Senior Project Manager, SEND School Commissioning

ST JOSEPHS COLLEGE; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

St Joseph’s College in Ipswich seeks an experienced Project Manager to lead the commissioning and development of a new SEND school. You will drive the project from early planning through to operational mobilisation, ensuring safety, compliance and readiness for learners.

The role requires senior-level collaboration with Local Authorities and multi‑agency partners. The successful candidate will manage design, regulatory submissions, budgets, risk logs and progress reports while developing

Qualifications

• Experience delivering large-scale education or public sector projects.
• Proven ability to coordinate multi-disciplinary teams and contractors.
• Strong planning, budgeting and risk-management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the commissioning and development of a new SEND school from early planning to operational mobilisation.
• Coordinate design, planning, regulatory submissions and pre-opening readiness across multiple workstreams.
• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, budgets, timelines and risk logs; produce progress reports.
• Ensure compliance with SEND Code of Practice, safeguarding and Ofsted expectations.
• Support development of operational systems, staffing models, policies and induction ahead of opening.

Skills

Project management

Communication

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

St Joseph’s College in Ipswich seeks an experienced Project Manager to lead the commissioning and development of a new SEND school. You will drive the project from early planning through to operational mobilisation, ensuring safety, compliance and readiness for learners.

The role requires senior-level collaboration with Local Authorities and multi‑agency partners. The successful candidate will manage design, regulatory submissions, budgets, risk logs and progress reports while developing