Programme Manager

McLaren Automotive Ltd; Woking; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Structured career development

25 days’ holiday, plus bank holiday.

Enhanced company pension scheme

Discretionary annual bonus award

Private medical insurance and health"

Life assurance benefit

Sabbatical after two years’ service

Discounted shopping benefits

Generous parental leave policies

Wellbeing initiatives and employee ass

Job summary

McLaren Automotive Ltd seeks a Programme Manager to lead cross‑functional delivery across design, engineering, purchasing and finance from concept through launch. You will implement governance, manage gateways, risks and costs, and report status to executives while partnering with engineering and vehicle line teams to optimise build readiness.

The role requires strong programme management credentials, a track record in automotive launches and a capability to drive data‑driven decisions in a fast

Qualifications

• Experience in automotive industry and delivery of whole vehicle programmes.
• Experience with project management tools and processes.
• Experience with vehicle product launch.
• Strong focus on financial monitoring of programmes.

Responsibilities

• Establish relationships with cross-functional team to solve complex problems.
• Lead gateway management to ensure on-time delivery of milestones.
• Lead high level planning updates and assess risks while integrating critical paths.
• Assist Senior Programme Manager and Vehicle Line Director on monitoring programme costs.
• Lead issue and risk management for the programme and drive cross-functional conversations.
• Lead change management for programme assumptions and drive data-driven product decisions.
• Maintain programme documentation per change management process for the wider team.
• Establish relationships with Engineering Project Managers to ensure commodity plans support design, prototype and launch.
• Support the parts releasing process to meet build dates.
• Manage prototype builds and associated budgets.
• Manage direct reports to support programme management activities.
• Compile reports to communicate status, risks and issues to senior leadership.
• Drive continuous improvement in programme management processes and tools.

Skills

Automotive industry experience

Whole vehicle programme delivery

Project management

Vehicle product launch

Financial monitoring of programmes

Education

Professional qualification in Programme Management

Degree in Programme Management or Engineering

Tools

Project management tools

Job description

What to Expect

The Programme Manager will report to the Head of Programme Planning and work closely with the Senior Programme Manager within the cross-programme Vehicle Line organisation, delivering the programme through concept, development, test, and launch phases. They will lead programme management for inter-discipline activities across Product, Design, Engineering, Purchase, and Finance teams, while implementing and managing governance activities including gateway, change, issue, and risk management. In addition, they will support the Senior Programme Manager in ensuring on-time delivery of programme milestones, budget management, and resource allocation, as well as communicate programme status, risks, and issues to executive leadership and other stakeholders.

What You'll Do

• Establishing relationships with the cross-functional team to solve complex problems
• Lead the gateway management process to ensure on time delivery of project milestones
• Lead the High level planning update and assess the possible risks while integrating and evaluation critical paths
• Assist Senior Programme Manager and Vehicle Line Director on monitoring the costs of the programme
• Lead Issue and Risk Management for the programme and drive cross-functional conversations to resolve issues and mitigate programme risk
• Lead change management for programme assumptions, working with stakeholders to identify, assess and implement change in a controlled manner to drive data driven product decisions
• Maintain and update programme documentation in accordance with the change management process for the wider project team to consume
• Establish relationships with the Engineering Project Managers and ensure commodity plans support design, prototype and launch activities
• Support the part releasing process to ensure the programme meets its build dates
• Manage prototype builds and associated budgets
• Manage direct reports to support with programme management activities/processes
• Compile reports to communicate status, risks and issues to the senior leadership
• Drive continuous improvement in program management processes and tools by working closely with the Programme Management Operations team

What You'll Bring

Business Knowledge:

• Experience in the automotive industry and delivery of whole vehicle programmes
• Experience with project management tools and processes
• Experience with vehicle product launch
• Strong specimen on financial monitoring of programmes

Essential Functional / Technical Skills:

• Profession qualification in Programme Management
• Degree in Programme Management or an Engineering discipline

What We'll Do for You

We offer a wide – ranging benefits package, which includes:

• Structured career development framework
• 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five days
• Enhanced company pension scheme
• Discretionary annual bonus award
• Private medical insurance and health cash plan
• Life assurance benefit
• Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years’ service
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
• Generous parental leave policies
• A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice

Who Are We?

No restraints. No limitations. We don’t simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.

It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks.

McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.