Job Description

Contracts Manager, BMS Projects | London and home-based | Up to £85,000 plus car allowance and bonus

Lead a team of Project Managers, improve how projects are delivered and keep enough direct project ownership to stay close to the work.

This could suit you if you are already working as a Contracts Manager and want more influence over people, resources and delivery standards.

It could also suit you if you are an experienced Senior Project Manager ready to take on broader leadership responsibility without moving into a role that is all meetings, inboxes and spreadsheets.

You will lead around 5 to 7 Project Managers delivering Trend, Tridium, Siemens and Schneider-based building controls projects. You will allocate work, review project performance, support commercial decision-making and run selected projects yourself.

Whilst this is a well-developed business with existing systems and processes, they welcome additional input for positive changes and your judgement can shape how the team works, rather than simply maintaining a finished structure.

Why this could beat your current role

You will have a clear leadership remit, with Project Managers reporting directly to you and responsibility for helping them deliver stronger commercial and operational results.

You will not be expected to become detached from delivery. Part of your time will remain job-costed, giving you ownership of selected projects and keeping your decisions grounded in what is happening on live work.

You will also have the freedom to shape the role around your strengths. An established Contracts Manager may bring deeper people and commercial leadership. A Senior Project Manager stepping up may initially retain more direct project ownership while developing the wider management brief.

Either way, success will be judged by whether the team becomes better organised, more accountable and less reliant on senior management to resolve routine project issues.

The package includes:

• Salary up to £85,000
• £7,297.50 annual car allowance or company car scheme option
• Company bonus linked to personal and wider company objectives
• 25 days’ annual leave, increasing with service
• 7.5% pension, increasing with service
• Private healthcare
• Holiday purchase and sale scheme
• EV salary sacrifice and EV charger loan schemes

What you’ll be doing

You will line-manage approximately 5 to 7 Project Managers, holding regular one-to-one project reviews and helping them make sound decisions around risk, programme, resource and cost.

When sales hand over a new project, you will allocate it to the right Project Manager, confirm the resource plan and make sure the early stages are properly structured.

You will maintain visibility of project costs, WIP, forecasts and resource allocation, feeding accurate information into the commercial and finance teams for P&L review and approval.

You will run selected projects yourself, or have your time allocated to supporting your Project Managers on their projects, with the role expected to sit around a 60/40 between job-costed project work and uncosted management activity.

You will also be encouraged to choose a small number of practical process improvements to deliver during your first year, delivering immediate impact that you have driven.

What you’ll gain

You will gain broader responsibility without losing touch with project delivery.

You will have the authority to improve how work is allocated, how Project Managers are supported and how commercial information moves through the business. Your contribution will be visible in better-run projects, clearer forecasts and a team that can solve more issues without escalating every decision.

You will also build wider operational leadership experience across project delivery, sales handovers, finance and people management. That gives you a stronger platform for future senior operational roles while still allowing you to remain commercially and practically involved.

The challenge

The hardest part of this role will be knowing when not to step in. You may be technically capable of solving an engineering or commercial problem yourself, but your value here will come from delegating, coaching and helping others improve. The role needs someone who can stay out of the technical weeds when the team would benefit more from clear direction and support.

Regular attendance will be required in London, but there will also be flexibility for home-based work. You will need to be comfortable commuting into London reasonably often - if you only want to go into London once a week, this isn't for you.

What you’ll bring

• Experience as a Contracts Manager or a Senior Project Manager ready for broader leadership responsibility
• Strong knowledge of BMS or building controls project delivery
• Commercial understanding of job costing, WIP, forecasting and project resource allocation
• The ability to delegate, coach Project Managers and improve performance without taking every problem back from them

Interview process

The process will begin with a video interview, followed by a face-to-face meeting.

Apply today. CV not ready to send? That’s fine, let's talk first, a CV later is fine.

You must have a Right To Work in the UK - No sponsorship is available
Please note that, unfortunately, any applicants without the relevant work experience or the Right To Work in the UK will be unsuccessful.
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