will be the one accountable when a milestone is at risk. These are leading OEMs and Tier 1s in aerospace, automotive and space, buying parts that have never been made this way before.

• Building the Project Management Function

Designing and standing up the project management function at iCOMAT: the governance, gate reviews, templates, planning tools and reporting cadence that let us run many programmes at once without dropping any of them. You will hire, lead and develop a team of project managers as we scale, and set the standard for how they work.

• Planning, Risk & Reporting

Building and maintaining integrated programme plans with real critical paths, resource loading and dependencies. You will run risk and issue management properly: identify early, quantify, mitigate, escalat ...

• Supply Chain & BOM Management

Owning bills of materials and working with Purchasing and Supply Chain to secure long-lead items, qualify sources and keep material flowing to plan. You will make sure supply chain risk is visible in the programme plan long before it becomes a schedule problem.

• Cross-Functional Leadership

Driving Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain to a single plan. You will chair the programme reviews, resolve the trade-offs, unblock the team and make the calls that keep parts moving. Influence matters more than authority here, and you will need plenty of it.

• Commercial & Customer Interface

Acting as the primary delivery contact for customers on progress, risk, change and recovery. You will support the commercial team in forming highly competitive proposals that are also deliverable, with realistic schedules and costs, and manage contract change so scope creep gets priced rather than absorbed.

What do we need from you?

• Hands-on project management of manufacturing programmes is the number one requirement: you have delivered physical hardware to customer schedules, through industrialisation and into production

• Aerospace, automotive or space experience is essential: 8+ years in project or programme management, with at least 3 years leading a team

• A track record of running multiple complex programmes simultaneously without losing control of any of them

• Experience building or significantly improving a project management function: process, governance, tooling and reporting

• Relevant engineering qualifications are appreciated, but we value practical hands-on technical project management skills just as highly

• Exceptional Office 365 skills, particularly Project, Excel and PowerPoint

• Strong commercial awareness across contracts, change control, cost and margin

• Supply chain and BOM management experience

• Exceptional attention to detail, and the credibility to hold senior stakeholders to a plan

• Proactive and resilient mindset with a “can do” attitude

Nice to have

• Composites manufacturing experience

• A track record of successfully managing Innovate UK, ATI or ESA grant-funded projects

• Formal project management certification (APM, PMP or PRINCE2)

• Experience taking a programme from prototype through to rate production in a fast-growing business

• Exposure to AS9100 and OEM customer-specific programme requirements

Working conditions

• Manufacturing and office environment, based at Factory 1 in Gloucester

• Regular travel to customers, suppliers and our Bristol and Athens sites

• Occasional international travel as we expand operations into Europe and the US

• Flexibility to work extended hours when a programme milestone needs it
  

Our Values: Uncompromising Excellence

• Discipline over excuses. We commit. We follow through. We hold ourselves and each other to the highest standard, especially when the pressure is on.

• Push the edge. iCOMAT was built on a refusal to accept that curved fiber could not be manufactured at scale. We innovate where others hesitate.

• Aligned and accountable. Everyone owns their lane, communicates openly, and delivers without being chased. No silos. No ambiguity.

Why iCOMAT?

• Competitive Salary & Benefits: We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including private healthcare, pension scheme.

• Stock Options: Equity options to give employees a stake in the company’s success

• Career Growth Opportunities: Join us at a pivotal time as we scale up, offering unmatched professional growth opportunities in the rapidly advancing field of composite materials.

• Innovation-Focused Culture: We pride ourselves on our inclusive, forward-thinking work environment. Recognized by Bloomberg as "UK Startup to Watch", iCOMAT celebrates diversity and encourages all applicants, regardless of background, to apply.

• Global Impact: Be a part of our mission to redefine lightweight structures for the automotive, aerospace, and space industries, working with some of the most influential companies worldwide.Ready to be part of something big?