Information Technology Project Manager

About the job

IT Project Manager

Permanent

Based in Burton Upon Trent with travel to Birmingham and London. (hybrid working with 3 days on site and 2 days at home)

We are seeking an experienced IT Project Manager to join our friendly and dynamic team here at Waterstones in Burton Upon Trent. You will lead the replacement of a legacy AS400/iSeries ERP system. This is Phase 1 of a broader enterprise systems modernisation programme.

You will provide the technical leadership needed to safely transition from a highly customised, deeply embedded legacy system to a modern architecture. You will bridge business requirements with technical delivery, coordinate multiple vendors and teams, manage complex integrations and data migration, identify and mitigate technical risks early, and ensure the solution is robust, scalable, and operationally ready

The successful candidate will own delivery, manage risk, and ensure successful go live.

What you will be doing

Programme Leadership

• Establish and maintain programme governance and reporting structures
• Maintain RAID logs and manage escalations
• Chair weekly delivery meetings with UK and US teams
• Lead cutover planning and go-live execution

Technical Oversight

• Work closely with Technical Leads to ensure architecture, integrations, and environments are fit-for-purpose
• Oversee data migration strategy and execution
• Ensure architectural decisions are validated and signed off
• Understand legacy AS400 / iSeries constraints and risk areas
• Challenge vendor proposals and technical assumptions

Operational Alignment

• Ensure ERP design aligns with business processes and operational realities
• Facilitate workshops with business SMEs
• Guide decisions on process redesign vs replication
• Oversee UAT cycles and business sign-off
• Balance operational needs against technical feasibility

Data Migration & Cutover Governance

• Oversee early data profiling and cleansing
• Ensure migration rehearsals are planned and executed
• Define reconciliation and validation checkpoints
• Own data governance during cutover

Cross-Regional Coordination

• Align UK and US teams on objectives, timelines, and responsibilities
• Work with project Sponsor to establish clear decision rights (RACI)

Steering & Executive Reporting

• Prepare monthly steering packs
• Present risk, budget, and delivery updates clearly to sponsor and steering group
• Ensure Go/No-Go decisions are based on objective evidence

What we need from you

Significant experience in large, complex systems programmes

• Leading multi‐year, multi‐workstream transformations
• Delivering replacements of legacy or core business systems (ERP, WMS, OMS, custom platforms, AS400-type environments)
• Managing cross‐functional teams and multiple vendors

Strong technical background

• Understanding of systems architecture, integrations, APIs, databases, and infrastructure
• Experience with data migration and cutover approaches
• Ability to challenge technical decisions and translate complexity into clear plans
• Exposure to cloud platforms, modern integration patterns, and enterprise system design

Proven programme and delivery management skills

• End‐to‐end ownership of programme planning, RAID management, governance, and budget
• Strong command of delivery methodologies (Waterfall, Agile, hybrid)
• Ability to run complex dependency management across tech, business, and 3rd parties

Leadership and stakeholder management capability

• Comfortable influencing senior stakeholders and resolving technical‐business conflicts
• Skilled at driving clarity, decision‐making, and accountability
• Able to lead diverse teams through technical ambiguity and change

Relevant qualifications or certifications (not essential but highly valuable)

• PMP, PMI-ACP, PRINCE2, or MSP for programme/project governance
• Scrum Master or Agile Delivery certifications
• ITIL for operational readiness and service transition understanding

Person Profile

• Resilient and calm under pressure, capable of navigating competing priorities across a multi‐year modernisation programme.
• Highly collaborative, able to build strong relationships with engineers, vendors, SMEs, and senior stakeholders.
• Pragmatic and delivery‐focused, able to balance ideal architecture with real‐world constraints of legacy environments and operational pressures.
• A strategic thinker who can simplify complexity and communicate clear technical direction across both technical and non‐technical teams.

Why work for Waterstones

Waterstones is the cornerstone of bookselling across the UK and Ireland. Joining Waterstones means being an active part in a success story that began in 1982, and books are as popular now as the day we started.

Trading across the UK, Ireland and Europe, we are present in over 300 shopping locations, where Waterstones continues to thrive, each year actively pursuing a programme of new bookshop openings. Online at Waterstones.com, we meanwhile mirror the essence of our bookshops, further showcasing the unique enthusiasm and knowledge of our booksellers.

If you have the relevant essential experience and you are interested, we would love to hear from you.

Waterstones is committed to encouraging equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and is dedicated toward eliminating unlawful discrimination.

Our aim is to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel fully respected and to be able to give their best.

Diversity Statement

At Waterstones, we are committed to creating a workplace that is fair and inclusive to people from all backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, and we strive to promote an inclusive work culture.

We are working hard to ensure our recruitment processes are free from bias, and our aim is to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel fully respected and able to give their best.

Reasonable Adjustments

We understand that some disabled applicants may, due to the nature of their disability, find some parts of the recruitment process challenging. If you need any reasonable adjustments during any part of the interview process, please make these known either to your interviewer or the person you liaise with when setting up your interview.