Project Manager

About the job.

National Highways have an excellent opportunity for a Project Manager to join our Significant Projects team within Major Projects. The Project Manager will plan and manage the delivery of projects, managing the performance of a project team, external contractors and consultants, ensuring adherence to effective governance, quality assurance, health and safety, technical and specialist standards across the supply chain and National Highways, to ensure successful delivery of agreed project outcomes.

This role will be based within Project Control Framework (PCF) Stage 7 – the Closeout stage. At this point in the project lifecycle, the focus is on ensuring all elements of delivery are brought to a successful conclusion, lessons are captured, and commitments are honoured. While some closeout activities are completed promptly within the first year, others such as aftercare, safety monitoring, and evaluation can extend over several years.

As a Project Manager, you will play a central role in steering projects through these critical closeout stages balancing the need to wrap up delivery efficiently with the responsibility of managing longer-term obligations.

This role can be based from any of our UK offices, however travel to Birmingham and Manchester to attend monthly team meetings will be required. 

• Lead the closeout of complex projects through Stage 7, ensuring defects are resolved, handover activities are managed, and long-term commitments are captured.
• Oversee activities within Stage 7, including the completion of the defects period, collation of records, and delivery of all documentation required for final handover / manage Stage 7 responsibilities, including ongoing aftercare, fulfilment of safety obligations, post-project evaluation, and monitoring of environmental or community commitments.
• Provide clear direction to your project teams by defining roles, responsibilities, and ways of working, ensuring alignment with project and organisational objectives.
• Produce high-quality project management documentation, including baseline management products, risk registers, and timely performance reports.
• Identify, monitor, and manage risks, issues, dependencies, and constraints specific to closeout, ensuring appropriate solutions are developed and escalated when necessary.
• Capture lessons learned and best practice from the project, embedding them into future delivery programmes and champion best practice in governance, safety, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement during the closeout process.

About you

• Full membership of the Association of Project Managers (or another relevant professional body), or an aspiration to achieve this.
• Exceptional stakeholder management experience, with a track record of influencing relationships for positive outcomes across multi-disciplinary teams and building trusted relationships at all levels. 
• Demonstrable experience in implementing and embedding safety standards within a project closeout or complex operational environment.
• Proven ability to capture lessons learned, manage post-project evaluation processes, and ensure commitments are followed through after completion.
• Experience of leading teams through the complexities of project closeout, including contract management and risk mitigation is desirable. 

About us. 

Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England’s motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership. 

Significant Projects are responsible for major enhancements to our road network. We make roads safer, journeys more reliable and unlock economic growth.  At the same time, we seek out ways to create opportunities for sustainable travel, help nature to thrive and support our journey to net zero carbon. 

Our team work closely with the supply chain to design and construct road projects, as well as develop a pipeline of possible projects as we look to the future. ​​​​​​Our skills span many areas from customer experts, land and property advisers to project management. We understand the potential that our road schemes can bring.  

External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy. 

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. 

Why you should join us

At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers. 

So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation.

A connected and sustainable working approach has been adopted across National Highways. For some roles, this means being able to work in a hybrid way spending up to 60% of time working from a remote location such as home.

We offer many different ways to work flexibly and we’re open to discuss part-time working, job shares, and flexible start and finish times. 

Please wait until the interview stage before asking us about flexibility, and we will explore what is possible.

 

Our benefits package

• Our total reward package includes basic salary, the potential for a performance related bonus
• Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10%
• Annual Leave starting at 26 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising by 1 day each year up to 31 days (plus Bank Holidays)
• Flexible hours and an approach driven by connected and sustainable working which includes hybrid working
• Life assurance of 4 times annual salary
• Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines
• A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
• Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience

 

And we are

• Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities
• Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme
• Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year

If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:       

• Right to work check
• 3 year employment history references
• DBS criminal record check
• Social media and adverse journalism check
• Driving licence check (if applicable)
• Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable)
• Qualifications and/or professional membership check (if applicable)

 

And finally 

We reserve the right to close before the advertisement expires.