Junior Project Manager

Akaina Talent; Greater London; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Akaina Talent is recruiting a Junior Project Manager to join a growing software delivery team within the insurance sector. You will report to a Senior Project Manager, own a client workstream, and run it day to day in a genuine PM role with supportive backing.

The role focuses on procedural delivery, gating, budgeting, reporting and escalation. Ideal for an organised early-career PM, graduate or coordinator with a software/analytical background seeking ownership early on.

Qualifications

• Degree in software engineering, maths or a similar analytical discipline, or early career experience in project coordination, operations or software delivery.
• Strong organisation and follow-through; able to finish tasks without prompting.
• Clear, confident written and verbal communication; able to present to clients.
• Good judgement on when to resolve issues and when to escalate.
• Comfortable picking up project tools quickly; ClickUp or Jira experience is a bonus.

Responsibilities

• Run a client workstream day to day within a wider software implementation.
• Put delivery gates and milestones in place and monitor progress against them.
• Track budgets, effort and key trigger points, flag variances early.
• Produce regular, concise status reports covering progress, risks and decisions needed.
• Chase actions and dependencies across BAs, developers, testers and client stakeholders.
• Escalate scope, timing and budget issues to the Senior PM properly and in good time.
• Keep plans and documentation accurate in ClickUp, Jira, SharePoint and Office.

Skills

Organised

Client-facing

Communication

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree in software engineering or related

Tools

ClickUp

Jira

SharePoint

Job description

We are working with a growing Software business within the Insurance sector who are looking for a Junior Project Manager to join their delivery team.

You will report to a Senior Project Manager who sets the overall plan and structure, and you will take ownership of a client workstream and run it day to day. This is a genuine project management role with support around you, not a Product Manager role and not a pure admin or coordination position.

The work is procedural and detail driven. You will put the gates in place, monitor against them, track budgets and key trigger points, report regularly on whether the project is on track and escape issues properly when it isn’t.

This suits an organised early career PM or project coordinator, or a sharp graduate looking for their first role in the area, ideally from a software engineering or mathematical background, who wants real ownership early on.

What you will be doing:

• Run a client workstream day to day within a wider software implementation
• Put delivery gates and milestones in place and monitor progress against them
• Track budgets, effort and key trigger points, flagging variances early
• Produce regular, concise status reports covering progress, risks and decisions needed
• Chase actions and dependencies across BAs, developers, testers and client stakeholders
• Escalate scope, timing and budget issues to the Senior PM properly and in good time
• Keep plans and documentation accurate in ClickUp, Jira, SharePoint and Office

What we want to see:

• A degree in software engineering, maths or a similar analytical discipline, or early career experience in project coordination, operations or software delivery - PM qualifications and insurance experience are not essential
• Strong organisation and follow through, finishing things without needing to be chased
• Clear, confident written and verbal communication, and someone who can be put in front of a client
• Good judgement on when to resolve something yourself and when to escape
• Comfortable picking up project tools quickly - ClickUp or Jira experience is a bonus

Permanent role with a business that wants to grow its own people, with a clear path to more complex delivery and client facing responsibility. Full details available on application.