Project Controller

Our leading defence client near Dorchester is recruiting a Project Controller preferably with an aerospace/defence background for an initial 6 month contract. Candidates must be ok to work Monday – Thursday on site for the first 4 - 6 weeks but we will pay an enhanced hourly rate during this period of on-site working to any non-local canididates. After the first 6 weeks the Project Controller will need to work a few days/week or 1 week (Monday - Thursday) per month on site. The amount of time is not negotiable, please only apply if you can work on site for 6 weeks and 1 week in 4 or a day/week thereafter.

The role involves but is not limited to:

• Creation and maintenance of Microsoft Project plans, opportunities and delivery projects, working with the project teams to ensure estimates and forecasts are correct and published frequently.
• Scheduling of all project activities to produce an integrated project plan with a critical path, update as required, and report potential problems/problem areas to the Project Manager/Work Package Manager for action.
• Maintenance of a project baseline and change control log in order to report on cost and schedule variances to the Project Manager on a monthly basis, with suggestions for corrective actions.
• Support to the work package manager: reviewing and where necessary raising change requests; performing scenario analysis in the schedule; and implementing changes.
• Support the Project Manager with Risk, Issues, and Opportunities management by ensuring the various registers are reviewed and updated frequently with the project teams. To perform schedule risk analysis on projects and project opportunities as and when required.
• Support the Project Managers in the creation and maintenance of Earned Value Management data set and reporting requirements.
• Support to the generation of the Business level reporting and Business Intelligence (BI) data in support of the project and divisional level reviews and attend where necessary.
• Support to continuous project management improvement initiatives and project management standards across the project community.
• Provide guidance to the Project Management community on the templates and processes to be adhered to when managing an Atlas Elektronik project.

• Support to the Project Manager in the monitoring and tracking of project budget, providing a full forecast for all phases of the project and ensuring overspends or underspends can be justified.

Knowledge, skills and personal qualities required

• A proven track record at planning high value, complex engineering projects which include the full project lifecycle.
• A strong individual who will ensure that best planning practice is always adhered to.
• A sound understanding of the Project Management lifecycle and reporting tools / principles.
• A sound understanding of Earned Value Management principles with practical application.
• An appreciation of the Commercial and Financial aspects within the project environment.
• Advanced Microsoft office, Excel, and Microsoft Project skills.
• The ability to challenge project managers and contribute to process and reporting improvements.
• Experience of an ERP system, in particular experience of Microsoft Dynamics AX within a project environment.
• Knowledge of Risk standards, specifically Management of Risk (MOR).

• Highly motivated, enthusiastic and project delivery focussed.
• Ability to work unsupervised, under own initiative, with the drive to influence and improve project reporting and performance.
• Prepared to multi-task and work flexibly to achieve deadlines.
• Ability to interpret technical, engineering and operational issues and relate these back to delivery implications.
• Ability to challenge forecasts, identify, and highlight conflicts of data.
• Ability to work in a team and to develop an empathy with colleagues, understanding their roles and priorities.
• A positive can-do attitude.

Recognising the restricted nature of the project, candidates must be SC cleared or eligible for this level of clearance.