Senior Project Manager
Role: Senior Project Manager (Agile) - Defence
Salary: Negotiable plus competitive benefits including pension, private health, life assurance, additional holiday purchase options
Location: Portsmouth, Hants
Our client is a rapidly growing software and data science consultancy firm, renowned for their reputation and keen ability to understand and meet customer requirements effectively. Their team is dedicated to delivering high-quality, end-to-end software and data science services. This role offers the opportunity to work with these teams to operate across multiple sectors, including defence and contribute to the development of cutting-edge solutions.
They are seeking a Senior Project Manager to support the delivery of a range of high-profile Agile technology projects within the business.
You will be joining a forward-thinking function at a pivotal moment, playing a key role in helping the business mature its agile delivery capability and strengthen project governance across a growing portfolio.
The Role
As a Senior Project Manager, you will be the right-hand support to the Portfolio Manager, leading from the front to drive delivery excellence, and embed agile practices within their Agile software development projects that deliver key tools to their customers in areas such as Modelling & Simulation and Autonomy, and Data Science projects using cutting edge technology.
About You:
You are a delivery-focused project manager who thrives in structured and complex environments. You combine hands-on delivery capability with the ability to engage senior stakeholders and the agility to adapt to a hybrid (agile/waterfall) setting. The successful candidate must demonstrate the following attributes:
Essential skills & experience:
Proven experience in project, programme, or portfolio management roles with cyber, digital or software projects
Educated to degree level or equivalent
Hold a relevant professional project management qualification (e.g. APM, APMG Agile PM, PRINCE2, MSP)
Agile background, ideally Scrum Master or SAFe certified
Experience of using tools such as Jira, Asana or Trello
Strong track record of delivering projects to time, cost, and quality standards using agile and hybrid methodologies.
Experience working in a consultancy environment or with defence and government clients.
Demonstrable experience in:
Delivering quality on projects
Managing multiple projects simultaneously
Managing stakeholder relationships effectively
Supporting teams in dynamic, multi-disciplinary environments
Excellent communication, presentation, and report-writing skills.
Strong attention to detail and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise workloads under pressure.
Membership of a professional body (e.g., APM, PMI) and a desire for continued professional development.
Ability to travel to client sites across England as required. (Predominantly South and South-West Regions), and the opportunity for occasional international travel.
Technical specialism in aspects of project management e.g. risk management, benefits assessment / realisation, stakeholder analysis, requirements management, Cost budgeting and forecasting.
Familiarity with frameworks such as Lean, or Six Sigma.
Candidates must have existing right to live in the UK
Looking for candidates with current SC or DV Security Clearance
Responsibilities re Senior Project Manager will include:
Provide end-to-end project and programme management support, ensuring the delivery of tasks to time, cost, and quality standards.
Lead the planning, execution, and monitoring of projects, including resource management, risk assessment, and progress reporting.
Apply agile methodologies (Scrum, SAFe) and hybrid frameworks to drive consistency and efficiency
Act as Scrum Master, facilitating ceremonies and promoting agile maturity across teams.
Deliver quality controls and standards on projects in line with the organisation’s Quality Management System (QMS).
Facilitate stakeholder management by developing and maintaining effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Monitor project performance using key metrics, analysing trends and providing actionable insights to senior leaders.
Lead the preparation of project plans, proposals, and reports to ensure consistency and adherence to client requirements.
Drive information management across the company, contributing to the development and maintenance of robust data systems and dashboards.
Support business development activities, including bid preparation and framework management.
Represent the company in client-facing roles, maintaining high standards of professionalism and delivery excellence.
Adapt to changing priorities and manage multiple projects simultaneously in a dynamic environment.
Contributing to the company’s P3M Community of practice
Keywords – Agile, Scrum, APM, APMG, PRINCE2, MSP, Scrum Master, SAFe certified, Jira, Asana, Trello, bids, risk, EVM, Project Manager, Agile Project Manager , Proposals, QMS
Role: Senior Project Manager (Agile) - Defence