National Highways
Project Finance Manager – Lower Thames Crossing

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About the job
National Highways have an excellent opportunity for a Project Finance Manager to join our Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) team. As the Project Finance Manager, you will provide financial support, insight, and challenge to the leadership team of Lower Thames Crossing Directorate at National Highways. You will also be responsible for the maintenance of strong financial controls and governance, ensuring LTC's management and financial accounts are produced in line with Government and Statutory Financial Reporting standards.
This is a permanent role based at the Thurrock LTC site offices however; travel to regional offices / sites throughout the South East may be required.
- Provide accurate and timely financial support, analysis, and advice to the Programme leadership team. Contribute to planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes to support informed decision-making and drive performance improvement.
- Ensure financial results are accurate, clearly communicating, budgets and forecasted outcomes to the Programme leadership team. Identify key issues in business performance, to support informed decision-making and drive performance improvement.
- Contribute to the adoption of new business and finance processes and lead their roll-out Ensuring budget holders are equipped with the right information and financial insight to achieve the financial objectives of the project.
- Support the annual business planning process and longer-term financial planning, using a bottom-up approach. Engaging with those responsible for providing inputs and ensuring that all are aware of key targets, pressures and messages. Networking with Project Managers and Senior Leadership within the Directorate to ensure they are aligned to the target costs agreed.
- Assist in ensuring that costing systems are aligned with core finance systems. Help maintain consistency in reporting outputs and resolve data discrepancies as needed.
- Contribute to the review of balance sheet reconciliations, cash flow forecasts, and financial provisions. Ensure compliance with relevant financial standards and internal policies.
About you
- Qualified accountant with previous finance, governance and commercial experience.
- Good understanding of project management approaches and experience of working on or leading projects and change initiatives from planning through to successful delivery. Relevant project management qualifications are welcomed but not essential.
- Excellent relationship / stakeholder management skills with ability to understand and analyse complex information and present it simply and accurately.
- Experience of working with financial systems to support the business with automation and improved utilisation of the finance IT products
- Ability to work with high volumes of data in order to analyse trends and future insight.
- Understanding and working experience of managing a business planning process at a regional/area level, being able to communicate the project/directorate objectives to all those with responsibility for developing budgets and taking responsibility for ensuring budget outputs align with company, directorate and regional targets (desirable).
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About us
Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England’s motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.
The Lower Thames Crossing is one of the UK's most ambitious and high-profile infrastructure programmes, designed to transform connectivity, improve network resilience and support economic growth for decades to come.
As the largest road project in a generation, the Lower Thames Crossing will create a new connection beneath the River Thames, linking Kent, Thurrock and Essex, and significantly increasing capacity across one of the country's busiest transport corridors. The project will help unlock opportunities for communities and businesses locally, while strengthening national supply chains and supporting the movement of people and goods across the UK.
More than a road project, the Lower Thames Crossing is a nationally significant programme that is pioneering new approaches to sustainability, innovation and delivery. The scheme aims to leave a positive legacy by improving journey reliability, enhancing safety, creating new green spaces and delivering environmental improvements alongside vital transport infrastructure.
External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy.
We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.
Why you should join us
At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers.
So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation.


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A connected and sustainable working approach has been adopted across National Highways. For some roles, this means being able to work in a hybrid way spending up to 60% of time working from a remote location such as home.
We offer many different ways to work flexibly and we’re open to discuss part-time working, job shares, and flexible start and finish times.
Please wait until the interview stage before asking us about flexibility, and we will explore what is possible.
Our benefits package
- Our total reward package includes basic salary, the potential for a performance related bonus
- Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10%
- Annual Leave starting at 26 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising by 1 day each year up to 31 days (plus Bank Holidays)
- Flexible hours and an approach driven by connected and sustainable working which includes hybrid working
- Life assurance of 4 times annual salary
- Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines
- A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel
- Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience
And we are
- Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities
- Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme
- Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year
If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:
- Right to work check
- 3 year employment history references
- DBS criminal record check
- Social media and adverse journalism check
- Driving licence check (if applicable)
- Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable)
- Qualifications and/or professional membership check (if applicable)
And finally
We reserve the right to close before the advertisement expires.
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