Manufacturing PMO – Project Lead

McLaren Automotive Ltd; Woking; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

McLaren Automotive is seeking a Project Lead to drive the PMO in delivering a multi-workstream manufacturing investment programme. Based in Woking, you will manage integrated plans, milestones and governance, coaching a Project Graduate, and coordinating with workstream leads and external partners.

The role is onsite 3–5 days per week, with occasional travel to Sheffield as needed. You should bring a proven PMO track record, hands-on Jira experience, and strong stakeholder engagement to ensure

Qualifications

• Proven track record as a project manager and change delivery lead.
• Experience working with external delivery partners or third-party advisory support.
• Demonstrated ability to operate within a programme or PMO delivery function.
• Hands-on experience with Jira for planning, tracking and reporting.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the integrated programme plan and PMO delivery framework across project workstreams.
• Drive the programme’s delivery cadence and governance processes; prepare high-quality materials.
• Maintain an audit trail of key actions, decisions and escalations for transparent reporting.
• Establish rigorous risk, issue, dependency and change-control management.
• Champion Jira as the single source of truth for delivery tracking and reporting.
• Produce timely programme reporting, including milestone, KPI and OKR tracking.
• Engage, coach and influence stakeholders to drive accountability and pace.
• Provide day-to-day direction and development to junior team members.
• Represent the PMO in cross-functional reviews and alignment activities.
• Take end-to-end delivery ownership of discrete initiatives when required.

Skills

Delivery leadership

Stakeholder management

Change delivery

PPM / PMO

Education

Degree educated

Tools

Jira

Job description

Purpose of the role

McLaren Automotive is progressing a significant manufacturing investment programme – a multi-year transformation of our manufacturing capability that will help shape the future of the business and unlock the next phase of the McLaren Automotive business plan. The PMO is the dedicated programme office established to govern, coordinate and drive delivery of the programme through to 2029. Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office, the Project Lead is the delivery engine of the PMO – an established project manager and change delivery lead responsible for translating programme strategy into disciplined, visible, on-time execution across a complex, multi-workstream manufacturing investment programme. The role owns the integrated plan, delivery cadence and programme control framework, with delegated accountability for driving milestone delivery, managing critical dependencies, risks, issues and change, and ensuring robust, timely reporting across all workstreams. Operating through a heavily matrixed structure and without direct line authority over delivery resource, the Project Lead must engage, challenge, coach and influence stakeholders at every level to maintain pace, unblock delivery and hold teams to account for agreed outcomes. This is a hands-on, high-visibility role for a self-motivated, delivery-focused individual who instinctively ‘runs to the problem’. The Project Lead works closely with the programme’s workstream leads and the wider Manufacturing Business Office, makes effective use of the programme’s project and portfolio management tooling (Jira) as the single source of truth for delivery, and provides day‑to‑day direction, coaching and development to the Project Graduate. The role is based in Woking and is expected to be onsite for a minimum of three days per week, increasing up to five days per week where programme demands require, such as peak delivery phases or key internal governance flows. Travel to other McLaren sites, including MCTC in Sheffield, may be required from time to time but is expected to be minimal and driven by programme need.

What to Expect

Purpose of the role

McLaren Automotive is progressing a significant manufacturing investment programme – a multi-year transformation of our manufacturing capability that will help shape the future of the business and unlock the next phase of the McLaren Automotive business plan. The PMO is the dedicated programme office established to govern, coordinate and drive delivery of the programme through to 2029. Reporting to the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office, the Project Lead is the delivery engine of the PMO – an established project manager and change delivery lead responsible for translating programme strategy into disciplined, visible, on‑time execution across a complex, multi-workstream manufacturing investment programme. The role owns the integrated plan, delivery cadence and programme control framework, with delegated accountability for driving milestone delivery, managing critical dependencies, risks, issues and change, and ensuring robust, timely reporting across all workstreams. Operating through a heavily matrixed structure and without direct line authority over delivery resource, the Project Lead must engage, challenge, coach and influence stakeholders at every level to maintain pace, unblock delivery and hold teams to account for agreed outcomes. This is a hands‑on, high‑visibility role for a self‑motivated, delivery‑focused individual who instinctively ‘runs to the problem’. The Project Lead works closely with the programme’s workstream leads and the wider Manufacturing Business Office, makes effective use of the programme’s project and portfolio management tooling (Jira) as the single source of truth for delivery, and provides day‑to‑day direction, coaching and development to the Project Graduate. The role is based in Woking and is expected to be onsite for a minimum of three days per week, increasing up to five days per week where programme demands require, such as peak delivery phases or key internal governance flows. Travel to other McLaren sites, including MCTC in Sheffield, may be required from time to time but is expected to be minimal and driven by programme need.

