Senior Project Manager

Leonardo UK Ltd; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time to Recharge

Pension scheme

Wellbeing support

Online courses

Flexible benefits

Hybrid working

Job summary

Leonardo UK is seeking a hands-on Senior Project Manager to lead infrastructure and technology change within the Cyber Security Division. The role combines senior delivery leadership with ownership of plans, controls, requirements and verification for government customers.

Based in London with some WFH flexibility, frequent site presence is required, and security clearance is essential. You will manage multiple concurrent changes across lifecycle stages, develop management plans, RAID logs and

Qualifications

• Proven leadership of complex infrastructure and platform projects.
• Experience producing and maintaining core project artefacts.
• Strong planning, scheduling, RAID, and change-management capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead projects across mobilisation, definition, implementation and closure.
• Produce and maintain project artefacts, schedules, baselines, milestones and dependencies.
• Integrate security, accreditation and assurance activities into delivery plans.
• Coordinate evidence, reviews and acceptance with customers and suppliers.
• Drive test strategies, verification and validation plans and readiness evidence.

Skills

Leadership

Delivery leadership

Requirements management

Budgeting & forecasting

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Governance & assurance

Security awareness

Job description

Job Description: Your Impact Leonardo UK is seeking a hands‑on Senior Project Manager to lead the delivery of complex infrastructure and technology change within the Cyber Security Division. Working in a lean Integrated Project Team, you will combine senior delivery leadership with direct ownership of the plans, controls, requirements, verification, test and acceptance products required to deliver successfully. You will manage multiple concurrent and interdependent changes for defence and wider government customers. The portfolio principally covers infrastructure and platform change, including software and operating‑system upgrades, new application integration, cyber‑security change, migration, transition and operational readiness. The role requires resilience, sound judgement and strong negotiation skills, together with the confidence to challenge constructively while maintaining effective customer relationships. The role is based at the customer site in London. There will be some flexibility to work from home, however, frequent site presence is required. Security clearance is a requirement for this role. If you already hold an appropriate clearance, this would be beneficial.

What you will do as a Senior Project Manager

Lead projects and changes across the full lifecycle, from mobilisation and definition through implementation, verification, acceptance, transition and closure. Operate as a hands‑on delivery leader as well as a manager. Personally produce, populate, review and maintain core project artefacts as required within a delivery environment. Establish and maintain integrated project schedules, delivery baselines, milestones, dependencies, critical paths, forecasts and credible recovery plans. Develop and maintain Project Management Plans, RAID logs, decision and assumption records, resource forecasts, governance packs, progress reports and auditable delivery records. Manage several concurrent deliveries, balancing competing priorities, specialist resources, operational demands and contractual milestones. Identify cumulative risk and cross‑project dependencies, resolve priority conflicts where possible, and escalated with clear evidence, options and recommendations. Lead multidisciplinary teams across engineering, architecture, security, test and service management. Work collaboratively with Finance, Commercial, suppliers and customer organisations. Integrate security, accreditation and assurance activities into delivery plans. Coordinate the associated evidence, reviews, approvals, access constraints and security‑cleared resource dependencies. Translate contractual, customer and business needs into controlled, measurable delivery outcomes and acceptance criteria. Develop and maintain requirements catalogues, where required, and end‑to‑end traceability from requirement through design, implementation, verification and acceptance. Drive completion of Verification and Validation Requirements Matrices, working directly with the team to populate, maintain and update them. Identify unclear, conflicting, unallocated or untestable requirements and drive their timely resolution. Coordinate the creation and review of test strategies, plans, specifications, scripts and readiness evidence. Contribute directly to these products and associated test outputs where necessary. Develop and maintain Integrated Test, Evaluation and Acceptance Plans and associated evidence matrices, records and acceptance submissions. Plan and control integration, verification, validation, transition and customer acceptance activity. Ensure the supporting evidence is complete, coherent, configuration‑controlled and suitable for approval. Drive defect, concession and acceptance‑action resolution with technical specialists, suppliers and customers.

Commercial, financial and governance responsibilities

Deliver against the contract, statement of work, agreed baselines, milestones and acceptance criteria. Maintain a clear distinction between contractual obligations, customer expectations and emerging requests. Control project scope, requirements, assumptions and change. Produce robust impact assessments covering cost, schedule, resources, risk, security, test, acceptance and contractual commitments. Recognise out‑of‑scope activity and engage Commercial before commitments are made. Support contract change, negotiation and commercial correspondence while protecting Leonardo’s contractual position. Manage budgets, forecasts, estimate at completion, resource demand and financial performance, providing accurate and timely information for decision‑making. Lead reviews, governance and assurance activities, presenting status, evidence, decisions, options and recommendations. Protect configuration‑controlled baselines and understand the relationship between delivery evidence, acceptance, contractual milestones and payment.

Customer leadership and ways of working

Build effective relationships with customers, delivery partners and internal stakeholders in a formal, evidence‑led environment. Negotiate confidently, handle difficult conversations and challenge unrealistic positions or unsupported assumptions while preserving constructive working relationships. Remain calm, resilient and objective under sustained customer, schedule and delivery pressure. Hold internal teams, suppliers, partners and customers to agreed commitments, escalating where required. Adapt rapidly to changing priorities and incomplete information without losing control of the delivery baseline or audit trail. Drive recovery activity where performance, schedule, acceptance or customer confidence is at risk. Promote lessons learned, continuous improvement and proportionate delivery discipline across the team.

What you’ll bring

Proven leadership of complex infrastructure and platform projects, including associated application or technology change, across the full delivery lifecycle. Demonstrable willingness and ability to produce high‑quality project artefacts personally in a matrix environment. Advanced planning, scheduling, dependency, RAID, change and recovery‑management capability. Practical experience of requirements management, traceability, verification, test planning and customer acceptance. Strong financial and commercial awareness, including budgeting, forecasting, scope control and delivery against contractual commitments. Experience managing multiple concurrent deliveries and prioritising constrained specialist resources. Strong negotiation, influencing, conflict‑resolution and written communication skills. Experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams and suppliers without relying solely on direct line authority. Strong governance and assurance capability, including accurate reporting and maintenance of auditable records. Evidence of sound judgement, personal resilience and constructive challenge in demanding customer environments.

Desirable

Delivery experience within defence, central government or an equivalent regulated and contractually controlled environment. Experience of cyber security, security accreditation, secure infrastructure, restricted environments or security‑constrained delivery. Knowledge of IT Service Management, service transition and operational readiness. Experience managing subcontractors, third‑party suppliers and partner organisations. Experience supporting bids, mobilisation and bid‑to‑delivery transition. APM, PMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner or an equivalent recognised project‑management qualification. MSP or comparable programme‑management awareness.

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre‑employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). You must also be eligible for National Security Vetting (NSV), which may include Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information, please visit: UK Security Vetting.

Why join us

• Time to Recharge: Generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi‑days each year.
• Secure your Future: 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.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits such as private healthcare, lifestyle discounts, and gym memberships.
• Flexible Working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website.

Leonardo offers an additional allowances for some roles – for more information please contact [e-mail].

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.

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. 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 – London. Contract Type: Permanent. Hybrid Working: Onsite. International, multicultural, innovative, technological: this is Leonardo.

The company’s passionate and talented team is strongly influenced by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) expertise, with a diverse range of experience that enables colleagues to share knowledge and know‑how across the generations. Leonardo always wants to expand its talent pool, here you can find the right opportunity for you!