Project Manager in Leeds

Client Yorkshire Water
Programme Welfare Site Standards Programme (Phase 1: Discovery, Assessment & Baseline)
Location Leeds Valley Park (LVP), Leeds, with regular site visits across Yorkshire Waters operational estate
Contract Interim / contract, approx. 6 months
Start date Late November 2026
End date End of May 2027
Day rate £650 - £700 per day
IR35 status Inside IR35
Vetting Basic DBS (Level 1)
About the Programme
Yorkshire Water is establishing a Welfare Site Standards Programme to assess and improve welfare provision across its 286 operational sites. The programme will consider legal, regulatory and operational requirements, including obligations relating to workplace welfare, health and safety and employee wellbeing. Phase 1 (Discovery, Assessment and Baseline) will establish the current position across the estate, identify compliance gaps and produce a prioritised, costed roadmap that provides the evidence base for Phase 2 investment and implementation.
The Role
We are looking for a hands-on Project Manager to lead the discovery and assessment phase of the programme. This is a combined Project Manager and Business Analyst role: you will undertake detailed site assessments, stakeholder engagement, requirements gathering, compliance reviews and improvement planning yourself, rather than solely managing third parties.
You will be responsible for establishing the current-state baseline across the estate, assessing compliance against welfare, health and safety and employment legislation, and developing a prioritised roadmap for future implementation, balancing programme governance with significant delivery activity.
Key Responsibilities
Discovery & Assessment

• Lead the end-to-end assessment of welfare facilities and standards across all 286 operational sites.
• Establish the current position against legislative, regulatory and organisational requirements.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews, site assessments and operational reviews to understand existing standards and constraints.
• Document the current-state estate, facilities provision, compliance position and improvement opportunities.

Gap Analysis & Roadmap

• Identify gaps against applicable welfare, workplace and health & safety requirements.
• Develop a prioritised improvement roadmap and phased implementation plan.
• Produce costed options, investment requirements and delivery recommendations for Phase 2 implementation.

Governance & Standards

• Establish governance, reporting and programme controls for the wider programme.
• Develop an agreed baseline against which future compliance and improvement activity can be measured.
• Support the development of minimum welfare standards and a compliance framework for deployment across all sites.

Skills & Experience
Essential

• Strong project management experience delivering operational improvement, compliance, property, facilities, workplace or infrastructure programmes.
• Proven ability to operate as both Project Manager and Business Analyst, undertaking significant hands-on delivery alongside project leadership.
• Experience conducting current-state (_As Is_) assessments, gap analysis and baseline reviews across complex operational environments.
• Strong requirements gathering, process mapping and stakeholder engagement capability.
• Experience developing business cases, options appraisals, implementation roadmaps and phased delivery plans.
• Strong understanding of governance, RAID management, reporting and programme controls.
• Ability to engage effectively with operational and field-based teams, Land & Property, Facilities Management, Health & Safety, HR and senior stakeholders.
• Understanding of health, safety and employment legislation, particularly workplace welfare requirements.
• Experience translating legislative and regulatory requirements into practical operational standards and deliverable improvement plans.

Desirable

• Knowledge of workplace welfare standards, facilities management, construction, property improvement or asset-based environments.
• Construction, facilities management or infrastructure project experience.

About You

• A Project Manager with strong Business Analyst capability.
• A background in operational, facilities, property, workplace or compliance-led programmes.
• Comfortable conducting site visits and engaging frontline operational teams.
• Self-sufficient and pragmatic, able to _do the work_ rather than solely manage third parties.