Project Manager

Purpose of the job

At Collinson International Ltd (CIL), the largest operating company within the Collinson Group, we have a powerful vision: To be a strategic partner to the leading payment networks, issuers and travel companies. Driving customer engagement and incremental value through the world's most valued travel ecosystem.

We are seeking a Project Manager with exceptional organisational, communication and problem-solving skills to take end-to-end ownership of the scoping, planning and execution of this cross-functional initiative - from mobilisation through to delivery, transition and closure. The successful candidate will be output-oriented, rigorous in attention to detail, and able to proactively drive delivery, anticipate risks, and lead recovery actions when needed, while motivating teams to deliver on time, on budget and to quality standards. Key to your success will be ability to work with internal stakeholders including the SMEs across cross-functional teams (technical, commercial, operations, legal and finance etc.) including external stakeholders such as client business teams, IT teams and third-party vendors.

Key Responsibilities

• Planning and dependencies – Confirm project objectives, scope, outcomes, governance, roles, funding, resources, delivery approach and acceptance criteria before execution. Own and maintain the integrated project plan, including roadmap, critical path, milestones, budget, dependencies and resource allocations, developing specific and detailed plans and timelines for implementation. Work with workstream leads and other departments to identify and manage internal and external dependencies, challenge assumptions to ensure plans remain realistic and achievable, and incorporate input and feedback from all stakeholders.

• Resourcing – Own resource planning and capacity management, ensuring appropriate business and IT skills are defined and engaged across projects. Work with workstream leads to understand resource requirements, proactively flag gaps and constraints, and ensure relevant stakeholders are aware of demand for each of their teams.

• Delivery Accountability – Take end-to-end ownership of project management across the entire lifecycle of the project, in adherence to SDLC methodology. Monitor individual workstream performance against the plan and agreed scope, challenge slippage and unachievable commitments, and lead recovery planning and reforecasting – including communicating impacts and recommendations when delivery is at risk, ensuring implementation meets customer expectations.

• Risk and issue management – Prepare and maintain the project risk register and RAID/decision log. Proactively identify, assess and mitigate risks and issues before they impact delivery, implementing mitigation strategies to reduce or eliminate risk. Drive resolution of recurring issues by addressing root causes, and ensure early identification, escalation and resolution of issues to the Project Sponsor and/or Steering Committee, with clear impact assessments and recommended actions.

• Governance and change control – Own project governance, leading relevant governance forums and ensuring timely distribution and closure of actions and decisions. Ensure Collinson change management processes are adhered to, implement and control processes to manage change requests, agree requirements, and accurately estimate additional project components, timescales and costs (time and materials, fixed price, or shared risk), integrating approved changes into the overall project plan.

• Financial management – Prepare and manage project budgets throughout the project lifecycle, tracking costs and forecasts against approved funding and flagging variances.

• Stakeholder and client management – Act as the client-facing point of contact and first touch point for the client. Establish strong working relationships with different stakeholder groups (including Senior Leadership, Project Managers, Change Leads, BAU owners, external 3rd parties etc.). Ensure all client/business requirements are captured, working closely with the client and internal touch points to ensure Statements of Work (SOWs) are clearly defined and signed. Manage priorities to the satisfaction of management and customers, proactively managing expectations.

• Team leadership – Oversee the work of the Workstream Leads, working with cross-geographical and culturally diverse IT and business teams to ensure risks, changes and project conflicts are communicated effectively to Collinson management, the client, and project teams.

• Reporting – Collate reports from Workstream Leads to build a view of programme progress (e.g. status against plan and next steps), providing regular, clear and accurate project status reports and updates to key stakeholders as specified. Consolidate this to report up to the Programme Manager / Project Sponsor / Transformation Management Office (TMO) as applicable, using reporting to proactively drive delivery rather than just track status.

• Business readiness and closure – Manage end-to-end delivery of the project through to closure, including hand-over of application documentation to BAU and Support Services teams to ensure a smooth transition into operations.

• PM community – Be an active member of the PM Community, sharing insights and experience to help raise standards across the organisation.

Knowledge, skills and experience required

Personal Requirements of the Role (Knowledge and Experience):

• At least 5-10+ years' dedicated commercial Project Management experience, covering all aspects of planning, executing and monitoring complex projects spanning both business and IT projects.

• Commercial experience of at least one structured project management methodology (e.g. PRINCE2, PMBOK), and of delivering via multiple project delivery approaches (Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid).

• Previous experience of delivering both standalone projects and projects that form part of a wider programme.

• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects of varying size and complexity.

• Experience in proactive capacity planning and resource management.

• Previous experience of working successfully with Change Managers.

• Experience working with onshore and offshore, cross-geographical and culturally diverse teams.

• External certifications in Project Management desirable but not essential (e.g. PRINCE2, APM, PMP, AgilePM, Certified Scrum Master, SAFe).

• Experience and understanding of Lean Six Sigma desirable but not essential.

Skills and Capabilities:

• Project Management and delivery leadership across the full project lifecycle

• Change Management

• Strategic thinking and planning

• Communication and stakeholder management / influencing, with excellent documentation and communication skills

• Cross-functional working, including with onshore/offshore and culturally diverse teams

• Leadership and team management

• Skilled negotiator, experienced in conflict resolution

• Training and development

• Problem solving and analysis

• Ability to deal with ambiguity

• Commercial and financial acumen (budgeting, forecasting, cost-benefit trade-offs)

• Risk, issue and quality management

• Continuous improvement and lessons-learned facilitation

• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Project (or equivalent PM tooling)

• Commitment to continuous learning; fast learner, able to quickly build expertise in new areas relevant to the business

Candidate Characteristics

• Excellent communication skills, able to communicate clearly and confidently with all levels of management, across cultures and time zones.

• Excellent interpersonal skills, comfortable liaising directly with the Client and building trust through credibility and consistency.

• Ability to build rapport and strong working relationships across stakeholders, delivery teams and third parties.

• Acts before being prompted - proactively identifies what needs to happen next and initiates action rather than waiting for direction.

• Challenges constructively - tests assumptions, estimates and delivery confidence using evidence, and challenges activity that doesn't contribute to agreed scope or outcomes.

• Takes ownership and accountability - sees issues, risks and actions through to resolution, seeking support without transferring accountability.

• Excellent negotiation skills and skilled in conflict resolution.

• Ability to work well in a team as well as use initiative to work autonomously.

• Ability to prioritise tasks and manage competing priorities effectively.

• High level of attention to detail, balanced with a focus on outcome-focused delivery.

• Adaptable to change, resilient under pressure, and comfortable operating with ambiguity.

• Focuses on facts and solutions rather than opinions, and makes uncertainty visible by clearly distinguishing confirmed facts, assumptions and areas of low confidence.

Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our on-going success.

We are focused on continually evolving our purpose driven, high performing culture, providing an environment where our people have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and do interesting and meaningful work. Our company values are: Take Action, Do the right thing, One team and Be insight led. These help guide everything we do internally in terms of how we think, act and interact, right through to how we deliver value to our customers and clients.

In your application, please feel free to note which pronouns you use (For example - she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, etc).

If you need any extra support throughout the interview process, then please email us at ukrecruitment@collinsongroup.com