Senior Project Manager / Programme Manager

In the Crick's Programme Management Team.

Part of Crick Operations.

Deadline for applications has passed.

Key information

Job reference
R413
Salary
Competitive with benefits, subject to skills and experience
Applications closed
07 October 2021, 00:01 BST
Hours per week
36 (full time)
Posted 14 September 2021

Contract term:

  • This is a full-time/permanent position on Crick terms and conditions of employment. In addition to the permanent role, there is the opportunity for a 12-month fixed term position on Crick terms and conditions of employment. 

 

 ABOUT US 

 

The Crick is an independent organisation, established to be a UK flagship for discovery research in biomedicine. Our founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL, Imperial College London and King's College London.

 

The Crick was formed in 2015 and in 2017 became fully operational in our state of the art building in central London, making us the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.  Here 1900 researchers and support staff bring together their wide-ranging knowledge and expertise to work across disciplines and explore biology at all levels. 

 

We work with our university partners and other organisations across academia, medicine and industry to create a space where talented researchers make discoveries about how life works. We then translate those discoveries into health benefits that improve people's lives and keep the UK at the forefront of medical innovation.

 

We are proud to have played a role in the response to the Covid pandemic.  Working in partnership with UCLH, we carried out PCR testing for the NHS from April 2020 and also ran a vaccine centre at the Crick from Feb – August 2021.

The Crick

 

Code of Conduct sets the standard of conduct for anyone working at the Crick. It outlines the behaviour that we expect from each other and helps us to make decisions in line with the ethical principles we stand for.  It is underpinned by ten key policies and guides us to:

  • understand the Crick’s approach to open science and science integrity
  • work together with dignity, respect, and integrity to create a positive working environment
  • work together responsibly to ensure the Safety, health & wellbeing of ourselves, colleagues, and neighbours, and
  • work efficiently, optimising resources.

 

SUMMARY

 

As part of delivering on its ambition, the Crick has an increasing need for strong project management capability to deliver on projects that potentially involve several operational areas (e.g. HR, Health & Safety, Legal, Facilities, ITO) as well as the Science groups that are the core purpose of the Institute. Collaboration is at the heart of the Crick so projects may also include working with external organisations, typically in the pharmaceutical and academic sectors.   

 

In addition to developing Project Management capability within our own staff, we want to recruit people into the team who are already experienced in dealing with a range of projects and who may be looking for an opportunity to work in an ambitious and exciting science institute.  

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

These include but are not limited to

  • Working with the sponsor and senior stakeholders to agree the scope of the specific projects, the options for delivery and, where needed, the business case to support the options.
  • Managing the planning and set up of the projects so that there is a clear and commonly agreed view of the control parameters of the project i.e. the scope, plan, resources, costs, dependencies and the risks and issues that need to be managed.
  • Driving delivery of the designated projects to time, cost and quality, ensuring that all team members, sponsors and stakeholders are aware of their responsibilities and are held to account.
  • Monitoring and reporting progress against plan through regular reviews, project controls and validation of project work streams, proactively managing risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies, ensuring that these are identified, mitigated or escalated as necessary
  • Work closely with sponsors and their representatives to ensure projects are delivered in line with customer expectations including business case and benefits management
  • Where the project includes a technology layer, working closely with IT to ensure that options are aligned with the ITO strategy as well as meeting the needs of the stakeholders.  
  • Manage external and internal suppliers to ensure quality delivery, specifying all deliverables and ensuring timely, accurate and consistent completion
  • Work with the Sourcing team on tender and selection processes where required
  • Establish effective governance, quality, control and communication strategies
  • Educate others on good project management practices and ensure continual improvement is delivered through innovation

 

KEY EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES

 

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values: bold, imaginative, open, dynamic and collegial, in addition to the following:

 

Essential skills/experience

  • Proven recent record of accomplishment as a Senior Project Manager or Programme Manager for a change project involving a diverse groups of internal and external stakeholders.
  • Experience of working within an environment that will allow relationships to be rapidly built with the science community within the Crick. e.g. within a clinical, research or laboratory environment. 
  • Showing gravitas, authority, initiative and excellent relationship skills in working across senior stakeholders internally and externally, to make critical decisions to progress plans, to reconcile conflicting viewpoints and remove obstacles to progress.
  • Demonstrable experience in successfully delivering multiple projects simultaneously across a range of operations using a structured approach.
  • Writing compelling business cases and providing robust business benefit management approaches.
  • Experience of the full lifecycle of a change project from initial scoping through to implementation, embedding new working practices and transitioning to business as usual.   
  • Experience of scaling the project approach to be proportionate to the scale and risk of the project.
  • Rigorous management of project controls, including robust management of scope.
  • Resource planning and work package management in a matrix and third party supplier environment.
  • Well-developed communication skills: verbal, written and in presentations. The ability to convey ideas or benefits and build persuasive arguments based on data, logic and the objective merits of solutions.
  • Demonstrable continuous improvement in a project delivery assurance function, championing PM best practice.

 

Desirable skills/experience

  • Understanding of Data Management within a research environment
  • Understanding of Good Clinical Practice and Good Laboratory Practice