Project Manager

Saab; Oakley; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Saab UK, part of Scandinavia’s defence group, is seeking a Project Manager for its BlueBear unit in Bedfordshire. You will provide strategic oversight for multiple projects, from rapid prototyping to full system integration, ensuring quality, timeliness and budget compliance while driving revenue targets.

You will lead project teams across disciplines, manage bids and proposals, and maintain strong customer and supplier relationships, enabling continued growth in the UK defence and security

Qualifications

• Prince 2 or similar qualification in Project Management.
• Experience managing projects from rapid prototyping to complex hardware lifecycles.
• Demonstrated ability to drive concept development and multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong financial, risk and concurrent engineering awareness.
• Proven ability to mentor and train project teams.
• Excellent customer relationship management and KPI reporting.

Responsibilities

• Deliver assigned projects on time, on cost and to quality (OTOCOQ).
• Provide leadership, strategy and alignment with Product Maturity Roadmap.
• Oversee budgets and revenue targets for projects.
• Manage bids, proposals and resource planning to ensure timely submissions.
• Coordinate stakeholder engagement and supply chain activities.

Skills

Prince 2

Project management

Leadership & mentoring

Financial management

Risk management

Stakeholder communication

Job description

Introduction

Saab UK is part of Scandinavia’s largest defence company, bringing together the best of Swedish and British innovation. Saab offers world-leading solutions and services in defence, aviation, space, and civil security to keep people and society safe. Our UK presence has been growing at pace, meaning we can offer a wide range of opportunities for personal fulfilment and career growth. We currently employ over 600 people across eight sites in the UK, and our specialisations include software engineering, underwater robotics, radars, AI, and armed forces training.

What you will be part

Saab is a leading defence and security company with an enduring purpose, to help nations keep their people and society safe.

Empowered by its 28,000 talented people, Saab constantly pushes the boundaries of technology to create a safer and more sustainable world.

Saab designs, manufactures and maintains advanced systems in aeronautics, weapons, command and control, sensors and underwater systems.

Saab is headquartered in Sweden. It has major operations all over the world and is part of the domestic defence capability of several nations.

The Role:

This role is part of our BlueBear business Unit in Bedfordshire.

The Project Manager role will provide strategic oversight for the successful execution and delivery of multiple projects assigned to them. Embracing the experimental nature of Blue Bear, these projects range in size from fast-paced research and rapid prototyping concepts to larger development and system integration projects. Success in this role will be measured against an agreed set of metrics, ensuring all deliverables meet rigorous quality and safety standards while achieving On Time Delivery, Budget Control, and Revenue targets.

Key Responsibilities:

• Project Delivery & Experimentation: Accountable for the delivery of assigned projects (both internally and customer-funded), ensuring they are completed On Time, On Cost, and to Quality (OTOCOQ). Manage complex hardware development lifecycles with a strong emphasis on concept generation, experimentation, and rapid prototyping initiatives. Ability to develop mature plans and to drive a proactive project delivery through daily status meetings.

• Leadership & Strategy: Provide function and team leadership, mentoring, and training to project leads across the business. Align project execution with the overall business objectives and the Product Maturity Roadmap.

• Financial Accountability: Oversee budget management for assigned projects and take responsibility for revenue targets, ensuring effective resource deployment and cost control.

• Bids and Proposals: Manage bids and proposal activities, including budget management, resource planning, bid writing, and providing technical project management input to ensure on-time submission of quality proposals.

• Stakeholder & Supply Chain Engagement: Act as the primary customer point of contact for assigned projects, leading to high customer satisfaction and repeat orders. Manage supply chain activities, including delivery, relationship management, supplier points of contact, and negotiations.

• Process Improvement: Support functional leads in introducing new processes, tools, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Drive continuous improvement initiatives, including the introduction and management of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics on projects.

• Resource & Risk Management: Handle resource management, including planning, allocation, and conflict management, alongside comprehensive project scheduling and risk management.

• Some travel within the UK may be required.

Qualifications and Skills:

Essential:

• Prince 2 or similar qualification in Project Management.

• Experience managing projects ranging from fast-paced research to complex hardware development lifecycles and system integration.

• Demonstrated experience in driving concept development, rapid prototyping, and navigating the fast-paced, experimentation-driven nature of unmanned or aerospace system and managing multi-disciplined teams.

• Strong understanding of financial management, risk assessment, and concurrent engineering practices.

• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and provide project management training to cross-functional project teams.

• Exceptional communication skills for managing customer relationships, supporting bids, and presenting technical metrics/KPIs to senior stakeholders.

Desirable:

• Experience or familiarity with Civil and Military Aviation regulatory requirements (CAA, MAA, EASA) and industry standards.

• Ability to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC level).

By submitting an application to Saab UK you consent to undertaking workforce screening activities that may include but are not limited to: Baseline Personnel Security checks, National Security Vetting, reference checks, verification of working rights and in all circumstances preferred candidates will be placed through a security interview.