Project Controller

Location: Portsmouth, 24 Store, PO1 3LT

Salary: £37,271 - £47,060 per annum, dependant on experience plus excellent benefits

Schedule: Full time, permanent

Ready to impact a better future?

As a Project Controller in our Maritime Services team, you’ll play a vital role in ensuring smooth, compliant and timely delivery of maintenance, repair and in‑service support for the Army Boats fleet. Your work will help keep essential military vessels operational and ready, supporting teams who deliver services that truly touch lives.

You’ll be at the heart of our commercial and financial processes – raising purchase orders, validating invoices, tracking spend, coordinating with subcontractors and helping colleagues stay aligned with MOD and Serco procurement standards. Your attention to detail and proactive approach will create impactful solutions that support operational readiness and a better future for the communities we serve.

What You’ll Do As a Project Controller

You’ll be entrusted to:

• Act as the point of contact for subcontractor-related matters including onboarding, procurement queries, and risk or issue escalation.
• Support engineering and technical teams with administrative tasks such as managing logs, processing visit notification forms (VNFs), scheduling meetings and ensuring documentation flows accurately.
• Manage procurement and financial administration, including raising purchase requisitions, assisting with supplier onboarding, issuing invoices and producing ad‑hoc Letters of Liability.
• Gather scope information, assist with estimates and ensure all project preparation data is accurately recorded.
• Raise, process and track purchase orders in line with Serco procurement policies and financial controls.
• Receive, validate and process invoices, ensuring alignment with purchase orders, tariffs and contracted rates.

Issue Requests for Quote to subcontractors and ensure clarity, correct documentation and timely responses.

Review returned quotes against approved tariffs and commercial frameworks before escalating for approval.

Maintain financial trackers covering purchase orders, invoices, accruals, commitments and forecasts.

Support internal reporting, MOD visibility requirements and preparation of financial summaries.

Maintain accurate document control for all commercial and contractual documentation.

Ensure all commercial activity complies with Serco, MOD and any contract obligations.

Support RAID (risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies) log management for the Senior Project Manager.

Does this sound like you?

You’ll be a great fit for this role if you have…

• Experience in project support, procurement, finance or commercial administration, ideally within engineering, defence or technical services.
• A project management qualification or relevant project control experience.
• Strong understanding of procurement processes, purchase orders and invoice validation.
• High proficiency with MS Office, especially Excel, and confidence using SharePoint or Teams.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work professionally with subcontractors, colleagues and MOD stakeholders.
• Strong numeracy, accuracy and attention to detail when handling financial data.
• Experience managing document control and supporting audit or compliance requirements.
• Minimum of three GCSEs including English and Maths (or equivalent).
• Eligibility to achieve UK Security Clearance (SC).
  
  

Vetting And Checks

This role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance, which involves verifying your identity, employment history, nationality, and criminal record to meet government security standards. In addition, depending on the nature of the role, you may need to obtain formal Security Clearance (such as CTC or SC), which includes more detailed background checks on employment, criminal record, and financial history to ensure suitability for working in secure environments. Please note that UK residency requirements may apply for certain levels of clearance. You will also complete an Occupational Health Questionnaire so we can identify and provide any support you may need to undertake the role effectively.

Discover all you need to keep growing

We’re one of the top 1% of international employers, so you can have confidence you’ll be part of a highly supportive culture with leaders you can count on to help you achieve your goals. From mentoring and training to our focus on internal progression, we’re proud to offer clear development opportunities – and the support and tools to help you seize them.

What We Offer

• Holidays: Up to 25 days plus bank holidays
• Pension: Up to 6% contributory pension scheme
• Training and development: Over 1,100 internal courses available, funding for qualifications and apprenticeships (including L3 Team Leader and L5 Operations Manager apprenticeships), mentoring opportunities, and a focus on internal progression
• Health and wellbeing: Employee Assistance Programme, Bupa Anytime HealthLine, wellbeing app, 30% off at Serco-managed leisure centres, and 24/7 access to a virtual GP service
• Discounts: Discounts across around 1,000 retailers, from food and clothing to days out, entertainment and travel
• Charity: Paid volunteering day, tax-free charitable giving through Payroll Giving Scheme, donate your pennies to the Serco People Fund Charity
• Employee networks: Our networks support inclusion and connection, providing spaces for collaboration, learning and belonging for LGBTQIA+ colleagues, women, parents and carers, people with disabilities, veterans and people from all cultural backgrounds.
  
  

Let’s impact a better future, together. Apply today.

To discover more about our careers in Defence, meet our team, and to find out more about what we offer, please follow this Link. We’re also a signatory of the UK Governments Women in Defence Charter, to find out more please click here.

Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens, we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment.

At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. As a proud Disabili

ty Confident Leader and holder of the Gold Inclusive Employer Standard, disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.

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