Project Director at KBR in Cumbria

Project Director

Location: Cumbria

Title:

Project Director

The Programme and Project Partners (PPP) model was mobilised in 2019 with the purpose of transforming major project delivery at the Sellafield nuclear site.

The partnership is delivering a 20-year pipeline of major infrastructure projects to support the decommissioning of Sellafield and to create a clean and safe environment for future generations.

In delivering its pipeline of large-scale infrastructure projects, PPP is creating opportunities for its people, supply chain, economy and communities.

KBR’s rapidly growing nuclear team of teams is working at the forefront of the UK’s nuclear space on some of the most exciting new-build, defence and decommissioning programmes.

KBR was recently named a “Great Place to Work-Certified” company, an honour that underscores the company’s commitment to being a UK employer of choice for people who want to do work that matters.

Due to the nature of our work and security requirements, KBR does not offer sponsorship for this role. We can only consider applicants with the right to live and work in the United Kingdom

Title: Project Director - Scope

• To define, establish and deliver an individual mega project or suite of high value, highly complex, high-risk nuclear projects of national importance that supports the strategic objectives of Sellafield Ltd. These projects have typical project lifecycle spend profiles of up to £2bn and represent 5-10% of the company’s annual budget.
• To lead, manage, facilitate and support a competent multi-discipline team to deliver the project(s) on behalf of the Projects Director, which will be of critical importance to the business and will mitigate a significant nuclear safety, security or environmental hazard.
• The project(s) are subject to substantial government level scrutiny and stakeholder interest at both a national and international level and will typically have major supply chain involvement that spans the nuclear industry worldwide.

Role Holder Responsibilities:

• Promotes & instil desired project behaviours in meeting standards & expectations including that of nuclear safety & nuclear security culture.
• Head of Projects shall report to the Project Delivery Director who is the PPP Employers Senior Representative but shall also have a responsibility for Project Performance to the PPP Management Board to ensure that the PPP Partnership meets its Project Wide Objectives
• The Head of Projects is responsible for managing and directing the delivery of Projects in accordance with the Aligned Incentive Agreement and the Lot Contracts including delivering the duties and obligations of the Head of Projects set out in those documents.
• To work in compliance with the Collaborative Management Plan.
• Establishes the environments for project success, ensuring projects are delivered in line with the project management fundamentals.
• Establishes the project organisational structure & underpinning resource plans to build an effective project team.
• Ensures the, definition, establishment, design and delivery of a project or suite of projects to deliver a set of business outcomes as stated by the programme that meet the strategic needs of the business.
• Establishes and manages a supply chain strategy for project delivery which typically has a total contract value of up to £2bn, including the provision of works information, specifications, incentivisation and contractor performance monitoring.
• Implements national and international best practice in project delivery.
• Manages the impacts and interdependencies of major parts of the project and the interdependencies amongst various organisations involved in the project execution, such as customers, stakeholders, internal resources and the supply chain.

• Ensures that the project functional requirements are clear and that an execution strategy is produced to deliver those functional requirements, ensuring that the solutions proposed comply with applicable safety, environmental, quality standards and legislation.
• Develop effective project execution strategies to support the development of a sound business case, complying with the Sellafield Ltd Gated Process and delegated powers and be accountable for compliant use of that sanction.
• Assure the project baselines (cost and work breakdown structures); ensuring they have appropriate earned value, quantity tracking and milestone recording in place.
• Ensure a robust risk management process is executed on the projects and all risks are actively managed. Ensure risk and contingency usage is forecasted appropriately and early warnings are trended and acted on. Maintain separation between project and programme/enterprise risk and ensure stakeholders are regularly engaged, informed and managed.
• Ensure that a robust stakeholder management plan is established for the project, which details the multiple interfaces, both internal and external stakeholders up to government level, and ensure that the understanding of wants and needs are prioritised accordingly.
• Accountable for the accurate and timely production of project reports which highlight safety, quality, cost, schedule and milestone performance, and issues.
• Ensuring that corrective actions are taken to inform internal and external stakeholders on project progress according to their needs.
• Ensures plans for continuous improvement in safety, security, quality and productivity are in place on the projects, ensuring barriers to project delivery are effectively challenged and overcome.
• Leads strategic negotiations including contract negotiations with customers, stakeholders, major suppliers and government representatives
• Ensures the active and effective intelligent application of the use of existing Learning from Experience and develop and disseminate new LFE proportionally to the project complexity in order to improve capability and business performance in the medium and longer term.

Authorities:

• Approval of project execution strategies and plans
• Endorsement of the project business cases ahead of submission to the Sellafield Ltd Investment Review Panel (IRP), NDA, Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA), Department for British Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Treasury ensuring strategic alignment with the overall programme business case.
• Budget holder with delegated financial powers and authority to authorise work to commence within the supply chain.
• Approval of management reports and associated KPI reports for the project(s) for onward submission to the Sellafield Executive, NDA and government where applicable.

Dimensions:

• Leads a suite of projects and project team(s) of up to 500 indirect reports and contractor’s organisations. Functions such as Sub-Project managers, Project Controls, Design Engineering Managers, Construction and Commissioning Managers, Risk Managers, Safety Case Managers, Pre-ops and EH&S Managers Contact Officers and Quality Assurance Managers may report directly or indirectly to this position.
• The Project(s) will typically be high complexity projects and have a project lifecycle financial spend profile of up to £2bn, and will be subject to extensive governance, sanction and validation processes to the highest levels of government.
• The stakeholder interest within the Project(s) will be at a national and international level and will be subject to scrutiny by the Government through bodies such as the NDA, IPA, the National Audit Office (NAO), Office of Nuclear Regulators (ONR) and the Environment Agency.
• Due to the national importance of these projects there is a high risk of reputational damage to Sellafield Limited and the nuclear industry, therefore it’s imperative that these projects are successfully & consistently delivered to time cost & quality, whilst maintain safety at all times.
• The Project(s) operate within a very high-risk environment, encompassing conventional construction risk, nuclear safety and nuclear security risk and may require innovation in the practices and technology required to deliver its objectives.

Qualification, Special Skills or Experience:

• APM Registered Project Professional (RPP)
• APM Chartered Project Professional (ChPP)
• Senior Project Manager - Level 4
• Graduate or equivalent in relevant discipline or extensive relevant experience
• Extensive, Project Management overall experience and considerable Project Management relevant experience in large project/suite of projects in the nuclear industry or in a highly regulated/safety-critical environment
• Experience of working in Nuclear Engineering or similar safety-critical environments
• Experience of leading people and leading in a matrix environment
• Track record of delivering very highly complex, multidisciplinary projects successfully
• Experience in successfully developing & implementing a Project Plan at all project stages
• Proven leadership skills
• Extensive track record of influencing & working effectively with colleagues from all levels of the organisation including the Executive thorough understanding of the Sellafield Ltd legal accountabilities for project delivery.

Leadership Competencies

• Vision, safety & security (have a vision & an enterprise perspective that puts safety and security first.
• Ownership and accountability – deliver on promises, owns and commits to results in order to demonstrate return on investment and leave a positive impact and legacy; embedding performance excellence.
• Continuous improvement and innovation – generate ideas, innovate and coaches for continuous improvement.
• Teamwork and collaboration - creates an environment that promotes engagement, collaboration and teamwork.
• Effective communication – communicate clearly, authentically & instils / inspires trust; empowers/ builds belief – touching hearts & minds.
• Personal development – creates an environment where individuals take responsibility for investing in personal development, greater self-awareness and coaches for engagement.
• The role is based near Whitehaven in Cumbria and would be office based for at least three days a week.

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