Senior Project Manager

ECN; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

ECN is seeking a Senior Project Manager to lead complex engineering programmes from initiation to completion. You will own scope, schedule, budget, resources and stakeholder relationships, coordinating multidisciplinary teams and external partners to ensure objectives are achieved.

The role requires strong technical aptitude, commercial awareness and sound judgement in a dynamic engineering environment. You will guide project delivery, planning, risk management and governance, driving continuous

Qualifications

• Honours or four-year degree in an Engineering discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years’ relevant industry experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex engineering or technology development programmes.
• Strong understanding of project management principles, processes and methodologies.
• Experience within radar, defence, Systems Engineering or a similarly complex multidisciplinary engineering environment would be highly advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Take overall responsibility for delivering projects in accordance with agreed scope, schedule, budget, contractual requirements and quality expectations.
• Develop, maintain and actively manage integrated project plans, schedules, budgets, milestones and deliverables.
• Proactively identify project risks, issues and dependencies, develop appropriate mitigation plans and drive issues through to resolution.
• Plan and coordinate multidisciplinary engineering and project resources to ensure that priorities, capacity and programme requirements remain aligned.
• Work closely with Systems Engineering and multidisciplinary engineering teams to understand technical dependencies, integration challenges and their impact on programme delivery.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with customers, internal stakeholders, suppliers and subcontractors, ensuring clear communication and effective management of expectations.
• Manage project costs, contractual commitments, scope changes and commercial implications, ensuring that these are appropriately controlled and escalated.
• Provide clear direction and leadership to project teams, creating accountability and ensuring that priorities and objectives are understood.
• Maintain accurate project reporting and provide management with clear visibility of project status, risks, financial performance and key decisions required.
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve project execution, processes and ways of working, and ensure that lessons learned are applied across future projects.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Structured planning

Problem-solving

Commercial awareness

Stakeholder management

Agility

Communication

Education

Honours or four-year degree in an Engineering discipline

Job description

The Senior Project Manager will be responsible for the successful delivery of complex engineering programmes from initiation through to completion.The role requires overall ownership of project scope, schedule, budget, resources, risks, contractual commitments and stakeholder relationships. The successful candidate will work closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams, customers, suppliers and senior management to ensure that technical and programme objectives are achieved.This is a senior leadership role requiring strong technical aptitude, commercial awareness, sound judgement and the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic engineering environment.

KEY PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Senior Project Manager will be responsible for the successful delivery of complex engineering programmes from initiation through to completion.

The role requires overall ownership of project scope, schedule, budget, resources, risks, contractual commitments and stakeholder relationships. The successful candidate will work closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams, customers, suppliers and senior management to ensure that technical and programme objectives are achieved.

This is a senior leadership role requiring strong technical aptitude, commercial awareness, sound judgement and the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic engineering environment.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

• Project Delivery: Take overall responsibility for delivering projects in accordance with agreed scope, schedule, budget, contractual requirements and quality expectations.
• Planning and Control: Develop, maintain and actively manage integrated project plans, schedules, budgets, milestones and deliverables.
• Risk and Issue Management: Proactively identify project risks, issues and dependencies, develop appropriate mitigation plans and drive issues through to resolution.
• Resource Management: Plan and coordinate multidisciplinary engineering and project resources to ensure that priorities, capacity and programme requirements remain aligned.
• Technical and Systems Coordination: Work closely with Systems Engineering and multidisciplinary engineering teams to understand technical dependencies, integration challenges and their impact on programme delivery.
• Customer and Stakeholder Management: Establish and maintain strong relationships with customers, internal stakeholders, suppliers and subcontractors, ensuring clear communication and effective management of expectations.
• Commercial and Contractual Management: Manage project costs, contractual commitments, scope changes and commercial implications, ensuring that these are appropriately controlled and escalated.
• Team Leadership: Provide clear direction and leadership to project teams, creating accountability and ensuring that priorities and objectives are understood.
• Reporting and Governance: Maintain accurate project reporting and provide management with clear visibility of project status, risks, financial performance and key decisions required.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify and implement opportunities to improve project execution, processes and ways of working, and ensure that lessons learned are applied across future projects.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Honours or four-year degree in an Engineering discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years’ relevant industry experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex engineering or technology development programmes.
• Strong understanding of project management principles, processes and methodologies.
• Experience within radar, defence, Systems Engineering or a similarly complex multidisciplinary engineering environment would be highly advantageous.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Leadership and ownership – able to take responsibility, provide direction and drive multidisciplinary teams towards delivery.
• Technical aptitude – comfortable engaging with engineers and understanding complex technical issues, dependencies and trade-offs.
• Structured planning and execution – able to translate complex objectives into clear plans, priorities and actions.
• Problem-solving and decision-making – able to assess complex situations, identify root causes and drive practical solutions.
• Commercial awareness – understands the relationship between technical decisions, programme performance, contractual commitments and business outcomes.
• Customer and stakeholder management – able to build strong relationships and communicate effectively with customers, senior management, engineering teams and external partners.
• Energy and initiative – proactive, engaged and willing to work directly with teams and stakeholders to understand and resolve issues.
• Agility and adaptability – comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment where priorities, requirements and circumstances can change.
• Resilience and sound judgement – able to remain effective under pressure and make balanced decisions when dealing with uncertainty and competing priorities.
• Honours or four-year degree in an Engineering discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years’ relevant industry experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex engineering or technology development programmes.
• Strong understanding of project management principles, processes and methodologies.
• Experience within radar, defence, Systems Engineering or a similarly complex multidisciplinary engineering environment would be highly advantageous.