Higher Ed Transformation Project Manager

Heriot-Watt University

City of Edinburgh

On-site

GBP 47,000 - 58,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

33 days annual leave

Flexible working on request

Job summary

Heriot-Watt University is seeking a Project Manager to lead the end-to-end delivery of complex change initiatives on the Edinburgh campus. You will manage governance, business cases, benefits realisation and transitions to business-as-usual, working across academic, professional services and external partners.

The role requires strong leadership, stakeholder engagement and risk management, with autonomy to tailor approaches to context and maturity.

Qualifications

Degree (or equivalent professional qualification or demonstrable experience) in a relevant discipline.
Experience delivering change in higher education/academic sector.
Substantial experience delivering complex projects across the full life cycle (tech, process, organisational or infrastructure) with evidence of operating at a competent to proficient level.
Strong applied knowledge of project governance, integrated planning, risk and issue management, financial management and benefits realisation.
Demonstrable experience of leading and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams, including matrix-managed resources.
Ability to exercise sound professional judgement within a defined governance framework.
Highly effective stakeholder engagement, communication and influencing skills with senior stakeholders.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, with data-informed decision making.

Responsibilities

Select, tailor and apply appropriate project life cycle approaches, exercising professional judgement to respond to uncertainty, complexity and risk.
Establish, operate and maintain effective project governance and reporting arrangements, ensuring clear accountability, robust decision-making and timely escalation in line with organisational standards.
Lead the development, approval and ongoing refinement of the project business case, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives, affordability and value for money.
Produce, baseline and maintain an integrated project management plan, incorporating scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, risks, issues, communications and benefits.
Actively manage delivery performance against baselines, using data and insight to forecast outcomes and recommend corrective action.
Take responsibility for project financial management, including estimation, budgeting, forecasting, cost control and reporting.
Identify, assess and manage risks, issues, dependencies and assumptions, implementing response strategies.
Secure, lead and coordinate multi-disciplinary project teams, applying leadership styles to motivate performance and maintain momentum.
Manage internal and external resources and suppliers, including procurement, contract management and performance oversight.
Design and deliver structured stakeholder engagement and communication activities, influencing effectively at all levels.
Plan and manage transition activities to embed outputs into business-as-usual operations.
Define, monitor and report on benefits realisation, supporting owners to track value.
Ensure sustainability, equality, ethical and compliance considerations are embedded in decisions.
Capture, share and apply lessons learned to improve delivery capability.