Project Manager

Location: Bedfordshire, UK

About the Role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Project Manager to join our team.

This role sits within an innovative, experimentation-driven business unit specializing in autonomous systems, robotics, and aerospace concepts. Embracing a fast-paced environment, you will provide strategic oversight and execution across a diverse project portfolio-ranging from rapid-prototyping research initiatives to complex hardware development lifecycles and full-scale system integrations.

Success in this position will be measured on your ability to drive projects On Time, On Cost, and to Quality (OTOCOQ) while maintaining high standards of safety, financial control, and customer satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Execution & Rapid Delivery: Lead assigned customer and internally funded projects through the complete lifecycle, with a heavy emphasis on concept generation, rapid prototyping, and concurrent engineering.

• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Provide functional direction, coaching, and mentoring to project leads and multi-disciplinary engineering teams across the business.

• Financial Accountability: Oversee project budgets, manage resource allocation, and take accountability for hitting revenue and cost targets.

• Bids & Proposals: Manage end-to-end bid activities-including technical project management input, cost estimation, resource planning, and proposal writing to ensure timely, high-quality submissions.

• Stakeholder & Supply Chain Management: Act as the primary point of contact for key customers to foster long-term relationships; oversee critical supply chain relationships, deliverables, and negotiations.

• Governance & Process Improvement: Support functional leads in driving continuous improvement initiatives, implementing standard operating procedures (SOPs), and tracking performance against KPIs.

• Risk & Resource Management: Maintain robust project schedules, manage resource allocation/conflict resolution, and proactively execute risk mitigation strategies.

Qualifications & Requirements

Essential:

• Certification & Background: Formal Project Management qualification (PRINCE2, APM, or equivalent) backed by a solid background in product development or engineering.

• Project Delivery Experience: Proven track record managing projects spanning fast-paced research, complex hardware lifecycles, and system integration.

• Prototyping & Autonomous Systems: Hands-on experience driving concept development, rapid prototyping, and experimentation within unmanned systems, aerospace, or advanced technology sectors.

• Financial & Risk Acumen: Strong expertise in budget management, financial tracking, risk assessment, and concurrent engineering practices.

• Leadership & Stakeholder Skills: Exceptional communication skills with demonstrated ability to mentor multi-disciplined teams, write technical bids, and present KPIs/metrics to senior stakeholders.

Desirable:

• Familiarity with Civil and Military Aviation regulatory requirements and industry standards (e.g., CAA, MAA, EASA ).

• Ability to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC Level) .

Randstad Technologies is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.