Project Controls Manager

Leonardo UK Ltd; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Pension scheme

Learning resources

Flexible benefits

Job summary

Leonardo UK Ltd in Edinburgh is seeking a Project Controls Manager to lead planning, forecasting, and performance analysis across complex defence programmes. You will develop integrated schedules, budgets, and KPI reporting, collaborating with Project Managers, engineers, and customers to ensure on-time, on-cost delivery within contractual commitments.

The role offers flexible, hybrid working and opportunities to influence bid through delivery decisions while maintaining work-life balance.

Qualifications

• Experience in project controls, project planning, programme controls, or project management within a complex delivery environment.
• Strong experience developing and managing integrated project schedules, resource plans, and forecasting activities.
• Experience applying project controls methodologies across cost, schedule, resource, and performance management.
• Knowledge of Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), baseline management, and project governance frameworks.
• Experience producing KPI reporting, performance analysis, and project status reporting for senior stakeholders.
• Experience supporting bid, mobilisation, delivery, and change management activities.
• Understanding of project risk management and recovery planning.
• Experience working within aerospace, defence, engineering, manufacturing, or other highly regulated industries would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Support risk identification and assessment activities alongside Project and Risk Managers.
• Support bid and proposal activities, analysing customer requirements and assessing delivery feasibility.
• Develop high-level schedules and budget forecasts aligned to contractual requirements and programme milestones.
• Support project mobilisation activities, including WBS development and governance framework implementation.
• Create and maintain integrated project schedules that provide visibility of performance and risks.
• Develop resource-loaded plans and time-phased cost forecasts to support decisions.
• Monitor progress against milestones, budgets, resource plans, and performance targets.
• Produce KPI reports and dashboards to support recovery planning and actions.
• Work with programme teams to review trends, risks, opportunities, and delivery performance.
• Support customer reviews and programme performance meetings.
• Maintain schedules and forecasts to reflect evolving requirements and changes.

Skills

Project controls

Project planning

Forecasting

WBS

KPI reporting

Risk management

Aerospace/defence knowledge

Primavera P6

MS Project

Tools

Primavera P6

Microsoft Project

Job description

Your impact Great projects don't succeed by chance, they succeed through control, insight, and planning. Could you be the person who keeps our most critical programmes on track? At Leonardo, we’re looking for a Project Controls Manager to play a key role in the successful delivery of complex, high-value programmes that support defence and security capabilities across the globe. Working at the heart of programme delivery, you'll provide the planning, forecasting, performance analysis, and project controls expertise needed to ensure projects are delivered against challenging cost, schedule, and contractual commitments. This is an opportunity to influence decisions from bid through to delivery, partnering with Project Managers, engineers, commercial teams, and customers to drive programme performance and enable successful outcomes. Whether identifying risks early, analysing performance trends, or developing integrated schedules, your work will provide the insight and control needed to deliver with confidence. With flexible and hybrid working options available, you'll be empowered to make a real impact while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

What you'll do as a Project Controls Manager

• Supporting risk identification and assessment activities alongside Project and Risk Managers.
• Supporting bid and proposal activities, analysing customer requirements and assessing delivery feasibility.
• Developing high-level schedules and budget forecasts aligned to contractual requirements and programme milestones.
• Supporting project mobilisation activities, including Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) development and governance framework implementation.
• Creating and maintaining integrated project schedules that provide clear visibility of programme performance and delivery risks.
• Developing resource-loaded plans and time-phased cost forecasts to support effective decision-making.
• Monitoring progress against programme milestones, budgets, resource plans, and performance targets.
• Producing KPI reports, project performance dashboards, and analysis to support recovery planning and corrective actions.
• Working closely with programme teams to review project trends, risks, opportunities, and delivery performance.
• Supporting customer reviews and programme performance meetings.
• Maintaining schedules and forecasts to reflect evolving requirements, contractual changes, and programme priorities.
• Supporting budget reviews and baseline management activities to ensure effective performance measurement.
• Contributing to logistics and delivery planning activities where required.
• Capturing and sharing lessons learned to drive continuous improvement across programmes and teams.

What you'll bring

• Experience in project controls, project planning, programme controls, or project management within a complex delivery environment.
• Strong experience developing and managing integrated project schedules, resource plans, and forecasting activities.
• Experience applying project controls methodologies across cost, schedule, resource, and performance management.
• Knowledge of Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), baseline management, and project governance frameworks.
• Experience producing KPI reporting, performance analysis, and project status reporting for senior stakeholders.
• Experience supporting bid, mobilisation, delivery, and change management activities.
• Understanding of project risk management and recovery planning.
• Experience working within aerospace, defence, engineering, manufacturing, or other highly regulated industries would be advantageous.
• Familiarity with project scheduling and project controls tools such as Primavera P6, Microsoft Project, or equivalent planning systems would be beneficial.

This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn.

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting.

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work-life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a Friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech and lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible Working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options.

For part-time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

We are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know.

Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity. Our employees are not just part of a team, they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

Primary Location: GB - Edinburgh

Contract Type: Employee-Permanent

Hybrid Working: Hybrid