Project Manager - DigiRail

Job Purpose

DIGI-RAIL will develop a unique Digital Rail Demand-led Demonstrator which will bring together national and international rail industry buyers with the regions businesses and research expertise to solve challenges within the industry and access the increasing number of digital rail commercial/research opportunities that exist in the sector.

DIGI-RAIL will build on the University of Birmingham’s established partnerships with major players in the Rail industry including, Rail Alliance, Network Rail, HS2, RIA, RSSB, TfL, Hack Partners and a range of expertise in key domains of Digital Rail, including Traffic Management; the European Train Control System; Automatic Train Operation; Energy Management; Rolling Stock Design; BIM; Smart Ticketing; Future Wireless Networks; Fault Management; Station Information Systems; IoT & Cyber Security.

DIGI-RAIL will establish a cluster of Digital Rail Demand-led Demonstrators (with staff distributed across Greater Birmingham and Solihull and Coventry and Warwickshire) to showcase & offer long-term innovation support to businesses looking to develop digital products & services for the rail industry.

DIGI-RAIL is a 3 year programme to support SMEs within Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership areas, with Research and Development capabilities.

The Project Manager will have the remit of managing a high value ERDF funded project in the School of Engineering. Within this capacity the job will provide strategic direction and management to ensure the £3.2M DIGI-RAIL project deliver in line with ERDF guidelines as well as the objectives of the LEPs. The Project Manager will be answerable and directly responsible to the Project Director for delivery of all aspects of this project.

As Manager for the project, the post holder will be responsible for day to day operational management of the project and the successful delivery of contracted outputs. The task will necessitate co-ordinating and managing the efforts of over thirty staff involved in all aspects of project delivery in addition to line management duties for direct project staff.

The Project Manager will be responsible for ensuring that all ERDF requirements for reporting and auditing are met for the duration of the project and will also be responsible to the Head of School in Engineering for reporting progress on the projects, and for alerting senior management to any major potential threats to project delivery. The Project Manager will be required to ensure that all aspects of project delivery are completed in line with University policies. At times the Project Manager may also be required to advise on Project Management and ERDF regulations to other appropriate School funded projects.

The Project Manager will be responsible for identifying appropriate opportunities for new business that emerge during the delivery of the project. Such opportunities will need to be reported to the relevant College Research and Knowledge Transfer team or to Research Support Services.

Main Duties

Item Duties

• Shaping and Implementing strategic plans and leading project management of the project.
  • Be responsible for delivery of the project to successful conclusion. Duties include:
  • Make major contributions to and shape the strategic direction of the project as a senior manager involved in the delivery of the project, and through active participation on the Project Management Board
  • Develop and manage, strategic and operational partnership with the
  • Create and maintain an overall Project Management Plan for the whole project using well established project management principles and practices
  • Using a highly developed knowledge of project and technology management principles and practice, to distribute and delegate tasks to the diverse and extended project team through intermediary management in a timely manner to ensure successful delivery of the project
  • Plan, organise and maintain a regular schedule of project review meetings ensuring all relevant parties maintain an adequate level of attendance
  • Deploy high level leadership skills and set appropriate quality standards to keep the project on track and to keep the extended team aligned with the strategic objectives of the project
  • Establish effective networking relationships with managers at an appropriate level on other projects and corporate services, influencing University leaders to ensure all necessary resources are available and fit for purpose in delivering the project
  • Constantly evaluate project activities and make recommendations to the academic lead of Head of School on potential changes to the project plans to ensure the aims of the project are addressed during the delivery of the project and implement improvement solutions
  • Proactively identify business opportunities which emerge from the project and are aligned with the ambitions of the School to develop material characterisation and simulation as a key theme in generating research income
  • Be involved in strategic decision making and planning of other ERDF projects based within the College of Engineering and Physics
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting, and Dissemination of Project Activity
  • Develop a comprehensive evaluation strategy for the project, which is in line with the proposal
  • Ensure that all required measurement and evaluation information is gathered by all project partners in a timely fashion
  • Establish and implement reporting procedures which meet the requirements of the customer (ERDF), and ensure all necessary data is gathered in a timely and efficient manner
  • Receive, referee and peer review evaluation data on a regular basis to ensure that the project stays on course for successful delivery, and provide early visibility of deviations from the project plan
  • Referee, edit and deliver reports to ERDF in line with the agreed plan, and regularly ensure that MHCLG are satisfied with the reports and the data provided to them
  • Ensure that project participants are all appraised of the information reported to ERDF, and of any feedback received
  • Provide reports and verbal presentations to the Project Management Board and Steering Group to ensure that all members are aware of key points of progress and any issues which need senior management intervention
• Financial Management and Reporting
  • Ensure all purchases are in line with ERDF and university procurement policy
  • Ensure records are maintained of match funded contributions, planned expenditure profiles, and cash flow to ensure that the full project value can be recovered from ERDF
  • Ensure that suitable records of all allowable costs are maintained by the University of Birmingham
  • Provide leadership and expertise to colleagues regarding the maintenance of accurate records of expenditure and allowable costs
  • Communicate and where appropriate determine and delegate budgets to key task managers
  • Ensure appropriate monitoring, control and audit of all project expenditure within the University
  • Approve expenditure in line with delegations and the project budget, escalating decisions on any novel contentious issues to the Project Director
  • Provide financial reports to ERDF and to the School and College management teams at least quarterly, and more frequently if expenditure materially deviates from the plan in the proposal
• Risk Management
  • Use own professional expertise to create a project risk register, building on the register produced during project start up and the preparation of the bid
  • Determine need to acquire additional independent professional expertise to evaluate risks and/or mitigation options
  • Ensure the project risk register is maintained and updated throughout the life of the project
  • Regularly update the Project Director on the status of the risk register
  • Communicate the risk register with all key task leaders both within and outside the University, influencing senior management to ensure risk mitigation and issues resolution plans are in place and implemented as required
  • Establish, lead and promote a culture throughout the project team of providing an early warning to the management team of potential risks
  • Deploy appropriate resources across the project team to mitigate risks as they emerge using own experience to determine when this approach is appropriate
• Management of Project Staff
  • Day to day management of the Business Engagement Manager
  • Management of a diverse and extended team of cross-functional staff across the University
  • Lead recruitment initiatives at the University of Birmingham including preparation of job descriptions and liaising with HR and the Project Director to ensure appropriately skilled staff are recruited at the right time
  • Co-ordinate and prioritise day to day workload across the extended multi-functional project team to ensure that key deliverables are met in a timely manner
  • Liaise with the appropriate contacts the sponsor, MHCLG, and resolve any staff related issues which may emerge during the lifetime of the project
  • Provide mentoring and coaching to other staff undertaking project management activities with the College/School of Metallurgy and Materials
• Other
  • Undertaking other duties, as necessary and when these arise, as directed by the DIGI-RAIL Project Director.

Person Specification

Essential

• Educated to Degree level or relevant extensive experience
• Considerable and high level project management experience, particularly having evidence of successful delivery of projects
• Formal Project Management qualifications such as APMP, Prince 2 or MSP
• Experience of managing large financial budgets along with experience of budget planning and forecasting
• Ability to interpret complex guidelines, rules and regulations. Experience of working to reporting structures and producing audit trails