Project Controls Assistant - Fixed term contract

Farnborough, England, United Kingdom

8/5/2025

Welcome to AALTO, where we're soaring the trail to a stratospheric future! We're not just rewriting the rulebook; we're rewriting the skies themselves, propelling High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) technology to unprecedented heights.

Powered by solar energy and operating above 60,000+ feet, Zephyr’s persistence enables continuous flight for months at a time. Its current flight-time record is over 64 days in the stratosphere. As a payload agnostic platform, Zephyr can deliver several applications including targeted surveillance, disaster management, border protection, and precision agriculture.

Join us in this exhilarating journey, where you won't just be part of a team; you'll be part of an eclectic, passionate group of visionaries shaping the future of stratospheric flight and the services it enables.

Job Purpose

You will be part of the Programme Management Office (PMO), responsible for working collaboratively across the organisation to create and update the programme schedules and support the reporting requirements to enable the successful delivery into service of Zephyr Products (Aircraft, Ground Systems, Payloads, and Service Management Systems), enabling world leading stratospheric solutions.

We are seeking a highly organised, data driven, and detail-oriented individual with strong communication skills to join our PMO team. The Project Controls Assistant will play a crucial role developing our reporting capabilities, updating the programme schedule to provide visibility of progress and enable efficient management of costs, risks and issues.

The Project Controls Assistant will be responsible for maintaining the programme schedule, supporting and maintaining reporting requirements using Power BI, and providing regular input to the monthly reporting cycle including Programme Review Meetings.

This is a fixed-term contract role through to the end of December 2025. There is a strong likelihood of the position becoming permanent in early 2026, subject to business needs

Responsibilities

Project Planning

• Liaison across the business to maintain the programme schedule, monitoring and reporting against milestones and activities, maintaining baselines, identifying trends, providing critical path analysis etc.
• Programme schedule analysis to validate critical paths and interdependencies.
• Scenario planning for options consideration and delay mitigation, establishing sequence, durations and options for projects as required.
• Cross functional collaborative working to enable alignment on programme targets, timing plan, and resource allocation.
  
  

Risk & Opportunity Management

• Support Risk and Opportunity Management by the identification of Risk and mitigations with the relevant disciplines, identification of possible opportunities and the creation of internal and external reports.
  
  

Project Communication and Reporting and Analysis

• Develop and maintain integrated reports capturing Schedule, Risks, Opportunities, commentary etc. in Power BI, using Power Automate and other tools as required to enable automation and efficiencies.
  
  

Continuous Improvement

• Identify areas for process improvement and actively contribute to the development and implementation of best practises.
• Embrace digital transformation and automation to streamline processes and bring efficiencies.
• Contribute to documenting PMO processes, procedures and work instructions.
  
  

Experience And Qualifications

• Qualified to degree level, or equivalent working experience, and holding or working towards a relevant industry association membership (e.g. APM)
• Proven experience in delivering project planning aligned to industry standards. Experience using Planning software essential, preferably MS Project and Project Online.
• Strong understanding and evidence of data management. Experience using / developing Power BI Reports, using Power Automate would be an advantage. Willingness to learn essential.
• Excellent IT skills (MS Office suite) especially Excel.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience working in aviation environment required.
  
  

Personal Attributes

• Proactive with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to forge relationships across cross-functional teams and ability to work autonomously.
  
  

At AALTO, we take pride in building and offering an exceptional work environment that values your well-being and rewards your dedication. We believe in recognising your hard work and commitment, which is why we provide a fantastic bonus scheme that rewards your contributions. Additionally, we understand the importance of financial security and support your future with a competitive pension plan. When you join us, you become part of a workplace that not only encourages your professional growth but also cares about your personal fulfilment and financial stability.

AALTO is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status or pregnancy and maternity.