Project Manager, Operations Management

• Location: Bridgwater, Somerset (with client/supplier site travel)

• Type: Full-time (37.5 hours/week)

• Salary/Package: Competitive Salary + 8% Employer Pension, Health Cash Plan, Company Bonus, 25 Days Holiday + Bank Holidays

• Security Clearance: UK Background Check / Vetting Required

Our client is a growing, specialist nuclear engineering and manufacturing SME delivering high-integrity technical solutions, bespoke equipment, and assembly scopes across the UK nuclear sector. Combining agile SME delivery with strict nuclear quality governance, their multidisciplinary teams operate across engineering design, workshop fabrication, supply chain, and client site execution.

The Project Manager has end-to-end accountability for the successful delivery of assigned engineering projects from initialisation through to closeout. Operating in a hands-on, fast-paced environment, this role personally creates project structure and momentum, maintaining tight control over scope, schedule, budget, risk, quality, and client relations while protecting the company's commercial position.

• End-to-End Project Delivery: Take full ownership of project execution strategies, programmes, budgets, cost forecasting, risk registers, and closeout deliverables for assigned engineering projects.

• Contract & Scope Management: Read, assimilate, and maintain a detailed understanding of contract terms, technical specifications, scope interfaces, acceptance criteria, and key assumptions.

• Project Controls & Governance: Establish and maintain practical project controls, including decision logs, change control records, risk registers, and progress reports.

• Client & Stakeholder Interface: Act as the primary day-to-day point of contact for clients; lead project meetings, coordinate communications, and manage expectations constructively.

• Multi-Disciplinary Coordination: Direct and integrate engineering, workshop fabrication, supply chain, and client activities, testing reported progress against objective evidence.

• Commercial Control: Oversee project finances (cost tracking, forecasting, invoicing, cash collection, and variation management) without making unauthorised commercial or scope commitments.

• Team Mentoring: Support, guide, and develop Project Coordinators in robust project control practices and delivery standards.

• Core
  
  Experience:
  
  Proven track record personally delivering and controlling engineering or technical projects, including programme management, client communications, and financial reporting.

• Education &
  
  Qualifications:
  
  HNC/HND, Degree, formal apprenticeship, or equivalent technical background. Recognized project management qualifications (e.g., APM, PRINCE2) are desirable.

• Technical & Commercial Acumen: Confident engaging with engineering drawings, technical specifications, and manufacturing/assembly processes; strong grasp of budgets, cost forecasts, and variation control.

• Communication & Leadership: Clear, concise communicator with the confidence to challenge ambiguity, manage difficult technical/commercial conversations, and escalation risks early.

• Working Style: Resilient, self-motivated, and highly organized with a "can-do" ownership mindset suited to an agile SME environment.