Project Manager

Project Manager - PART TIME (home based with travel to London and Bristol)

Context:

With 54 Academies Oasis Community Learning is widely recognised as one of the leading Multi-Academy trusts in the country. At the forefront of transformational education, we are a dynamic, inclusive family of Academies with the aim of transforming lives within communities and offering exceptional education to over 20,000 students across 5 Regions of England.

Why might it be interesting?

• You will work on projects that will genuinely transform lives.
• You will have flexibility and scope to pursue other opportunities alongside
• You’ll work with a collaborative, supportive professional team
• You'll contribute to a purpose led organisation that truly cares.

The role:

This is a part-time transformational project role that requires an experienced Project Manager to help deliver two strategically important development projects right in the heart of two of our vibrant communities. The Oasis Academy South Bank Primary scheme and the Oasis Academy New Oak & John Williams scheme both seek to deliver brand-new school buildings and new housing alongside a development partner. These buildings will provide learning environments that will enable some of the most disadvantaged young people to be nurtured and to achieve their potential. You can help make those buildings a reality.

This will suit an experienced capital projects PM with experience of the education sector and the ability to offer expertise on a flexible basis to suit the demands of the project. It would sit well alongside other external obligations in a portfolio of work or as a sole variable commitment of between 1 to 2 days per week invoiced monthly,

Key responsibilities

Project Management

• Work with the Project Team, OCL colleagues, and external stakeholders – including both Bristol City Council (BCC), London Borough of Lambeth (LBL), the Department for Education (DfE), LocatED, and other professional consultants, to manage two projects on behalf of OCL – reporting to the Development Director.
• Review and help develop key project documents and information – including documents relating to school specification and design, procurement documents, legal documents, and other important information required for good management of both schemes.
• To maintain and update standard project documents and records, including risk registers, programmes, and communication plans.
• To prepare reports and updates for important meetings, including a regular Executive meeting, as well as ad hoc meetings as they arise.
• Liaising over meeting dates, producing agendas and action notes, as required.
• To support the Development Director, as well as the Core Project Team, as required.
• Attend meetings as required, and maintain a central filing system of all key documents.

Budget Management and Financial Reporting

• To help set and manage the overall project budget for both schemes, ensuring that all key workstreams are captured and reflected accurately
• To monitor project spend against each budget line, and secure approvals for spend as and when required.
• To work with the OCL Finance team to process invoices, set up new suppliers, and raise Purchase Orders.
• To respond to budget queries from colleagues, including answering budget-related questions from the Development Director as required.
• To prepare monthly budget reports for each scheme for regular reporting to the Executive group, and additional budget reports as required for other meetings and approval requirements.
• To work closely with external stakeholders to ensure that payments and invoices are processed in a timely manner.

Communication and Relationships

• Build strong relationships with all stakeholders, both internal and external.
• Respond to enquiries from all stakeholders promptly, accurately, and politely, escalating to the Development Director as required.

What will you bring:

The successful applicant will be self-employed and have a number of years’ experience working on capital projects in the education sector, will be confident working as part of a collaborative team, and will be looking for a flexible project management role to help deliver real change in the community.

No two days are the same, and so the ideal candidate will be ready and willing to face new challenges with enthusiasm and a can-do approach.

You will be flexible and understand that the level of work required will change throughout the lifetime of the projects, but that on average the role will require between 1 – 2 days per week. You will be willing to accommodate both quieter and busier periods as the project requirements change.

The ability to deal confidently with complex issues is essential, along with the ability to manage conflicting demands and priorities. You will be confident in your ability to stay on top of details, will seek out all the information required to progress tasks, and to be comfortable at collating information quickly and accurately.

The ability to work with Microsoft 365 products – in particular, Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and Powerpoint – is essential.

This role will require an excellent communicator, both in spoken and written form, taking real pride in their work.

And of course, the successful candidate will sign up to the OCL vision and ethos as outlined in our ‘9 Habits’ model.