Project Manager

DAC Beachcroft Dublin; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading law firm is seeking a Project Manager in Bristol to oversee international expansion projects. The role requires managing project timelines, budgets, and stakeholder communications while ensuring effective governance. Ideal candidates should possess strong organisational and stakeholder management skills, and a proactive approach to project delivery. The position allows for hybrid work, requiring on-site presence at least twice a week.

Qualifications

• Experience managing projects from initiation to completion.
• Ability to work with senior stakeholders and project sponsors.
• Proven capacity to handle multiple priorities effectively.

Responsibilities

• Manage projects to ensure delivery on time, budget, and quality.
• Facilitate project board meetings and regular updates.
• Conduct post-completion analysis to capture lessons learnt.

Skills

Organisational skills

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Self-motivation

Adaptability

Job description

Project Manager

Department: Business Services - Operational Change/Transformation

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Bristol

The Change and Transformation team ensures that projects run within DACB are managed and executed with efficiency and expertise. The scope of the projects can range from business improvement projects seeking to change processes and behaviors through to IT infrastructure projects, and international expansion projects. We are seeking a project manager to join the Project team within Business and Change to deliver projects for the business, with a key focus initially on international expansion.

Key Responsibilities

• Be accountable for managing projects proactively to ensure that they are delivered to agreed time, budget and quality.
• Apply appropriate methodologies and governance to control project progress, risk costs and quality.
• Support, guide and train junior members of the Project Delivery team to help build their project knowledge and experience.
• Ensure that senior stakeholders are engaged in projects; that key milestone progress updates are regularly provided; and that all aspects of projects follow the governance structure.
• Facilitate and run project board meetings.
• Act as a liaison between the business, any key external stakeholders, including any potential lateral hires, and technical project team members, offering hands‑on project direction, guidance and assistance.
• Create and maintain project plans, being accountable for communicating and updating these plans as projects progress.
• Monitor project performance against key parameters - including budget and timescales - throughout the lifecycle of the project.
• Ensure that issues and risks are flagged and addressed in a timely manner to avoid overruns.
• Prepare and obtain approval for all key project documentation.
• Organise and chair regular project update meetings, ensuring that action points are recorded and completed.
• Facilitate the involvement of required resources from other practice areas as required, liaising and communicating effectively with relevant teams across DAC Beachcroft business areas.
• Conduct post‑completion analysis of project delivery, capturing and communicating any lessons learnt.
• Travel, where essential, to other DAC Beachcroft offices to facilitate project progress.
• Handle confidential information in line with the firm's data security protocols.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Be outcome‑focused, taking a pragmatic, cost effective approach to dealing with issues.
• Have outstanding organisational abilities, maintaining a balance between the bigger picture and the detail.
• Have excellent stakeholder management skills, specifically relating to professional services and non‑technical stakeholders, with a clear, persuasive communication style and a high level of personal credibility.
• Be proactive in driving individual project tasks and overall projects through to their conclusion, supporting key stakeholders with important and time‑sensitive tasks, to keep timeframes on track.
• Be analytical and inquisitive, supporting the preparation of project business cases, including researching potential areas of costs, and regulatory and legal frameworks with support from the relevant Business Services colleagues.
• Be culturally aware, appreciating the challenges of working in an international environment with stakeholders, both internal and external, from a range of backgrounds.
• Have strong listening skills and the ability to build effective, reciprocal relationships at all levels.
• Have experience of taking responsibility for driving projects forward, owning the outcome and showing resilience in the face of resistance and setbacks. Be able to demonstrate clear judgement and apply common sense.
• Be self‑motivated and able to work to a high standard under own initiative.
• Have the ability to understand technical complexities and issues and to provide clear direction.
• Have experience of reporting to and working closely with senior business stakeholders and project sponsors.
• Have a ’can do’ attitude, being outcome focused ensuring that the project delivers to our customers.
• Have the ability to thrive in a changing environment.
• Ability to understand business needs ensuring appropriate solutions are delivered.
• Ability to manage change to drive adoption of new solutions.

General

• Build and maintain key relationships with the business.
• Act as liaison between the business and the delivery team.
• Change champion within the wider organisation.
• Role is a hybrid position, with an expectation to be in a DACB office at least 2 days each week.

Firmwide

• Actively operates in the best interests of the firm at all times internally and externally.
• Operates in a regulated environment, effectively managing risk and compliance issues including data security.
• Works in partnership with others to manage and mitigate commercial risk.