Project Manager - Defence

The Opportunity

At KAEFER, our success is built on our values and culture, which create a supportive and inclusive environment where employees can thrive. We prioritise growth and development, with abundant opportunities for advancement and a commitment to promoting from within. Our wide range of job openings, including entry-level positions, allows for the first steps on the ladder to success. We provide ongoing training and development opportunities to support our employees throughout their careers. The Project Manager is responsible for the successful delivery of marine defence projects, ensuring that programmes are executed safely, efficiently, and in compliance with customer, regulatory, and contractual requirements. The role involves managing complex projects relating to naval vessels. The category of work delivered by KAEFER within the overall project is Insulation. Our trade has Programme pre-dependencies with Structural Fabrication, Blasting & Coating and Programme post-dependencies with Mechanical and Electrical Fit-out. Working closely with customers operations teams, and other contractors, the Project Manager will oversee KAEFERs team including our own blue collar delivery organisation to deliver our scope within these projects on time, within budget, and to the required quality and operational standards. A key part of this role is accurate and timely communication of progress & forecasting requirements to our Tier 1 customer.

How You Will Make An Impact

Project Planning and Delivery

• Lead the planning requirements of an ever-evolving construction programme.
• Work with the KAEFER & Customers planners to continuously update the schedule in accordance with the contract requirements and the weekly/monthly/quarterly drumbeats of the programme
• Monitor and maintain progress against milestones, and critical path schedules.
• Ensure project objectives are delivered in accordance with contractual obligations and customer requirements.
• Coordinate where necessary with Customers engineering, production, commissioning, and support activities throughout the project lifecycle.
• Manage project change requests and control scope creep.

Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with health and safety, and environmental regulations.
• Maintain adherence to quality standards, and customer-specific specifications.
• Support governance reviews, audits, and assurance activities.
• Ensure projects comply with security requirements and information assurance protocols.

Stakeholder Management

• Act as the primary interface for customers, subcontractors, and internal stakeholders.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with customers representatives, and programme sponsors.
• Present project performance, risks, and progress to site leadership and customer representatives.
• Facilitate project reviews and programme governance meetings.

Risk, Opportunity and Issue Management

• Identify, assess, and manage project risks and opportunities.
• Develop mitigation strategies and contingency plans.
• Maintain risk, issue, and opportunity registers.
• Escalate critical concerns and drive timely resolution.

Budget and Commercial Management

• Support, develop and manage project budgets and forecasts.
• Support, and Monitor project expenditure and ensure financial targets are achieved.
• Support contract management activity, including variations, and commercial negotiations.
• Ensure effective control of project costs, resources, and procurement activities.

Supplier and Supply Chain Management

• Manage relationships with suppliers, and strategic partners.
• Support sourcing and procurement activities for specialist materials.
• Ensure supply chain risks are identified and mitigated.

Team Leadership

• Promote a culture of safety, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Provide direction, coaching, and performance support to project team members.
• Ensure effective communication across all project functions.

Continuous Improvement

• Drive lessons learned activities and share best practices across programmes.
• Identify opportunities to improve project delivery performance and programme efficiency.
• Contribute to the development of project management standards and governance frameworks.

What You Will Bring

Project Management Skills

• Planning, scheduling, and resource management.
• Budgeting and cost control.
• Contract and commercial management.
• Risk and opportunity management.
• Change control and configuration management.

Marine and Defence Knowledge

• Understanding of naval platforms, or defence infrastructure.
• Knowledge of shipbuilding, refit, maintenance, upgrade, or sustainment programmes.
• Familiarity with major project contractual frameworks.
• Awareness of defence quality and assurance standards.

Leadership Skills

• Strong team leadership and people management capability.
• Influencing and negotiation skills.
• Strong decision-making and problem-solving abilities.

Communication Skills

• Ability to communicate effectively with customers, suppliers, and workforce.
• Excellent report writing, presentation, and briefing skills.
• High level of professionalism and integrity.
• Strong organisational and planning capability.
• Resilient under pressure and comfortable managing complex programmes.
• Able to make informed decisions in a regulated environment.
• Results-oriented with a strong focus on customer satisfaction
• Security conscious when working in an official security environment

Essential

• Significant experience being involved in delivering complex defence, or infrastructure projects or similar types of projects
• Proven track record of delivering projects on time, within budget, and to specification.
• Experience leading complex planning requirements and delivering project controls reports and forecasts
• Experience managing customer relationships and contract deliverables.
• Strong experience working with project management tools such as Microsoft Project, Primavera or equivalent.

Desirable

• Experience supporting naval programmes (naval platforms or infrastructure)
• Experience within shipbuilding, ship repair, or submarine support
• Experience managing major equipment installation, capability upgrades, refits, or sustainment programmes.
• Experience managing classified or security-sensitive projects.
• Security clearance (SC) or eligibility to obtain SC clearance (KAEFER will support successful candidates in obtaining the necessary clearances to work in this environment)

Why KAEFER UK & Ireland?

Our mission is clear: to be the most reliable and efficient provider of technical industrial services. KAEFER UK & Ireland provides a large and growing range of industries with asset integrity services including access solutions, insulation, surface protection, HVAC fabrication, EC&I and more. We focus on improving energy efficiency and extending asset life cycles. We have twelve operating centres across the UK and Ireland, employing approximately 3,500 highly skilled and experienced people. Our people are our lifeforce and every day they deliver excellence to our customers. KAEFER UK & Ireland is part of the KAEFER Group, a global €2.5 billion business with its headquarters in Bremen, Germany. KAEFER works on more than 5,500 job-sites internationally, with around 35,000 employees. With unrivalled experience and expertise, our teams provide trusted partnerships and tailored support to execute even the most challenging and complex projects for clients. We take pride in being part of a global company, with common values and many diverse and individual voices. You can ‘count on us’ to make positive contributions in the communities where we live and work.

Our Values

• Reliability
• Ambition
• Team Spirit
• Respect

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