Senior Project Manager

We are committed to the development of our workforce.This position is only available to applicants who already work for Surrey County Council.We thank you for your interest in our roles and would encourage you to review our vacancies which are open to al l.

The starting salary for this permanent role is £53,713 per annum based on working 36 hours per week.

We are excited to be hiring a Senior Project Manager to support our IT and Digital team based at our Woodhatch Place office in Reigate. Our team follows a hybrid schedule, working in the office two days per week.

Our Offer to You

• 26 days' holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service
• Optionto buy up to 10 days ofadditionalannual leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Paternity,adoptionand dependents leave
• An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
• A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents

About the Role

Surrey County Council IT&D are seeking an experiencedSenior Project Manager to lead the delivery of major IT business solutions across the Authority. This is a high impact role responsible for planning, managing and delivering large-scale IT projects that enable transformative change across our organisation.

You will lead multidisciplinary teams, provide expert project management consultancy, and ensure full compliance with our adopted PRINCE2 based project management framework. Your leadership will help shape and deliver the Authority's most significant IT-enabled change initiatives.

About the Team

The Project Delivery Team is responsible for delivering major business solutions that support all services across the Authority. The team includes Project Managers, Senior Project Managers, Principal Project Managers, Project Leads, and a dedicated Project Support function.

As a Senior IT&D Project Manager, you may be fully dedicated to a flagship corporate project or manage multiple smaller initiatives concurrently. Delivery activities will span stakeholder engagement, business analysis, procurement, implementation, systems integration and major solution upgrades.

While based in IT & Digital, you will frequently work within other service areas across the Authority, ensuring projects are embedded where they add most value.

Key Responsibilities Analysis, Reporting & Documentation

• Provide expertise in analysing and interpreting complex data.
• Identify trends, evaluate options, and recommend solutions to support sound decision making.
• Prepare clear documentation and reports for senior stakeholders.

Service Delivery

• Review and improve operational processes, systems and procedures.
• Apply professional judgement to resolve non routine issues and ensure service standards are met.
• Uphold high-quality and professional service delivery within your area.

Planning & Organising

• Lead major projects or service reviews to enhance organisational performance.
• Ensure team activity aligns with service plans and secure required resources.
• Support the ongoing development and practical application of PRINCE2 across the IT service.

Finance & Resource Management

• Manage project budgets up to £3m, ensuring spend aligns with policies and procedures.
• Oversee procurement, ordering and invoicing for external suppliers-often amounting to several hundred thousand pounds.

Working with Others

• Represent IT&D effectively in cross departmental discussions and decision making.
• Build strong relationships with internal services, partners and suppliers.
• Identify and implement cost effective improvements to business processes.

People Management

• Line manage or matrix manage multidisciplinary project teams.
• Provide coaching, feedback and performance support to enable high levels of delivery.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive and high performing team environment.

Duties for All Employees

• Equality & Diversity: Work inclusively with diverse stakeholders and champion equality of opportunity.
• Health, Safety & Welfare: Maintain high standards of health and safety, and act with care for yourself and others.

Challenges of the Role

• Securing scarce specialist resources.
• Ensuring sustained engagement from key stakeholders.
• Managing third party suppliers and commercial relationships.
• Responding flexibly to shifting organisational priorities.
• Controlling costs and resources within tight constraints.
• Communicating effectively with staff at all levels across the Authority.

Your Application

In order tobe considered for shortlisting, your application will clearlyevidencethe following skills and experience and align with ourbehaviours :

• Significant experience delivering large scale IT or digital programmes using a recognised project management framework (PRINCE2 desirable).
• Proven leadership of multidisciplinary teams, including line and matrix management.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence, negotiate and communicate at all levels.
• Robust financial management experience, including managing large project budgets.
• Expertise in business change or IT enabled transformation, with evidence of delivering measurable organisational benefits.
• Excellent planning, organisation and problem solving skills, especially in complex or dynamic environments.
• Alignment with our organisational behaviours, including collaboration, accountability, adaptability and customer focus.

To apply, we request that you submit a CV and respond to our 4 application questions.

Beforesubmittingyour application, we recommend you read the job description &OurLife at Surrey handbook to get an insight into working at Surrey.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 15/03/2026 with interviews planned to follow.

Contact Us

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and haveevidencedyou meet theminimumcriteria, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day,we'recommitted to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.