Construction Project Manager North East London and East of England

at  Department for Education

JOB SUMMARY

We are looking for Construction Project Managers to be responsible for supporting school building projects across the listed areas, after they have been selected to join the pipeline for the school rebuilding, free schools, FECT or other DfE centrally delivered construction programmes. This could include supporting pre-feasibility work on approved projects to resolve or address complex site and project specific issues around ownership, viability, and logistics to allow them to move through the feasibility and procurement stages quickly. When projects have been formally launched, with support from a team of technical advisers, you will support the development and end-to-end delivery of a group of projects, managing the delivery of a feasibility study and contractor procurement, then overseeing construction.

The kind of projects we’re currently working on include:

• Whole new build schools.
• Refurbishment and remodelling of listed buildings.
• Relocation of schools to new sites including school mergers and school expansions.
• Provision of emergency temporary accommodation at short notice.
• Overseeing the delivery of work where DfE is working with schools to remove Reinforced Autoclave Aerated Concrete.

Alongside our work redeveloping school sites and buildings, we also work with other parts of DfE to ensure that proposed rebuilding or construction projects fit with the Department’s wider strategic aims. In particular, this includes working with regional teams around local demographics to understand and ensure the current and continued need for the school places secured via our investment in sites. There is also wider work to support the requirements of the Government Major Project Portfolio (GMPP). This may include briefing Ministers on projects and issues both in person and via written briefings and submissions, drafting clear, balanced advice, in layman’s terms.
In addition our directorate has a fantastic L&D offer with a chance to really enhance your career progression. This includes opportunities to work towards a relevant and supported Property Accreditation, all fully funded.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Responsibilities:

• Manage construction projects effectively and efficiently through the project life cycle (pre-feasibility, feasibility, contract, construction and project close out).
• Ensure contractor and TA monthly reporting is quality assured, is timely and accurate and communicated as appropriate.
• Take action to prevent project delays and to ensure that the best possible build project is achieved, including proactively tackling potential risks, slippage issues and delays as they arise and escalating them.
• Ensure project controls are fully completed and contract management is effectively administered.
• Ensure projects are on track against financial spend milestones and that any areas of risk are escalated and resolved quickly.
• Monitor and analyse budgets, report progress and slippage (programme or financial) and highlight any areas of risk or opportunity.
• Managing internal teams and technical advisers to develop options for rebuilding/ refurbishment as part of a site feasibility.
• Working with contractors to deliver building projects including consultation with contractors on delivery programmes, variation management and cost management.
• Manage stakeholder relationships effectively, and take the lead on challenging conversations.
• Deliver excellent and responsive customer service to ministers and members of the public by contributing to Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests, correspondence, and briefings.
• Communicate effectively to write and deliver informative, concise and persuasive reports, presentations, and briefings, including evidence-based decision making to senior civil servants and ministers.

A part of the role will be to help feedback on new processes as we move to a single process for all delivery across the divisions and support the development of SEO assistant project managers.
These are “remote based roles”. This means that most of the time (around three days per week on average) you, will need to be out attending school sites, meeting contractors, technical advisers, local authorities and other key stakeholders. The remaining time, you will be home based, unless there are meetings which require you to be present at a DfE office.
Vacancies are being advertised across various regions. Please only apply for regions you live in, or close to, to ensure that you are able to fulfil the above requirements of the role. This is not a home based role which can be fulfilled from anywhere in the country.
Please see attached Candidate Information Pack at the bottom of this vacancy. There will be a candidate engagement session for further information on the role on Tuesday 19th November at 11am and Monday 25th November at 9.30am. The Teams link to join these session is in the Candidate Information Pack.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

We are looking for individuals to demonstrate they have the skills to:

• Qualified construction professional (architect, surveyor, engineer, etc) or a member of a relevant professional body, and/or have extensive experience in the delivery or project management of infrastructure projects.
• Deliver a number construction projects simultaneously, preferably in the education sector.
• Identify risks and issues that threaten programme delivery, escalating programme delivery.
• Manage risks and issues that threaten delivery and escalation appropriately.
• Build and retain relationships internally and externally to solve problems.
• Negotiate, influence and persuade within and outside the organisation to achieve desired outcomes.
• Find opportunities for improving the delivery of the programme and work effectively with others to continually review these in the light of changing policy.
• Work with others in an inclusive way to solve problems and share good practice.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Job Responsibilities:

• Manage construction projects effectively and efficiently through the project life cycle (pre-feasibility, feasibility, contract, construction and project close out).
• Ensure contractor and TA monthly reporting is quality assured, is timely and accurate and communicated as appropriate.
• Take action to prevent project delays and to ensure that the best possible build project is achieved, including proactively tackling potential risks, slippage issues and delays as they arise and escalating them.
• Ensure project controls are fully completed and contract management is effectively administered.
• Ensure projects are on track against financial spend milestones and that any areas of risk are escalated and resolved quickly.
• Monitor and analyse budgets, report progress and slippage (programme or financial) and highlight any areas of risk or opportunity.
• Managing internal teams and technical advisers to develop options for rebuilding/ refurbishment as part of a site feasibility.
• Working with contractors to deliver building projects including consultation with contractors on delivery programmes, variation management and cost management.
• Manage stakeholder relationships effectively, and take the lead on challenging conversations.
• Deliver excellent and responsive customer service to ministers and members of the public by contributing to Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests, correspondence, and briefings.
• Communicate effectively to write and deliver informative, concise and persuasive reports, presentations, and briefings, including evidence-based decision making to senior civil servants and ministers