Senior Project Manager – Technology & Business Change

Womble Bond Dickinson; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Womble Bond Dickinson currently seeks a Senior Project Manager to lead end‑to‑end delivery of high‑impact change initiatives within our IT team on a full‑time, permanent basis. The role supports our Modern Workplace strategy and is based in Newcastle or Bristol under a hybrid model, with weekly or bi‑weekly office visits.

The successful candidate will manage governance, risk, and cross‑functional delivery, collaborating with Partners and multiple vendors, while embedding best practices across

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years' experience delivering complex projects across technology and/or business change.
• Experience operating in a legal or professional services environment
• Experience working within governance environments (PMO / PMU)
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to influence at senior level
• Experience delivering multi‑stream projects with IT and third‑party suppliers
• Technically credible and able to engage delivery teams without being a deep tech specialist
• Proven ability to manage risk, dependencies and priorities in a fast‑paced environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• High level of ownership and delivery focus

Responsibilities

• Own end‑to‑end delivery of high‑impact change initiatives across the business
• Operate across technology‑led and broader business change initiatives
• Own delivery from initiation through to closure with governance, risk management and time/cost/quality targets
• Engage senior stakeholders including Partners and manage delivery across teams and suppliers
• Collaborate with other Senior Project Managers to embed best practices in delivery and governance

Skills

Stakeholder management

Governance

Multi-stream delivery

Risk management

Communication skills

Ownership & delivery focus

Senior stakeholder engagement

Delivery leadership

Job description

We're currently looking for an experienced Senior Project Manager to join our IT team on a full-time, permanent basis to help deliver our Modern Workplace strategy.

This role can be based in Newcastle or Bristol and falls under our hybrid working policy. We would ask that you reside close enough to one of our office locations so that you can visit weekly/a few days a fortnight as per current working practices.

The team:

First‑class IT systems are absolutely key to the success of any business in today's commercial world and the legal sector is no exception. Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP prides itself on being at the forefront of technological advancements within the legal profession, something we've become well known for. To remain competitive in our markets, and to continue supporting our growth strategies, our team of dedicated IT professionals have a key role to play, ensuring the integrity of the IT infrastructure, development of new and existing systems and excellent support to all of our employees, and clients.

Role Purpose

The role sits within the firm's Project Management Unit (PMU) and is responsible for the end‑to‑end delivery of high‑impact change initiatives across the business.

While many programmes are technology‑enabled, the role is not limited to IT delivery and will operate across both technology‑led and broader business change initiatives.

The successful candidate will take ownership of project delivery from initiation through to closure, ensuring appropriate governance, stakeholder engagement, risk management, and delivery to agreed time, cost and quality objectives.

The role requires the ability to operate effectively within a professional services environment, engaging senior stakeholders, including Partners, and managing delivery across multiple teams and suppliers.

An important aspect of the role will be working collaboratively with other Senior Project Managers to develop, agree, and embed best practice approaches to delivery, governance, and continuous improvement across the PMU. The individual will be expected to establish control and structure quickly, manage competing priorities, and ensure delivery remains aligned to agreed business outcomes.

What we are looking for?

To be considered for the role you must possess the minimum:

• 5–8+ years' experience delivering complex projects across technology and/or business change (e.g. core systems, platforms, integrations, security or infrastructure)
• Demonstrable experience operating in a legal or professional services or similarly complex, stakeholder‑led environment
• Experience working within structured governance environments (e.g. PMO / PMU frameworks)
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage and influence at senior level
• Experience delivering multi‑stream projects involving business, IT and third‑party suppliers
• Technically credible, with the ability to engage delivery teams and challenge appropriately, without needing to be a deep technical specialist
• Proven ability to manage risk, dependencies, and competing priorities in a fast‑paced environment
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• High level of ownership, accountability, and delivery focus

In addition to your technical skills, we are looking for a candidate who has the right attitude, mindset and is driven, hungry to learn and able to excel in their area of expertise and is eager to contribute with a desire to be successful.

This is a senior delivery role requiring an individual who can operate with minimal onboarding and take ownership of complex initiatives from day one. Occasional travel to other office locations may be required (but very rarely).

Why work with us?

We continually work hard to create an open culture that sets us apart from other firms. Our culture gives us much more of a human feel, emphasizing that we're more than just suits!

As signatories to the Mindful Business Charter, it's important that our people are able to maintain healthy and happy lives, both in and out of work. We have a number of resources and initiatives designed to support health and wellbeing and we are very happy to offer flexible working.

Through our DEI initiatives we create an environment in which difference is valued. We have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group, led by our Board Sponsor, which works with our colleague networks. We currently have firm‑supported networks for race, ethnicity, cultural heritage, LGBTQ+, disabilities, neurodiversity, families, and women's career development and we are in constant dialogue with our people about how we expand our networks to better support everybody. Find out more about DEI at WBD. We encourage applicants from all social backgrounds, ethnicities, disabilities, gender identities and sexual orientations.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long‑term condition and need us to make any adjustments to give you the best possible recruitment process, please let us know by contacting the recruiter on the right hand side of this page. Please also let us know if you need this job advert or the application form in a different format.

We will offer an interview to candidates with a disability or long‑term condition who meet the minimum criteria for this role. Your response to this question is only used for this purpose, is only visible to the recruitment team and is not used for data monitoring.