Contract - 14 month Fixed Term Contract
Location - London, SW1Y
Role: Project Manager
Salary range £65,000 -70,000
Summary:
* Client is seeking a highly organised and proactive Project Manager to join our Projects Team. This is a fixed-term contract for 14 months, based in London or at one of our UK regional offices — Leeds, Edinburgh, or Bristol — with regular travel to the London office required.
* As Project Manager, you will be responsible for the co-ordination and management of key strategic projects across the business. You will ensure that projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the agreed scope. You will also undertake Business Analyst responsibilities to support business needs and the project lifecycle.
* Ideally, you will have at least 5 years' relevant experience within financial services, along with strong project management capabilities.
Role responsibilities:
Project Delivery:
* Responsible for the end-to-end delivery (initiation to closure) of Regulatory, Strategic and Discretionary projects, typically involving the introduction of new/improved processes, new products, or systems, with the aim of enhancing internal efficiencies or delivering value add solutions to clients.
* Formally defining scope at the outset of the project and baselining this for its duration. Ensure dependencies have been identified and agreed by stakeholders, alongside milestones and a success criteria, to set a measurable standard for project closure.
* Create a detailed project plan and RAID log at the outset of the project and ensure this is maintained throughout. Produce the Terms of Reference and share this with the Sponsor and Steering Committee, obtaining formal sign off from all members.
* Continuing to supervise the project closely, so that it is delivered on time, within budget and to the agreed quality, escalating any deviations from the fundamental elements to the Steering Committee or Change Group (should the change process need to be initiated). Risks should be continuously assessed and mitigating actions identified. Where issues arise, suitable remedial action should be agreed with the appropriate stakeholders.
* Ensure that where relevant, before delivery to Production, that the appropriate testing standards have been met. This should be inclusion of a sufficient testing approach and detailed testing plans, that refer back to the success criteria confirmed at the outset of the project.
* Once the scope has been achieved, ensure business readiness for go-live, including the training of the necessary business units/SMEs and a clear adoption strategy that has been agreed by all necessary stakeholders.
* Produce Project Closure Form once the scope has been achieved and ensure lessons learnt are formally recorded, to support with the development of the project management framework.
Stakeholder Management
* Chair working groups so that action points can be discussed and tracked with SMEs/Stakeholders. Motivate the team members and encourage a collaborative environment. Escalate resource constraints should they arise.
* Provide biweekly updates to the COO and Head of Project Management, ensuring that the latter is made aware of any ongoing issues or risks to the project as soon as they arise.
* Prepare reports and present these to the Project Sponsor and Steering Committee on a biweekly/monthly basis, guaranteeing a fair and accurate update has been provided.
* Manage relationships with third-party suppliers, escalating any concerns to the Head of Project Management.
Qualifications/Knowledge and Experience:
* APM PFQ/PMQ or PRINCE2 (in progress/completed)
* 5+ years’ relevant experience within the Financial Services industry.
Skills and Behaviours:
* Excellent verbal communication skills with the ability to summarise complex issues clearly and succinctly.
* Strong written communication skills.
* Ability to communicate on a technical level equivalent to your audience, including explaining features, benefits and risks associated with any suggested course of action.
* Confident to engage in debate about the conclusions drawn, resilient in sustaining a logical argument under pressure, and to adjust or hold position as seems fit.
* Confident with numbers, and able to convert them into meaningful words.
* IT literate.
* Organised with attention to detail.