IT Project Manager

Company Description

The Barbour story began in 1894 in South Shields in the North East of England. Founder John Barbour began supplying oilskins and other garments to protect the growing community of sailors, fishermen and dockers. Still family owned and now fifth generation, Barbour HQ remains in South Shields.

Under the leadership of Chairman Dame Margaret Barbour, Barbour has grown into a lifestyle brand sold in over 55 countries worldwide including Europe, the US and Asia offering a wardrobe of stylish functional clothing, footwear and accessories inspired by the unique values of the British countryside. The iconic Barbour Bedale and Barbour Beaufort wax jackets continue to be made by hand in the factory in South Shields. In 2020, Barbour launched Wax for Life, an overarching name for all of Barbour’s wax services designed to encourage customers to extend the life of their wax garments. Wax for Life includes re-waxing and repairs and Barbour Re-Loved, an upcycling circularity initiative. Each year over 70,000 wax garments are sent back to Barbour globally to be repaired, rewaxed or altered.

Position Overview:

We have an exciting opportunity for a pragmatic, passionate and proactive IT Project Manager to join our Business Systems, Data and Integrations team within the Portfolio Delivery Function. In this varied and exciting role, you will take full ownership of the end-to-end life cycle of IT Projects and Change Requests across Barbour’s global footprint, spanning the UK, US, Europe, and Asia regions.

You will be responsible for setting up our projects to succeed defining clear scopes, documenting unambiguous business requirements, and outlining future-state process flows. From running collaborative stakeholder workshops to managing risks before they become issues, you will earn trust, drive high-quality execution and ensure critical improvements are delivered seamlessly, on time and within budget.

*This role is based at our Head Office in South Shields and the expectation is 4 days onsite and 1 day of home working*

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Act as the primary contact and leader on assigned Changes and Projects, serving as a positive, pragmatic, and resilient role model.
• Collaborate cross-functionally across business functions, fostering strong, trusted relationships with key stakeholders, suppliers and the wider IT department.
• Establish effective project governance to keep all stakeholders fully informed of upcoming tasks, timelines and deliverables.
• Build robust Business Cases (defining scope, anticipated costs, resourcing requirements, and risks) to ensure senior leadership is aligned on proposed improvements.
• Gather precise, unambiguous business requirements and document clear current and future state process flows.
• Create tailored Project Plans optimised for different audiences, including the Steering team and core project delivery teams.
• Manage the Project Backlog for sprint planning, prioritising critical delivery activities alongside other Project Managers.
• Lead project workshops, steering meetings, stage gates, and critical Go/No-Go decision-making sessions.
• Author and publish regular Project Status Reports and log crucial lessons learned for continuous improvement.
• Carefully identify, document and actively mitigate risks before they develop into project issues.
• Generate and execute test scripts during User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and present changes at Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings to confirm go-live readiness.
• Coordinate realistic cutover and rollback plans collaboratively with stakeholders and align with Service Desk to ensure smooth post-launch system support.
• Conduct yourself in accordance with Barbour Values and Health & Safety guidelines at all times.

Skills and Experience:

• Demonstrable professional experience working as a Project Manager, with a proven track record of delivering projects to scope, on time and within budget.
• Previous exposure to Business Analysis techniques is highly preferable.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to confidently convey complex scopes and timelines to senior stakeholders.
• A proactive self-starter mindset, with the resilience to comfortably navigate ambiguity and multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong organisational capability, allowing you to hit strict deadlines with focus and clear pragmatism.
• Proficiency with core tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Project and Visio is preferred but not essential.
• Experience with modern Project Management tools is desirable.
• Prior experience working with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, Product Information Management (PIM) or Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platforms is considered a distinct advantage.
• A strong commitment to technical learning, teamwork, adaptability, and continuous process improvement.

Benefits:

• Discretionary Company bonus scheme
• Staff discount
• Staff shop
• Healthcare cash plan
• 25 days holiday as standard increasing with length of service plus bank holidays
• Access to training and development activities to support your career development
• Free onsite parking
• Subsidised canteen
• Operate hybrid & flexible working
• 4pm finish on a Friday
• Wellbeing support
• Refer a friend bonus scheme
• Reward & Recognition Program
• Length of Service Rewards

Note: In the event that a sufficient volume of suitable applications are received, the post may close prior to the specified closing date. Please apply as soon as possible if interested.