Senior/Associate Controls Manager

Location/s: London, Cambridge, Reading, Bristol, Croydon, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Plymouth; UK
Relocation supported: Not supported, but internal applications are welcome
Recruiter contact: Sacha Kelly

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices.

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual.

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

About the business unit

Mott MacDonald’s Advisory and Programme Delivery (APD) unit delivers both project, programme & commercial management (PPCM) services and advisory solutions across the built environment, defence, energy, water, environmental, transportation, health and care sectors.

We deliver tailored solutions that directly address our clients’ key challenges, combining our world-leading project expertise with unrivalled programme delivery capabilities and advisory services.

APD delivers services to projects ranging in scale and complexity up to £20bn, through the technical disciplines of programme management, project management, project controls, scheduling, cost management, estimating, infrastructure finance, management consulting, digital consulting and education, health and care management.

Overview of the role

Our industry-leading specialist advisory teams offer a range of transformational services that support our core project, programme, and commercial offering, as well as supporting our clients in addressing their business needs. These includes climate change, estimating and cost intelligence, health, safety and wellbeing, land advisory, planning PMO, quality management and risk management.

The specialist advisory team brings together multiple critical services in a connected offering, drawing on cross-sector best practice and expertise. We add huge value to our clients through our integrated approach, whilst relentlessly focus on excellence and our passion for improving society.

Our growing PMO and Controls team provides integrated project, programme and portfolio performance management services across major construction and infrastructure projects. Combining expertise across all elements of controls and performance management, we help clients strengthen governance and improve project outcomes throughout the project lifecycle.

We are seeking PMO professionals with broad PCM capability and proven experience across all facets of project controls. Successful candidates will demonstrate expertise in planning, cost and risk management, applying an integrated approach to provide project controls services across major, complex construction and infrastructure projects, supporting effective delivery, governance, assurance and performance management throughout the project lifecycle.

The role involves regular travel to client sites and project locations, typically 2-3 days per week. Depending on project and client requirements, assignments may require overnight stays and periods of working away from your home location.

What you will contribute to the team:

• Demonstrable expertise across planning, cost, risk and reporting within a Project Controls Management environment
• Experience of applying project controls principles and practices within consultancy, engineering, construction, or major infrastructure environments
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to prepare, interpret and critically evaluate project performance measures, trends and key insights across multiple data sources
• The ability to identify emerging issues, challenge constructively, and drive appropriate mitigation and recovery actions
• Experience of establishing and implementing effective project controls frameworks, processes and toolsets across complex construction and infrastructure projects
• Strong stakeholder engagement, people management and facilitation skills, with the ability to influence decision-making at all levels
• The ability to apply an integrated project controls approach to support project governance, assurance, performance management and successful project delivery

Candidate specification

Essential requirements:

• Due to the nature of this role, offers may be conditional upon obtaining the appropriate level of security clearance
• Willingness to undertake regular travel to client sites and project locations, typically 2-3 days per week, including overnight stays where required by client and project assignments
• A background working on large scale infrastructure projects in sectors including, but not limited to, water, transport, nuclear and defence
• Educated to degree level and/or hold a project controls or management qualification (e.g. APMG Planning and Controls, EVM, PMQ, Prince2)
• Demonstrable expertise across multiple Project Controls Management disciplines, including planning, cost, risk, health and safety, and quality
• Proven application of project controls principles and practices within consultancy, engineering, construction and/or major infrastructure environments
• Knowledge and practical application of risk management and reporting, including the use of ARM
• Knowledge of cost management, forecasting, earned value management (EVM) and project performance reporting
• Proficiency with Primavera (P6), Microsoft Project and/or other planning and resourcing software
• Ability to develop and maintain project schedules that support and align with project requirements
• Ability to apply project controls methodologies to reduce uncertainty and improve project outcomes
• Project reporting capability, including the monitoring and analysis of KPIs, performance metrics and trends
• Understanding of project governance, assurance and reporting within complex project environments
• Ability to undertake project reviews and provide recommendations for improvement
• Ability to work across multi-disciplinary teams, integrating inputs from planning, cost, risk, health and safety, quality and project delivery functions

UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Agile working

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Employee Ownership

• Our employee ownership model means no external investors, just us, creating a culture of shared success.
• Our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, giving them a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses.
• As your career grows, so does your stake, recognising your long-term impact and contribution.
• Your voice matters, with the opportunity to connect directly with senior leadership through formal channels to help shape our future.
• For our senior roles you will have a direct pathway towards ownership from day one.

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years’ service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
• Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.