What You’ll Do

Principal Accountabilities

• Own and maintain the integrated programme plan and PMO delivery framework across the project workstreams – keeping milestones, critical path, dependencies and delivery status visible, current and actively managed.
• Drive the programme’s delivery cadence, supporting the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office in defining, operating and continually improving the project governance model. This includes planning and running governance, steering and workstream reviews; preparing high quality materials; identifying gaps or control weaknesses; and ensuring actions and decisions are accurately captured, owned and followed through to completion.
• Maintain a clear audit trail of key programme actions, decisions and escalations, using the programme’s agreed tools and forums to drive follow‑up, closure and transparent reporting.
• Establish and maintain rigorous risk, issue, dependency and change‑control management, creating timely and robust mitigation plans, challenging workstream assumptions and escalating appropriately to protect critical path, cost, quality and programme outcomes.
• Act as owner and champion of the programme’s project and portfolio management (PPM) tooling (Jira), configuring and administering it as the single source of truth for delivery tracking, ensuring workstreams keep it accurate and current, and using it to surface progress, blockers and risk.
• Produce accurate, insightful and timely programme reporting – including milestone, KPI and OKR tracking – for the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office, the Chief Manufacturing Officer and programme governance forums.
• Engage, coach, challenge and influence stakeholders across a matrixed organisation – including workstream leads, functional partners, senior leadership and external delivery partners – to drive accountability, resolve blockers and maintain delivery pace without direct authority.
• Provide day‑to‑day direction, coaching and development to the Project Graduate and other junior team members, building delivery discipline and PMO capability within the team.
• Support and foster a cross‑functional and cross‑company approach, representing the PMO positively in internal reviews and in inter‑company Business Office and PMO alignment.
• Take direct, end‑to‑end delivery ownership of discrete initiatives and “special projects” within the programme as required, ensuring outcomes are delivered to agreed scope, timing, quality and governance expectations.
• Maintain independence and objectivity to protect the integrity of programme delivery data and reporting.

Impact

Types of roles managed by jobholder

• Directly – PMO Project Graduate: day‑to‑day direction, coaching and development.
• Indirectly – workstream leads, cross‑functional and embedded programme resource, and external delivery partners aligned to the project delivery, managed through influence rather than line authority.

Key Financial Measures

• No direct budget accountability; supports the Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office and workstream leads in tracking programme spend against the approved business case.
• Accountable for the accuracy, integrity and timeliness of the delivery and cost‑tracking data that underpins programme reporting, governance decisions and senior leadership interventions.
• Drives the delivery pace, control and discipline required to protect programme cost, schedule, quality and benefits commitments, escalating risks early and supporting corrective action where outcomes are at risk.

Key Stakeholders

• Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Office (direct line).
• Programme Director and the programme’s workstream leads and delivery teams.
• Chief Manufacturing Officer and the wider Manufacturing leadership team.
• Manufacturing Business Office, including the Strategy Lead and Strategy Graduate.
• Cross‑functional partners across Engineering, Operations, Procurement, Quality, Finance, HR and IT.
• External delivery partners and specialist advisors supporting the programme.
• Inter‑company and Group PMO and Business Office counterparts.

What You’ll Bring

A proven track record as a project manager and change delivery lead, having successfully delivered complex, cross‑functional projects or workstreams to time, cost and quality in a fast‑paced environment.

Experience working with external delivery partners, specialist advisors or third‑party consultancy support is advantageous, including the ability to operate effectively across both strategic partner relationships and smaller discrete advisory engagements.

Demonstrable experience operating within a programme or PMO delivery function – building and maintaining integrated plans, governance cadences, and risk, issue and dependency management.

Experience delivering change through a matrixed organisation, driving accountability and pace through stakeholder management and influence rather than direct authority.

Hands‑on experience using project and portfolio management (PPM) tooling – Jira in particular – to plan, track and report delivery.

Experience coaching, mentoring or developing more junior colleagues.

Experience within automotive, advanced manufacturing, engineering, construction or another complex operational or programme environment is advantageous.

Preferred Qualifications

Degree educated, or equivalent relevant professional experience.

A recognised project or programme management accreditation – for example APM PMQ / PPQ, PRINCE2 (Practitioner), or an Agile / Scrum certification.

A change management qualification (e.g. APMG Change Management or Prosci) or equivalent demonstrable experience.

Familiarity or certification in Jira / Atlassian tooling is advantageous.

Business Knowledge

Strong understanding of project and change delivery methodologies, governance and PMO best practice (both waterfall and agile).

An appreciation of manufacturing and / or major capital programme delivery environments and their interdependencies is advantageous.

Familiarity with business planning, OKR / KPI frameworks and performance reporting.

Essential Functional / Technical Skills

Confident, hands‑on command of PPM tooling – Jira – for planning, tracking, workflow configuration and reporting, with the ability to establish it as the single source of truth and coach others in its use.

Strong planning and delivery‑management skills: integrated scheduling, milestone and critical‑path management, dependency mapping, and risk, issue and change control.

Maintain a clear audit trail of key actions, decisions and escalations to support transparent reporting, effective follow‑up and robust programme control.

Excellent stakeholder engagement, facilitation and influencing skills across all levels of seniority.

Advanced operating level across the Microsoft M365 suite, with strong reporting and presentation output (notably Excel and PowerPoint).

Analytical and problem‑solving rigour – able to cut through complexity, surface the critical issues and drive structured resolution.

Personal Attributes / Competencies

Commit to Win: relentlessly delivery‑focused