Senior Project Manager; Maritime

Senior Project Manager

Programme Name: maritime

Location:

Farnborough, with flexibility to work from home and travel to customer sites dependent on business demands.

Join our UK Team who are committed to a Mission!

Leidos UK is seeking an accomplished Senior Project Manager to lead major work streams within a high‑profile UK military boat‑building programme. You will be accountable for the delivery of engineering, procurement, outfit, commissioning, commercial management, and stakeholder engagement, operating within complex delivery environments and influencing programme‑level decisions. You will lead by example, fostering an inclusive and collaborative environment across all delivery partners and stakeholders, including our strategic boat outfit supplier.

This role carries significant responsibility for shaping delivery strategy, driving performance across multi‑disciplinary teams, and ensuring the successful integration of advanced maritime systems for the UK Armed Forces.

• Initially, oversee the design, outfit and sea trials of Sea Dagger (Block
  0) with our strategic shipyard partner.
• Own delivery of major project phases across design, build, integration, sea trials, and acceptance. Provide leadership to a multi‑entity management team across all functional disciplines.
• Influence stakeholder expectations, ensuring clarity of scope, requirements, and delivery outcomes. Support contract negotiations, supplier agreements, and commercial risk management.
• Drive project decision‑making throughout the lifecycle, ensuring risks, dependencies, and constraints are proactively managed.
• Act as the principal project management interface with internal and external stakeholders. Lead programme reviews, technical boards, and commercial discussions.
• Lead assurance activities including design reviews, quality gates, trials readiness, and acceptance milestones.
• Oversee project budgets, forecasts, and financial performance at a senior level. Ensure robust cost control, value for money delivery, and alignment with contractual obligations.
• Ensure adherence to defence, maritime, and safety regulations across all project activities.
• Champion continuous improvement and lessons‑learned across the programme.
• Collaborate closely with production, procurement, quality and project management teams.
• Support resource planning, capability development, and workforce readiness.
• Oversee the change process including configuration control throughout the lifecycle.
• Ensure adherence to the Leidos safety, environmental and quality standards during delivery.
• Mentor and guide project managers, coordinators, and junior delivery staff.
• Foster a high‑performance culture focused on accountability, support and empowerment. Champion Leidos values of integrity, innovation, inclusion, agility, collaboration and commitment.

• Communicate complex issues clearly to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Mentor junior project managers and support capability development across the organisation.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and negotiation skills.
• Personal attributes:
  • Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence at all levels.
  • Excellent problem‑solving skills and sound engineering judgment.
  • Clear communicator with ability to simplify complex technical issues.
  • Transparent, approachable and ambassador for collaborative teamwork across the whole enterprise including suppliers, stakeholders and customers.
  • Resilient, organised, and comfortable operating in a high‑stakes defence environment.
• Familiarity with common project toolsets including:
  • JIRA
  • Collaboration application such as SharePoint, MS Teams and One Drive
  • AI application such as Co-Pilot
  • Windchill

• Professional project management certification (e.g. APM).
• Degree in project management, engineering or related discipline.
• Strong commercial acumen, including contract and supplier management.
• Extensive experience:
  • Within a prime contractor or major defence integrator environment.
  • Leading major subcontractors on complex defence programmes.
  • In maritime, naval systems, shipbuilding, or high‑integrity engineering environments.
  • Managing…