Project Manager

UK Atomic Energy Authority; South Oxfordshire; On-site; GBP 57,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary + allowance

Performance bonus

Pension (Final salary)

Annual leave 25 days + bank holidays

Flexible working options

Job summary

UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is seeking a Project Manager to lead fusion technology projects from planning through delivery, ensuring time, cost and quality targets are met. The role involves governance, budgeting and coordinating multi‑discipline teams to deliver high‑impact programmes at the forefront of fusion energy.

You will sponsor and manage projects to 6 million per year, maintain regulatory compliance, and support early‑career professionals.

Qualifications

• Recognised project management qualification (APM PMQ, PRINCE2 or PMP).
• Proven experience in project management across multiple workstreams.
• Experience applying waterfall, agile, hybrid and iterative methodologies with governance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain comprehensive project management plans with milestones.
• Lead day‑to‑day delivery of projects or workstreams and manage phase transitions.
• Translate business cases into robust delivery plans and provide lifecycle updates.
• Lead scheduling, resource planning and delivery tracking to meet milestones.
• Coordinate technical, specialist and project resources and address issues.
• Ensure compliance with health & safety, GDPR, procurement and export controls.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Budget management

Delivery governance

Project management delivery

Job description

About us

Fusion, the process that powers the sun and stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our worldbadly needs. UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industryand research organisations to achieveground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the gridby developing the power stations of tomorrow and the skilled workforce to deliver them.

About the job

As a Project Manager, you’ll lead fusion technology projects from planning through delivery, ensuring agreed outcomes are achieved within time, cost and quality requirements. You’ll play a central role in delivering projects that support UKAEA’s mission to develop fusion energy, while gaining the opportunity to work on complex, high-impact programmes at the forefront of fusion technology.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Develop and maintain comprehensive project management plans to deliver agreed outcomes and milestones within time, cost and quality requirements.
• Lead the day-to-day delivery of projects or workstreams, selecting appropriate delivery methodologies and managing transitions between project phases and gates.
• Translate approved business cases into robust delivery plans and contribute to updates throughout the project lifecycle.
• Lead project scheduling, resource planning and delivery tracking to ensure milestones and deliverables are achieved for the programme
• Secure and coordinate the technical, specialist and project resources required for successful delivery, addressing resource or performance issues where necessary.
• Ensure project activities comply with applicable legal, regulatory and organisational requirements, including health and safety, CDM, GDPR, procurement, intellectual property and export control requirements.
• Develop and manage supplier and contractor arrangements, monitoring contractual performance, managing changes and working with Commercial colleagues on procurement and contract matters.
• Lead project governance, assurance and reporting activities, maintaining effective document management, audit controls and project reporting.
• Establish and manage project budgets, monitoring expenditure and forecasts, identifying potential under or overspends and proposing corrective actions through appropriate governance.
• Manage project risks, issues, dependencies and benefits, providing clear information to support timely decisions and effective delivery.
• Supporting the growth and development of early-career professionals.

What You’ll Bring

• A recognised project management qualification, such as APM PMQ, PRINCE2 or PMP.
• Proven experience in project management, preferably within a related industry or sector.
• Demonstrable experience applying waterfall, agile, hybrid and iterative project management methodologies, with appropriate governance and controls.
• Experience managing project budgets and financial performance for projects valued at up to £6million per year.
• Strong commercial awareness, including experience making economic decisions that support effective use of project resources and value.
• Experience delivering projects involving multiple workstreams, teams or external suppliers within defined time, cost and quality requirements.
• Proven track record of managing cross-functional teams in a matrix environment

UKAEA is an onsite organisation, and this role requires regular onsite presence (usually between 3-5 days in any given week) in line with business needs. We actively support flexible working arrangements where this is compatible with the role.

Benefits

We have a generous range of benefits (see the full listhere) and highlights include:

• A salary of£57,117(inclusiveofa5,800 specialist allowance)
• Up to 7% corporate performance bonus
• Final salary defined benefits pension scheme with an equivalent of21.5% employer pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave plus2.5 'privilege' days;8 Bank Holidays
• Additional 3 days of site closure over Christmas break
• Flexible working options plus family-friendly leave provisions

Our commitment to ED&I

UKAEA's mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity,inclusionand accessibility, and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce.

We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. All appointments are made onmeritand further information can be foundhere.