Senior Construction Manager

Originally named Great British Nuclear, Great British Energy - Nuclear is an arm’s length body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, dedicated to supporting the development and deployment of new nuclear technologies in Great Britain. We play a crucial role in advancing nuclear new build, ensuring the UK’s energy security and achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Great British Energy - Nuclear focuses on fostering innovation, facilitating investment, and coordinating efforts across the nuclear industry to build a resilient and sustainable energy future.

Great British Energy - Nuclear is aiming to deliver fast, based on a supportive and collaborative culture which values equality and diversity and creates an inclusive workplace. We draw on deep nuclear expertise – our Executive Committee has over 100 years of nuclear experience at home and abroad. GBE-N will unlock billions of pounds of private and public investment from design to operation, helping to get sites ready for development, and working to grow manufacturing capacity and skills capability.

If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at recruitment@greatbritishnuclear.uk and we will talk to you about how we can assist.

The Senior Construction Manager – SMR Main (Owner’s Scope) will lead construction planning, site mobilisation, logistics, contractor coordination, delivery and handover of the SMR main site works packages within Great British Energy – Nuclear’s (GBE-N) SMR programme. The role requires a construction-led professional with proven experience on comparable complex infrastructure projects, including power plants, power stations, large railway stations, depots, or similarly complex, interface-rich environments. This includes early works and essential site capability that prepares the site for safe, efficient main works delivery, such as site establishment and temporary facilities, access and logistics, earthworks and civils, drainage and temporary water management, utilities diversions and temporary power, water and communications, security and welfare facilities, laydown and storage areas, and other supporting infrastructure.

The candidate will lead construction delivery across site ancillary buildings, structures, facilities, logistics areas and integrated site development, together with the supporting Associated Development infrastructure, all of which are critical components of the SMR first-of-a-kind main site works. The role requires strong leadership across construction management, temporary works and enabling infrastructure, on-site and off-site logistics, multi-disciplinary engineering interfaces, regulatory and stakeholder engagement, and supply chain coordination. Contractor-side delivery experience is essential, including the ability to manage sequencing, constructability, productivity, site constraints, logistics routes, laydown, temporary facilities, and handover of both temporary and permanent infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Lead the construction delivery of early works, site ancillaries, and supporting infrastructure, ensuring safety, quality, schedule, cost, productivity, and handover targets are met consistently.
• Lead the development of an integrated, area-based construction sequence plans and a robust construction delivery and site logistics strategy that coordinate engineering, procurement, enabling works, site ancillaries, logistics and main construction activities, protecting the critical path and supporting safe mobilisation.
• Lead constructability, buildability and safe-by-design reviews, ensuring construction requirements, access, temporary works, logistics, sequencing constraints, surveys and investigations, procurement support, testing, commissioning readiness and handover requirements are incorporated into master planning, design development and procurement packages.
• Define construction need dates for design information, plant, equipment, materials and temporary infrastructure, with proportionate readiness reviews, early-warning controls and recovery plans before work packages are released to site.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience Required

• Proven experience as a Senior Construction Manager delivering construction works on comparable complex infrastructure projects, including power plants, power stations, large railway stations, depots, major civil engineering schemes, or similarly complex regulated environments.
• Strong practical construction understanding of site establishment, temporary and permanent utilities, roads and pavements, drainage, earthworks, ground improvement, temporary works, logistics, laydown, welfare, security facilities, and handover of supporting infrastructure.
• Knowledge of UK regulatory and statutory requirements relevant to enabling works, including planning conditions, environmental permitting, utilities consents, CDM, and (where applicable) nuclear site regulatory interfaces.
• Experience and understanding of working in a nuclear safety and quality culture, with strong knowledge of UK construction health and safety requirements, quality, security, assurance and governance in a regulated or high-security environment.
• Strong contractor-side delivery experience, with demonstrable accountability for site construction management, construction sequencing, logistics planning, temporary works coordination, productivity management, subcontractor coordination, and delivery of both temporary and permanent infrastructure. The candidate must be able to demonstrate experience working in live, constrained, safety-critical, or heavily interface-managed environments where construction logistics, access, phasing and handover are critical to successful delivery.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Engineering, Project Management, or a related technical or construction discipline.
• Professional project management qualification such as APM PMQ, PMI PMP or equivalent is desirable.
• Recognised construction safety qualification, such as NEBOSH Construction or equivalent, and current site management safety training are desirable.
• Chartered membership of a relevant professional institution, such as ICE, IStructE, CIOB, APM, IMechE or IET, is strongly preferred.