Senior Project Manager

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Job Overview

The Capital Projects team at North Bristol NHS Trust have an opportunity for a Band 8A Senior Project Manager to support the delivery of the annual capital plan. The successful candidate will be part of a growing team of project managers and assist in the management of capital, site infrastructure, repair, and decarbonisation projects within clinical and non-clinical environment.

Main duties of the job

• Ensure adherence to project management processes and develop clear project control systems for all programmes and projects ensuring project stages are effectively managed.
• Be responsible for cost and budget management within the context of a project.
• Guide stakeholders through projects and minimise the impact on patients and staff.

Working for our organisation

North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing healthcare to the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset from our award-winning hospital building at Southmead. We are the regional Major Trauma Centre, and an internationally recognised centre of excellence in a range of services and major specialities. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.

North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an anti-discriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

The remit of the postholder includes but is not limited to the following duties:

System Design and Governance

• Ensure adherence to project management processes to improve systems to support the activities of the team. This includes developing clear project control systems for all programmes and projects ensuring project stages are appropriately managed through relevant documentation, tenders are effectively managed, business cases developed to a high standard and in accordance with Trust standing financial instructions, budgets well managed and risk management processes in place. Methodologies and tools should ensure project managers achieve compliance with programme or project objectives and constraints.
• Systematise all aspects of departmental activities where appropriate.
• Formulate policy in relation to team functions including establishing consistent policies and protocols for delivering best practice.
• Develop and oversee robust governance processes for the Department or team including timely internal and external reporting systems.
• Ensure all areas of the department have robust mechanisms for monitoring performance against national / local targets and highlight and support actions to address any shortfalls.
• Facilitate processes to ensure clear accurate information is available regarding Trust estate and services which will inform national returns such as ERIC and the Property Assurance Model (PAM). Use this data and analysis to identify areas of best practice and shortfalls in provision to support improvements in efficiency and productivity.

Business Planning, Financial Management and Strategic Development

• Support the Head of Capital Projects in the management of capital projects within the estate and to provide the most practical, sustainable and economic solutions for design, procurement, construction, management, commissioning and maintenance of the development.
• Support and input into the development of corporate capital policies that inform the process for procuring large scale work programmes.
• Responsible for financial management of capital budgets ranging from £10k to £5m generally and potentially up to £15m for complex large scale programmes.
• Negotiate programmes to be delivered as part of the capital planning process.
• Identify solutions and support achievement of agreed cost improvement plans, inputting as necessary into the financial recovery plan and supporting Department modernisation.
• Play a lead role in the development and implementation of the 5 year capital plan in support of the Trust estate strategy. This will include the development of option appraisals relating to the use of Trust estate.
• Support strategic national, local and regional health and estate planning including Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STP).
• Provide specialist technical support and advice to the Sustainable Health and Capital planning team and also to the wider facilities Directorate, linking particularly with the estates maintenance department to ensure that capital projects provide suitable robust solutions which support the Trusts requirements in terms of suitability, strategy, sustainability and are deliverable to required time, cost and quality.

Programme and Project Management

• Lead on the provision of specialist technical advice, often in relation to engineering systems, on all capital schemes to ensure the most practical and economic solutions for design, procurement, construction, sustainability, management, commissioning and maintenance of the development.
• Acting as programme or project manager, support the development and implementation of the estate strategy through delivery of all capital schemes to identified quality standards, timescales and within agreed budgets and using tried and testing project management systems and methodologies.
• Lead the delivery of projects within the programme, ensuring that they achieve their objectives and are delivered to high quality standards, within target timescales and within budget.
• Work with all departments across the Trust to further develop the 5 year capital plan, ensuring technical understanding and risk on current buildings and estate are understood and planned to maximise benefit and reduce risk.
• Produce highly complex and contentious business cases to support project delivery including full quantitative and qualitative analysis for internal and external stakeholder consumption. These must deliver clear objectives and outcomes, areas of programme activity, criteria to evaluate success, timescales, risks and mitigating actions, and a human and financial resource plan for delivery.
• Direct the planning and allocation of work and monitor work programmes to ensure that they are delivered according to the agreed timetable, quality standards and budget.
• Ensure delivery of post project evaluations and benefits realisation programmes in accordance with benefits and timescales set out in business cases.
• Ensure that public, service user and carer involvement is maximised at all stages of projects and establish and maintain effective partnership working with all key stakeholders including health agencies and local councils.
• Interpret data from various sources, including national guidance, to inform the development of project documentation.
• Identify accurate and reliable evidence relevant to the project from the large amount of complex information available from relevant sources.
• Interpret information provided by stakeholders such as clinical experts and patient representatives, exercising judgement over the information received and challenging the reliability of the source as appropriate.
• Agree key performance indicators for the project/programme.
• Work with members of the project team to investigate the causes of any variance from target/plan and proactively contribute to the implementation of solutions.
• Participate in relevant external working groups to provide project advice, expertise and support and sharing best practice across external organisations.

