Project Manager

Heriot-Watt University; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 58,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

33 days annual leave

Flexible working on request

Job summary

Heriot-Watt University is seeking a Project Manager to lead the end-to-end delivery of complex change initiatives on the Edinburgh campus. You will manage governance, business cases, benefits realisation and transitions to business-as-usual, working across academic, professional services and external partners.

The role requires strong leadership, stakeholder engagement and risk management, with autonomy to tailor approaches to context and maturity.

Qualifications

• Degree (or equivalent professional qualification or demonstrable experience) in a relevant discipline.
• Experience delivering change in higher education/academic sector.
• Substantial experience delivering complex projects across the full life cycle (tech, process, organisational or infrastructure) with evidence of operating at a competent to proficient level.
• Strong applied knowledge of project governance, integrated planning, risk and issue management, financial management and benefits realisation.
• Demonstrable experience of leading and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams, including matrix-managed resources.
• Ability to exercise sound professional judgement within a defined governance framework.
• Highly effective stakeholder engagement, communication and influencing skills with senior stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, with data-informed decision making.

Responsibilities

• Select, tailor and apply appropriate project life cycle approaches, exercising professional judgement to respond to uncertainty, complexity and risk.
• Establish, operate and maintain effective project governance and reporting arrangements, ensuring clear accountability, robust decision-making and timely escalation in line with organisational standards.
• Lead the development, approval and ongoing refinement of the project business case, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives, affordability and value for money.
• Produce, baseline and maintain an integrated project management plan, incorporating scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, risks, issues, communications and benefits.
• Actively manage delivery performance against baselines, using data and insight to forecast outcomes and recommend corrective action.
• Take responsibility for project financial management, including estimation, budgeting, forecasting, cost control and reporting.
• Identify, assess and manage risks, issues, dependencies and assumptions, implementing response strategies.
• Secure, lead and coordinate multi-disciplinary project teams, applying leadership styles to motivate performance and maintain momentum.
• Manage internal and external resources and suppliers, including procurement, contract management and performance oversight.
• Design and deliver structured stakeholder engagement and communication activities, influencing effectively at all levels.
• Plan and manage transition activities to embed outputs into business-as-usual operations.
• Define, monitor and report on benefits realisation, supporting owners to track value.
• Ensure sustainability, equality, ethical and compliance considerations are embedded in decisions.
• Capture, share and apply lessons learned to improve delivery capability.

Skills

Governance & reporting

Risk & issue management

Integrated planning

Financial management

Stakeholder engagement

Portfolio/PMO understanding

Leadership of multi-disciplinary teams

Data-driven decision making

Education

Degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline

Job description

Role Title: Project Manager

Grade and Salary range: Grade 8, £47,389 - £58,225 per annum

FTE and working pattern: Full Time (1FTE), Open ended (flexible working on request).

Annual Leave: 33 days, plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday). Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided. (flexible working on request).

About The Team

Established in 2022, the Global Project Management Office (GPMO) provides a centralised, professional project management capability to deliver strategically significant initiatives aligned to the University’s priorities. Based at the Edinburgh campus within the Strategic Planning, Performance & Projects directorate, the team leads a complex portfolio of transformational change, requiring strong leadership, stakeholder management and governance assurance.

Purpose of the Role

The Project Manager is responsible for the successful end-to-end delivery of one or more complex change initiatives, from early concept, business case development and governance approval through to delivery, transition into business-as-usual and benefits realisation. The role operates with a significant degree of autonomy, applying established good practice while adapting approaches to suit context, risk and organisational maturity. Projects may involve technology, process, organisational or infrastructure change and require close collaboration across academic, professional services and external partners.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Select, tailor and apply appropriate project life cycle approaches, exercising professional judgement to respond to uncertainty, complexity and risk
• Establish, operate and maintain effective project governance and reporting arrangements, ensuring clear accountability, robust decision-making and timely escalation in line with organisational standards
• Lead the development, approval and ongoing refinement of the project business case, ensuring continued alignment with strategic objectives, affordability and value for money
• Produce, baseline and maintain an integrated project management plan, incorporating scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, risks, issues, communications and benefits
• Actively manage delivery performance against agreed baselines, using data and insight to forecast outcomes, manage tolerances and recommend corrective action
• Take responsibility for project financial management, including estimation, budgeting, forecasting, cost control and financial reporting, within agreed delegations
• Identify, assess and manage risks, issues, dependencies and assumptions proactively, implementing agreed response strategies and escalating emerging threats or opportunities
• Secure, lead and coordinate multi-disciplinary project teams, applying appropriate leadership styles to motivate performance, build capability and maintain momentum. Potential line management of staff
• Manage internal and external resources and suppliers as required, including contributing to procurement, contract management and performance oversight
• Design and deliver structured stakeholder engagement and communication activities, influencing effectively at all levels and managing expectations in complex or contested environments
• Plan and manage transition activities to ensure that project outputs are successfully embedded into business-as-usual operations, minimising disruption and enabling adoption
• Define, monitor and report on benefits realisation, supporting benefit owners to understand, track and optimise the value delivered by the change initiative
• Ensure that sustainability, equality, ethical and compliance considerations are embedded into decision-making and delivery practices
• Capture, share and apply lessons learned to support continuous improvement of project delivery capability and organisational learning

Education, Qualifications and Experience

Essential

1. Degree (or equivalent professional qualification or demonstrable experience) in a relevant discipline
2. Experience delivering change in higher education/academic sector
3. Substantial experience delivering complex projects (technology, process, organisational or infrastructure change) across the full project life cycle, with evidence of operating at a competent to proficient professional level
4. Strong applied knowledge of project governance, integrated planning, risk and issue management, financial management and benefits realisation
5. Demonstrable experience of leading and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams, including matrix-managed resources
6. Ability to exercise sound professional judgement, anticipate issues and make informed decisions within a defined governance framework
7. Highly effective stakeholder engagement, communication and influencing skills, including experience working with senior stakeholders
8. Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, with confidence using data to inform decisions and recommendations

Desirable

1. Recognised project management qualification (e.g. APM PMQ, PRINCE2 Practitioner or equivalent)
2. Experience of digital, systems-enabled or transformation-led change initiatives.
3. Understanding of portfolio, programme or PMO environments and how projects contribute to strategic outcomes
4. Active commitment to continuing professional development and professional standards

Additional Information

This job description outlines the principal accountabilities and expectations of the role and reflects the requirement to operate with professional autonomy and judgement appropriate to Grade 8. The role holder may be required to undertake other appropriate duties commensurate with the grade and organisational priorities. Personal objectives (Forward Job Plan) will set out specific tasks and objectives, including those supporting career development.

About Heriot-Watt University

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well‑being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part‑time working and job share options.

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.