Location: Templecombe, United Kingdom

Thales people provide armed forces customers with operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including Above and Sonar, Electronic Combat, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Primary Purpose Of The Role :

The Service Delivery Manager (SDM) will be responsible for the successful project management execution of a number of Services contracts within the UWS Services Portfolio.

The SDM will play a critical role in the successful delivery performance of our services contracts through planning, executing, monitoring and controlling all aspects of the projects.

The SDM is accountable for the entire project scope, the project team and resources, the project budget, and the success or failure of the project. To succeed in their role, project managers must be adept at coordinating resources, managing budgets, measuring and tracking project progress, and communicating with team members and stakeholders. They also assess risks and resolve any issues that arise throughout a project’s life cycle, often being called on to make difficult decisions regarding complex and competing priorities in an effort to achieve desired project outcomes. The

The successful candidate will have core experience in the execution of complex projects, ideally within military service contracts.  

Key Responsibilities And Tasks:

Take ownership for all aspects of the service defined against the contracted scope of workAccountable for the project delivery and its associated performance Deliver all project reporting aspects both internally and externally Own the project performance through on time delivery, achievement of customer performance, quality aspects and financial controlsDemonstrate careful control and management of all financial aspects against resource labour and material requirementsExecute project leadership and guidance to the project team to ensure successful delivery Own the project delivery dashboard and its associated metricsExecute performance against multi projectsUnderstand the project complexity and implement plans to overcome issues Ownership for the successful delivery of all Service Level Agreement (SLA) and or Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)Maintain high levels of customer satisfaction in line with high customer demands and expectations Identify, Report and Manage all project risks and assigned mitigation plansIdentify routes to optimise the delivery and performance of the projects identified through opportunities Execute where necessary lessons learnt activitiesInteract with multifunctional stakeholders both internally and externally  Manage resources to ensure contract performance and escalate as neededManage complexity of engineering related tasks and resourcing requirementsProvide support and advise to all commercial related aspects Work with procurement and the supply chain to manage appropriate tasks Correlate, engage and support quality requirements defined by the quality team, Chorus 2 and our customerManage and correct issues, and/or escalate them accordingly Provide support to bids, RFQ’s and future prospectsCreate and maintain all required project plans in line with customer and Chorus 2 requirementsProvide support to customer and internal auditsExecute project tasks related to project management and SDM dutiesUnderstand, manage and maintain project activities in line with Chorus 2 requirementsEnsure appropriate H&S aspects are understood and managed accordinglyMonitor, track and achieve financial targets against MYB and Year end

Important Working Relationships:

Core engagement with project delivery team and the Project Management OfficeRegular engagement with both internal and external stakeholdersManage the customer relationship to deliver contract performance when both positive and negativeEscalate to the leadership team where help and support is requiredPresent project performance both internally and externallyWork across multiple functions

Supervision of People:

This role has no direct Supervisory roleThe job also entails directing people working on the Project in their day to day activitiesLeading and mentoring the team to execute the project performance and Thales expected behaviours

About you:

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required:

The successful candidate will have core experience in the execution of complex projects, ideally within military service contracts. A strong candidate should be able to demonstrate;

Execute an In depth understanding of Project management principles and ideally APMP qualificationsExperience in managing project complexityStrong business finance knowledge including being able to understand detailed project finance reportsDemonstrate a good understanding of risk and opportunity management and executionPrevious experience of managing project finances including active risk and opportunity managementDemonstrate achieving customer performance and capturing feedback to execute improvementsDemonstrate leadership behaviours to recover poor performing projects (quality, cost, schedule)Experience in understanding resourcing and schedule planning through tools such as Oracle and PrimaveraThe ability to lead a successful team and manage resources and changes accordinglyA strong ability to multitask whist under pressureGood experience in working with or within bids, RFQ’s and SOW’sSpot warning signs of things going wrong and provide a decisive response to significant delivery challengesMake clear, pragmatic and manageable plans for service / programme delivery using programme and project management disciplinesExemplify positive customer service behaviours and promote a culture focused on ensuring customer needs are metEstablish how the business area compares to customer service expectations and industry best practice and identify necessary improvements in plansReview, challenge and adjust performance levels to ensure quality outcomes are delivered on timeDeliver strong and efficient performance in difficult and challenging circumstances, encouraging others to do the sameBe visible to staff and stakeholders and regularly undertake activities to engage and build trust with people involved in area of workConfidently engage with stakeholders and colleagues at all levels to generate commitment to goalsExperience of working with defence organisations or military customers would be advantageousExcellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to work with people at all levelsAbility to work well within a team environment and across international bordersBroad commercial and financial awarenessAble to operate effectively under project constraints and pressure and able to display sound judgement at all timesStrong customer focus with the ability to build relationshipsAble to use initiative to solve problems as they arise and make difficult decisions when necessaryDegree level qualification or equivalent qualification/experience in a technical or business subjectResponsible for understanding project complexity and the ability to manage and escalate to resolveManaging multiple projects with different customers, project requirements and contract performanceCareful management of workload, team priorities to deliver the service required

Values And Behaviours:

Meet the Thales LR grade leadership behaviour competency frame work:

Think big:Imagine the futureSees aheadSupports innovationDeals with complexityInspires to engageShares compelling visionLeads with integrityEngages stakeholdersMake it happenDeliver user-centric solutionsEnsures accountabilityCreates customer intimacyBuilds trustActs with agilityChallenges the status quoTakes smart risksFosters continuous improvementTogetherGrow others and selfDemonstrates self-awarenessInvests in the development of othersEncourages a culture of feedbackIncludes othersEmbraces diversityTrusts and empowersPromotes collaboration  Must be detailed orientated and have a passion for achieving successA strong drive, energy, agility and resilience in achieving work-related goalsThe ability to travel to achieve project and customer performance (Expected 10% travel)

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In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

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