Senior Project Manager

Join a global professional services leader. We are committed to solving the world's biggest challenges in the areas of water, energy and urbanisation.

Established in 1928, GHD remains wholly owned by our people. We are 10,000+ diverse and skilled individuals connected by over 200 offices, across five continents.

Leading through engineering, architectural skills and experience, our forward-looking approaches connect and sustain communities around the world.

About the role

As part of our rapid expansion across the EMEA region, we are seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager to oversee the delivery of significant projects. Our UK portfolio encompasses a diverse range of work, with project values spanning from thousands to multi-million pounds. In response to this, we are strengthening our Project Management team with professionals who can lead large and complex, multi-discipline work packages. This leadership role may involve managing standalone multimillion projects or collaborating as part of a larger team to deliver critical components of major initiatives.

To support professional growth and career development, the role offers access to experienced mentors who will assist in enhancing core competencies.

Opportunities in the UK Water Sector

The UK water sector is experiencing a period of unprecedented investment and growth. AMP8 (2025–2030) marks the most substantial capital programme in the sector’s history, with planned investments of £96–104 billion—a 77% increase compared to AMP7.

We are actively engaged in major AMP8 frameworks, working directly with leading water companies such as but not limited to Severn Trent, United Utilities and Wessex Water. These frameworks cover a broad spectrum, from design-build alliances and specialist design development to professional services extending to 2030 and beyond. Our collaboration with Tier 1 and Tier 2 contractors on design-build alliances ensures technical leadership and seamless programme integration. Additionally, GHD serves as a Technical Partner on a major Desalination Scheme, contributing specialist design and programme integration expertise to facilitate sustainable water supply solutions.

Our Senior Project Managers serve as the crucial link between clients and contractors, ensuring cost certainty, adherence to schedules and quality assurance across complex, multi-party frameworks.

Our Values and Project Management Excellence

At GHD, our values are at the heart of everything we do and our Project Managers are expected to exemplify these values consistently. Safety is paramount; we promote a proactive safety culture and uphold the “Safe You – Safe Me – Safe GHD” ethos throughout every project phase. Teamwork is cultivated by fostering collaborative, best-for-project relationships with clients, contractors and internal teams. Respect is demonstrated by valuing diverse perspectives, engaging in active listening, and nurturing relationships with empathy. Integrity underpins all our interactions, ensuring ethical behaviour, transparency, and trust. Our Project Managers lead by example, mentor their teams, and embed these values in every aspect of their work.

Core responsibilities

• Is responsible as a Senior Project Manager of large to major size, highly complex risk projects and/or programme and/or framework, or working as part of a wider team to deliver key elements of major , very highly complex and high profile projects, ensuring projects are delivered to time, cost and quality and in accordance with GHD processes and procedures.
• Coordinates the activities of a large and multidisciplinary project team to meet deadlines and achieve set targets in the most effective and efficient way.
• Work closely with your Project Teams to ensure client requirements are properly interpreted and reflected in the deliverables
• Accountable for all commercial and financial matters, regularly reviewing and ensuring invoices are raised in accordance with the contract
• Responsible for the day to day management of the work schedule and outcomes across entire project/programme/framework.
• Ensures regular and effective communication with clients and project teams
• Produces accurate project management estimates, budgets and schedules for bids and projects
• Responsible for planning and completing own clearly defined tasks to meet set project deadlines and communicates conflicting priorities.
• Contributes to the development of tools to support effective project delivery
• Ensures company standards are implemented and adhered to across own Projects.
• Develops and and mentors less experienced team members, with opportunity of l
• Contributes to business development by maintaining client relationships and ensuring client loyalty and repeat work through excellent customer service.

Skills, experience and qualifications

• Qualification / Degree in relevant discipline
• Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment
• Strong commercial acumen in dealings with clients and projects
• Strong relationship building and influencing skills
• Proven experience in achieving project performance and business targets
• Supervising, mentoring or developing less experienced engineers
• Learning agility, actively learning through experimentation and experience and seeking ways to grow and to be challenged
• Experience managing and delivering highly complex, multi-discipline Projects as Senior Project Manager

Behavioural Competencies

• Commercially Aware: Demonstrates working knowledge of external forces impacting financial, market, economic, legal and regulatory environments and how Consultancy responds to them commercially.
• Agile Learner: Actively learns through experimentation and experience and seeks ways to grow and to be challenged by new and novel conditions.
• Client Centric: Anticipates and prioritizes client needs and takes action to provide high-quality client experience.
• Enabler of Self and Others: Demonstrates trust by bringing the best of self, valuing others contributions, and engendering confidence and trust with others.

About GHD

Being the best that we can be is in our culture.

We are a team of smart, innovative, and creative problem solvers. In our employee-owned company, everything feels like it matters more. Challenge us and help us come up with new solutions to ensure water, energy and urbanisation are made sustainable for generations to come.

Our Commitment to you

Commitment is a powerful word that defines how we do business, how we serve our clients and how we care for one another. We will support your needs by giving you the tools, training and support to do your best work and then recognise your achievements. We will set your curiosity free to allow brilliant minds to do their best work. We will invest in new ideas, removing barriers where we can. Finally, we will encourage you to collaborate with thousands of diverse people across our global business.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion lies at the heart of our team culture. We operate a flat intellectual hierarchy meaning every voice is heard and has genuine influence. We believe deeply in diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, and experience, and we recognise the value this brings our collective team approach to solving challenging client problems. Our internal working groups, such as GHD Young Professionals, Pride Alliance and Women in GHD (WING), enable every employee to shape the conversation and help implement initiatives to make GHD a better place to work for all.

Inclusion is hugely important to us, and we want to ensure every team member can balance work around their unique personal circumstances. In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a wider variety of benefits to support you, including 25 days paid leave with opportunity to purchase additional leave, matched pension contributions and family-friendly flexible working. As an employee-owned business, you will have the opportunity to obtain shares in GHD, empowering you to shape and share the company’s long-term success. We will advocate for your professional development and provide you with technical development opportunities and mentoring programmes to help you grow and improve your abilities.

Working Location

This is a hybrid role, with an expectation of an average of 3 days per week working at either one of our offices in central London or Manchester.

What next?

If shortlisted, our interview approach is a two-way learning experience with access to future team mates and the leadership team throughout the application process.