Who We Are

The Useful Simple Trust (UST) is a family of professional design and consultancy practices. Our 60+ talented and committed engineers, architects, designers and strategists work side-by-side creating positive outcomes for our changing built environment.

Our four practices Expedition Engineering, Useful Projects, Useful Studio and Thomas Matthews share space, ideas and experience, and regularly collaborate on a range of high-profile projects in the UK and internationally. Our breadth of experience gives us a depth of inter-disciplinary thinking rarely found in the industry.

As a Social Enterprise, B Corp™ and Employee Benefit Organisation we do things differently. Our people are highly motivated and committed because our structure and values mean that our combined success is shared equitably. We share part of our profit and re-invest the rest in research, social and environmental projects.

What we are looking for

We are looking for a Project Manager with a can-do attitude, who is eager for a new challenge; someone who is passionate about engineering design, sustainability and delivery wishing to develop their career. You will be required to end-to-end manage a portfolio of high-profile projects (up to the value of £2million) across our innovation, structural, civils & master planning, sustainability consultancy and architecture service offers. Projects will range from large scale innovations projects for HS2 and Network Rail to residential design for private individuals.

You will build strong relationships with our internal teams, clients and external design teams in order to deliver projects effectively and profitably to agreed project KPI’s.

Job Responsibilities

Outline of General Duties:

• Plan, manage and deliver projects in accordance with best practice project management principles
• Lead/assist development of project briefs, maintain project objectives, and define project scope, goals, and deliverables, mapping these to project budgets
• Regularly evaluate, assess, and report on the financial performance of the project to the Project Directors and trust-wide Commercial group
• Manage/support project meetings with internal and external resources and with project stakeholders
• Lead/assist resourcing of projects, ensuring continuity in teams and re-weighting according to tasks and project budget
• Lead/Assist creation of project plans, monitor, and update including project budget, schedule and timeline, risks and issues registers etc, and implement projects in accordance with the project plan
• Set expectations from the Project Director and manage, support, and direct the project team
• Lead/assist management of the project budget, schedule, scope, quality, risks, issues and changes on behalf of our clients
• Report to stakeholders in a timely manner on project risks and issues, as well as providing solutions to resolve risks and issues
• Track deliverables and ensure these meet the requirements set out in the in the project brief and project plan
• Implement and manage change when necessary to meet project outputs in accordance to project budget, negotiating extra fees as applicable

Business development support

• Responsible for costing and producing selected proposals and tender bids

• Ownership of the Trust’s project pipeline including financial information on proposals and upcoming opportunities

Expected Qualifications/Experience:

• A broad knowledge of built environment design with a minimum 4 years industry experience
• Ability to adapt to different management styles and working environments to build rapport with clients
• Have good time management and organisational skills to efficiently manage your workload
• Experienced with Project Management software (Rapport is an advantage)

What we offer

• Competitive salary
• Comprehensive pension scheme
• Flexible working including 9-day fortnight scheme
• Private medical insurance with access to WeCare 24/7 GP access
• Life Assurance
• Cycle to work scheme

This vacancy closes on 3rd December 2021. Should your application be shortlisted for interview, you will be contacted within 10 days of the closing date. Due to the volume of applicants, only shortlisted candidates may be contacted.

This application may require applicants to respond to a few selection criteria to demonstrate suitable competencies and experience against the role. In addition, a form of assessment or presentation following the first interview may be requested. Any reasonable adjustments required will be met. Useful Simple Trust is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.