Project Manager

Your new companyYou will be working for one of the fastest growing national leisure clubs.Their estate spans both large-scale external canopy schemes and internal warehouse conversions, they are scaling rapidly across the UK.To support this growth, they are bringing their project management function fully in-house. This is a pivotal hire that will sit at the heart of their development programme and play a defining role in how the leisure club scales.Your new roleYou will take full ownership of delivering the leisure club's venues end-to-end - from initial site identification through to opening day. Acting as the central point of accountability, you will work closely with the Director of Property, external design and build partners, consultants, and the operations team to ensure each scheme is delivered on time, on budget, and to the required standard.This role requires strong commercial acumen. You must be confident analysing cost plans, challenging contractor pricing, identifying inflated variations, and protecting the clubs financial interests throughout the lifecycle of each project. While not a Quantity Surveyor, you will be expected to operate with commercial awareness and discipline at every stage.Key ResponsibilitiesSite Inception & Feasibility

• Partner with the Director of Property from day one to define briefs and establish scheme requirements before costs are committed
• Produce initial feasibility layouts, including court configurations, clubhouse placement, and key spatial planning, to support early site viability assessments
• Review and challenge feasibility cost plans alongside the independent QS, identifying inconsistencies or risks
• Carry out early-stage risk assessments to minimise abortive spend
• Maintain a live pipeline tracker across all active and prospective sites

Planning & Design Coordination

• Manage planning activity across all schemes, ensuring submissions, approvals, and condition discharges remain on programme
• Act as the primary liaison between the club and external consultants, driving responsiveness and eliminating bottlenecks
• Track planning milestones and proactively escalate risks to programme delivery
• Review design outputs to ensure alignment with brief, budget, and operational requirements, challenging unnecessary complexity or cost
• Coordinate landlord approvals, including licences to alter, ensuring timelines are met

Procurement & Contract Management

• Lead all contractor and consultant appointments from a client-side perspective
• Oversee contract management across schemes, scrutinising payment applications prior to approval
• Procure and manage specialist suppliers, including courts, security systems, AV, FF&E, surfaces, signage, and operational equipment
• Evaluate and benchmark supplier pricing, negotiating commercially advantageous terms
• Work with insurance brokers to ensure appropriate coverage is in place
• Enforce robust change control, ensuring all variations are costed and agreed before instruction

Programme & Delivery

• Own and manage the master programme for each scheme, with clear milestones and accountability
• Chair regular progress meetings and provide clear, accurate reporting to HQ
• Identify and mitigate programme risks early to avoid delays
• Manage the transition from practical completion through to operational readiness
• Ensure utilities are procured and delivered in line with programme requirements

Commercial Oversight

• Work closely with finance to manage payment schedules in line with programme delivery
• Flag disputes or cash flow risks proactively
• Maintain accurate cost-to-complete forecasts and regularly report on financial performance
• Review valuations and payment applications against progress and scope
• Track budget performance, providing clear variance reporting with recommended actions
• Support final account negotiations alongside the QS
• Challenge scope creep and cost escalation at source

Handover & Closeout

• Lead practical completion across all schemes
• Manage snagging through to full resolution
• Ensure a seamless handover to operations, with venues fully ready to trade
• Compile and maintain all project documentation, including O&M manuals, warranties, and compliance records

What you'll need to succeed

• Proven track record delivering leisure, hospitality, or retail construction or fit-out projects - including both ground-up builds and warehouse/industrial conversions
• Demonstrable commercial awareness: able to read a cost plan, challenge a contractor's numbers, and manage a budget with confidence - without being a qualified QS
• Strong experience managing D&B contractors and fit-out contractors as the client-side PM
• Confident coordinating multidisciplinary teams of external consultants - architects, planning consultants, building control - keeping them aligned and on programme without doing their job for them
• Ability to produce basic site feasibility schematics to support early-stage site assessment
• Ability to manage construction programmes confidently
• Excellent supplier and contractor management skills including direct procurement of FF&E and specialist packages
• Strong communicator - able to give clear, concise programme and cost updates to senior stakeholders
• Highly organised, self-sufficient, and comfortable managing multiple schemes concurrently
• A natural pushback instinct - you spot when something isn't right and you say so, constructively

What you'll get in returnSalary £70,000Flexible hybrid working- 1 office day per week, 2 days on the road for site visits and 2 days wfh per week Holidays PensionWhat you need to do nowIf you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.

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