Project Manager

We are recruiting for a Project Manager to lead the delivery of a range of business and technology change initiatives. You will take ownership of projects at different stages of the lifecycle (discovery through delivery and transition to operations), providing stability, direction, and disciplined delivery oversight.

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Full job description (attached PDF)

Role overview

We are recruiting for a Project Manager to lead the delivery of a range of business and technology change initiatives. You will take ownership of projects at different stages of the lifecycle (discovery through delivery and transition to operations), providing stability, direction, and disciplined delivery oversight.

The Project Manager will be responsible for assessing project status, shaping and maintaining delivery plans, and ensuring effective progression towards agreed outcomes. This includes managing scope, schedule, budget, quality, and dependencies, while applying appropriate governance, assurance, and delivery practices. The role sits within the Project Management function and reports to the Programme Manager. You will work closely with technology teams, business stakeholders, and third-party partners to support confident and coordinated delivery.

This is a key role requiring a hands-on project leader with experience of delivering complex change in a structured and transparent way. The successful candidate will be expected to quickly understand delivery priorities, establish clear plans and controls, and guide projects through to completion.

Key responsibilities

The key responsibilities of this role are set out below and there may be others which are not listed. You may be required on occasion to work outside our normal working hours of 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Project Assessment & Delivery Planning

• Review the current health of assigned projects, including progress to date, risks, dependencies, and overall readiness.
• Refine and re-baseline plans, budgets, schedules, and deliverables in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Lead project meetings, providing clear direction and maintaining momentum.
• Own end-to-end delivery for assigned projects, ensuring workstreams remain aligned to agreed scope, timescales, budget, and quality expectations.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects and competing priorities, agreeing sequencing and trade-offs with sponsors and stakeholders.
• Operate at both strategic and detailed levels, providing clarity on priorities while also resolving operational issues as they arise.

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

• Actively engage with technical teams, business functions, and third-party vendors to address challenges and ensure timely resolution.
• Build strong relationships across delivery teams and senior stakeholders to maintain confidence in the project direction.
• Work with vendor and delivery partners to ensure commitments, timelines, and deliverables are met.

Governance, Risk and Controls

• Enforce adherence to the firm's delivery governance framework, quality gates, and reporting standards.
• Provide regular status reporting and escalations to the Programme Manager, ensuring alignment to programme governance, cadence, and decision-making forums.
• Maintain complete RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) logs and ensure timely escalation of material risks.
• Implement rigorous risk and issue management, with a focus on early escalation and resolution.
• Ensure adherence to internal governance and any external regulatory or client standards relevant to the project scope.

Financial and Performance Management

• Track budgets, forecasts, and actuals, ensuring cost control and transparency.
• Report earned value, cost variance, and schedule variance to portfolio management.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce waste in the delivery process.

Change Management & Communication

• Drive rapid change, manage resistance, and re-align teams under pressure.
• Provide clear communication and reporting on project progress, risks, and dependencies.
• Communicate effectively at all levels, from executive reporting to detailed discussions with delivery teams.

Candidate profile

Candidates for this position must have:

• Comfortable using AI-enabled tools to support day-to-day work, with the ability to apply sound judgement and critical thinking when interpreting outputs.
• At least 10 years' experience delivering complex, multi-disciplinary technology programmes within complex, multi-vendor environments, maintaining strong control over schedule, cost and scope.
• Demonstrable experience managing in-flight or transition-stage projects, taking ownership and reestablishing structure where needed.
• Proven ability to manage delivery across both internal technology teams and outsourced partners.
• Leadership mindset, able to build confidence within teams to promote a delivery-led, accountable and transparent culture.
• Ability to manage multi-vendor delivery models and contractual deliverables.
• Experience of agile, hybrid, and traditional delivery methodologies. • Strong stakeholder management skills, with an ability to communicate clearly and translate complex issues into actionable information.
• Familiarity with collaboration tools, productivity suites, and alternative technology solutions for resilience.
• Strong understanding of delivery assurance, testing, and transition to operations.
• Experience with enterprise platforms (e.g., collaboration, document/content management, workflow, or business systems) is advantageous.
• Project/Programme Management certifications (e.g., MSP, PMP, PRINCE2) desirable.

Our recruitment process

We anticipate this being a two-stage process:

1st interview - Head of Business Systems and Programme Manager

2nd interview - Chief Information Officer

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are barrier-free and as inclusive as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition. If you have any questions or require any adjustments to be made to one or both of the application or interview processes, please contact the Recruitment Team.

We are a Disability Confident Committed employer and will offer an interview to applicants with a disability or long-term condition who best meet the minimum or essential criteria for our Business Services roles. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident 'Offer An Interview' commitment, please apply via our online application form and not via LinkedIn. You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. For more information about the Disability Confident scheme, please see the government website here.

We welcome applications irrespective of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, belief or marital status.

The purpose of this description is to provide guidance in relation to the general requirements of the position referred to. It is by no means an exhaustive list of the responsibilities that will be involved.

Any offer of employment with us is subject to the firm's receipt of a satisfactory report from its third-party screening and vetting provider in respect of the successful candidate. Your adviser will be able to explain how this process works in practice in the event of any questions.

At Slaughter and May, we take the protection of your personal information seriously and we are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the personal information that you share with us, or is collected by us, during the course of our interactions with you. Our Recruitment Privacy Notice ("RP Notice") supplements, and should be read alongside, the firm's Privacy Notice.

These privacy notices are always available to view within the Legal and Regulatory section of our website.

Who we are

Slaughter and May are a leading international law firm, recognised throughout the business community for its exceptional legal service, commercial awareness, and commitment to clients. We advise across the spectrum of legal matters including high-profile, ground-breaking, and complex transactions, contentious matters and all aspects of risk. We deliver innovative and bespoke solutions to our clients, domestically and internationally. We provide clear legal advice that spans the globe whilst tackling the cultural nuances between jurisdictions. Our lawyers understand how to coordinate and manage matters in the jurisdictions most relevant to our clients.

Excellence is central to everything we do, and it remains one of the first words mentioned when others are asked about the firm. We are very proud of that reputation. One reason we are known for excellence is because we have always been guided by a set of values that have been an implicit part of who we are and how we operate.

Our four core values are:

1. The highest standards;

2. Independence of thought;

3. Collective endeavour;

4. Respect for all.

They are not simply a list of characteristics. They are part of a framework, as they demonstrate our commitment to our four stakeholder groups (Our clients; Our people; The firm; Society).

At Slaughter and May, with over 1,400 partners and staff worldwide, everyone's contribution is valued, and we all enjoy an open, friendly and supportive environment. We have an underlying sense of pride in who we are and what we do, and our inclusive culture gives rise to a unique diversity of thinking, which is critical to our success and helps maintain our position as a true market leader.

Business Services Development

We offer a variety of learning and development opportunities to members of our Business Services team, including sessions open to everyone on topics ranging from personal impact and resilience to written communication. We also run a series of development programmes for supervisors and managers, as well as various bespoke team and one-to-one sessions.

Our Network of Networks

The firm has eleven employee networks run by employees and supported by partners. Collectively, we form a Network of Networks, and our aim is to foster a spirit of inclusion, both amongst the networks and the firm more widely. We work collaboratively to create a more open-minded and inclusive work environment.

We strive to make people feel comfortable about bringing their authentic selves to work.

Each network offers an informal support mechanism for employees with shared backgrounds, perspectives or interests and hosts a number of exciting formal and informal events throughout the year, which are open to everyone. They're a great way to meet new people in the firm, as well as to celebrate difference and learn about a variety of experiences and perspectives.