Financial and Physical Resources

• Support the management of contracts, specifications for tenders and awarding of new contracts.
• Ensure that project plans are underpinned by detailed and robust financial plans through budget planning and negotiation of appropriate budgets.
• Oversee the commissioning and procurement of products, equipment, services, systems and facilities, as required for the delivery of the project.
• Act in a way that is compliant with standing orders and standing financial instructions in the discharge of this responsibility.

Leadership, Communication and Personal Development

• Deputise for the Head of Capital Projects as required.
• Effectively line-manage Project Managers in the team covering diverse functions to support their wellbeing and create a high performing team who deliver against their objectives.
• Directly manage external professional advisors and project managers where assigned to the project or programme.
• Support the planning and development of customer focused services, promoting the work of the department and establishing and maintaining excellent working relationships within the Trust and with external stakeholders.
• Establish clear and well targeted communication strategies across programmes and projects.
• Provide technical leadership and support within the team and the wider facilities Directorate as required.
• Provide professional leadership and support to staff within the team as required and support the team in achieving high standards, performance and openness.

Research and Development

• Draw from experience and expertise in other fields and industries to ensure that the Trust benefits from relevant innovations and takes account of best practice in its developments.
• Highlight, promote and report innovative approaches to solving issues and to deliver projects most effectively and efficiently.
• Test and review new concepts, models, methods and practices.
• Regular horizon scanning of best practice and ways of working within the sector and within project management.

Key Working Relationships

• Work and engage constructively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders on a range of complex issues.
• Conduct surveys as required by the project such as seeking the formal feedback on project proposals, gauging levels of public and clinical support and analysing and formally reporting on the survey’s findings.
• Build key relationships, manage stakeholders and maintain networks internally and externally to ensure the delivery of the project.
• Communicate complex information and issues to a wide range of senior internal and external stakeholders, persuading them of the need for change and influencing their decision-making when appropriate using tact and diplomacy.
• Translate information into clear and appropriate formats, such as written documents or graphical representations to ensure understanding across a range of audiences.
• Act as source of specialist knowledge on a dedicated project or projects, preparing briefings for senior management and external partners as well as contributing expertise to media briefings.
• Be responsible for sharing information and best practice and persuading and influencing change in services with clinicians and a range of other stakeholders. These will often be challenging and difficult discussions around the detail of national and local policy.
• Be expected to understand the enabler requirements for the programme, this would include consideration of IT as well as others such as workforce issues.

Person specification

Shortlisting Criteria

Essential criteria

• Minimum of 3+ years’ postgraduate experience in an engineering, construction or project management role, with knowledge of large complex capital projects ideally in a healthcare setting.
• Significant evidence of ongoing professional development including membership of key relevant organisations (RICS/CIOB/RIBA/CIBSE etc).
• Evidenced experience of developing and implementing programme and project management systems and processes through effective system redesign and change management. This includes procurement and project delivery systems.
• Experience of working in a large organisation in a political environment engaging effectively with stakeholders and working strategically to engage senior people within the organisation to deliver strategic goals.
• High level problem-solving and decision-making skills: ability to analyse highly complex, sensitive and contentious information (often where opinions differ), diagnose problems, identify solutions and present highly complex information to others in a format which engenders engagement and understanding often where there are significant barriers to understanding including in relation to large and disparate groups of staff in challenging environments.
• A significant and successful track record in highly complex project management and change management on large complex projects.
• Ability to undertake a positive leadership role and inspire confidence and co-operation.
• Ability to work and deliver under pressure, working to tight deadlines, constantly changing and sometimes conflicting priorities.

If you apply for this vacancy and have not received a communication from North Bristol NHS Trust within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful.

Please note that North Bristol NHS Trust does not reimburse travel expenses relating to interview attendance.

If you feel you meet the requirements of the Disability Act / Two Ticks scheme and require further support/advice, please contact us on tel 0117 414 1151.

North Bristol NHS Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful applicant(s) will normally commence at the minimum of the scale unless they have previous NHS service at the same band. Progression through the scale is by annual increments.

At North Bristol Trust (NBT), we know diverse and inclusive environments lead to happier and healthier teams and improved patient care and outcomes. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are currently underrepresented in NBT’s workforce at Band 8a and above. These include people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people and LGBTQIA+ people.

Please note that stringent pre-employment checks are undertaken on all successful applicants prior to commencement in post.